Pro-Russian Internet users claim that the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States stole bottles of wine and champagne during the attempted attack on Donald Trump on Saturday in Washington, during the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner. The video purporting to prove this actually shows that another person took the bottles.

Published on: 04/28/2026 - 22:24

A Ukrainian diplomat caught red-handed? On Saturday April 25, American President Donald Trump was the victim of an attempted attack during the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the annual press gala in Washington.

While the shooter had just been apprehended, a camera filmed a scene that was unusual to say the least: a young blonde woman appeared nonchalantly grabbing a bottle of champagne and a bottle of wine placed on a dinner table, even though the attack had just occurred.

Pro-Russian Internet users claim to have managed to identify “the thief” of bottles. According to them, it is Olga Stefanishyna, Ukrainian ambassador to the United States. One of these publications garnered more than 2 million views on the X network.

For Régis de Castelnau, a French lawyer who regularly expresses positions favorable to the Kremlin, this scene would be further proof of the corruption of Ukrainian officials:

“At a time when the European Union is giving the corrupt Ukrainians 90 billion euros stolen from the European people, so that they can gorge themselves [...] The ambassador to the United States is taking advantage of the confusion of an attack to steal alcohol from the guests' tables. Classy!”

This is a false accusation: the “bottle thief” is not Olga Stefanishyna, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States.

A different evening outfit

To see this, you have to compare the outfit worn by the Ukrainian ambassador during the dinner with that of the young woman who grabbed the bottles.

In a video published by the American newspaper USA Today, we see that the “bottle thief” was wearing a black outfit, consisting of a fur coat and a dress.

However, as shown in a selfie taken by the Ukrainian ambassador at the time of the attack posted on her Facebook profile, the diplomat was not wearing a black outfit but a gray evening outfit. The two women also differ in their hairstyle: the "bottle thief" has significantly longer hair, down to her shoulders, than that of the ambassador.

Finally, another photograph taken by the Reuters news agency reveals that the Ukrainian ambassador's gray outfit consisted of a top and pants while the filmed images of the young woman with the bottles show that she was wearing a slit black dress.

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