Did CNN really apologize for their Ukranian journalist picking wine during Trump’s assassination attempt? Fact Check
Claim: CNN Apologize for Ukrainian Journalist picking up Wine bottle during Assassination Attempt on Trump on Apr. 25, 2026.
Conclusion: The claim is false. There is no credible evidence or statement which suggests CNN has apologized. Moreover, no journalist by the name of “Olesya Bezruchko” works for CNN and The Mirror has not posted any article as shown in the claim. Also no reliable source establishes that the woman in the video is a Ukrainian national or a journalist.
Rating: False 
Social media users have claimed that CNN has apologized for their Ukrainian journalist stealing wine at the White house Correspondents Dinner. Facebook user ‘Lena Irina Filatova’ made such a post with the caption (translated into English) : ‘They remember the pens, they remember! The stranger who stole wine at a dinner with Trump turned out to be Ukrainian Olesya Bezruchko. A CNN correspondent demonstrated blatant greed amid a threat to life. While other media workers were mass evacuated due to shooting at the event, she acquired a free bottle like never before. “CNN has apologized for its Ukrainian journalist who was stealing wine during the evacuation of reporters due to shooting,” Mirror writes.’
Attached to the claim is an image that allegedly shows a headline and subheadline from a report by The Mirror. The text in the image reads : “its Ukrainian correspondent who stole wine while reporters were being evacuated due to gunfire…She turned out to be CNN’s special correspondent from Ukraine, Olesya Bezruchko”. View the post below –
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found it to be false. There’s no verified proof or official statement indicating that CNN has issued an apology. Additionally, no journalist named Olesya Bezruchko is associated with CNN, and The Mirror has not published any article making such a claim. No sources confirm that the woman in this video is a Ukrainian national or a journalist. She is one of the evening’s guests, whose identity has not been officially disclosed.
We first conducted a search to learn about the context of the clip and the headlines shared in the image. A BBC report states that on April 25, 2026, President Donald Trump attended the White House Correspondents Dinner. A suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, fired shots at a security checkpoint, prompting an immediate evacuation of Trump, the First Lady, Cabinet members and guests. The report states that he “faces three charges, the most serious of which is attempting to assassinate the president. It could carry a life sentence if he is convicted.”
Amidst this confusion, a woman was captured on camera picking up bottles of alcohol while the crowd evacuated. The Independent has shared the video that can be seen here and mentions that “not all attendees were rattled by the ordeal, with some even calmly seizing the opportunity to pick up alcohol on their way out.” View the image of the woman shared in the report below –
Following this, we conducted a web search with the phrase “CNN apologizes for their journalist stealing wine” to learn more. The result yields zero results for any apology, statement or coverage linking a “Ukrainian correspondent” to wine theft. CNN has not commented on this issue and there is no proof that the lady belonged to CNN or a Ukrainian journalist.
The claim uses an image which states “She turned out to be CNN’s special correspondent from Ukraine, Olesya Bezruchko”. However, DigitEYE India found no evidence or staff profile of any such person working at CNN. Moreover, we did not find any such report by The Mirror with those headlines or subheadlines as shared in the claim’s image.
Lastly, we conducted a search to learn about the identity of the woman from credible media outlets. According to a report by USA Today, the “identity of the woman remains unknown, and it is unclear whether she was a journalist or a guest at the event.” Nowhere does it state that the woman was a journalist from CNN or some other Ukrainian journalist. View this section from the report below –
Thus, the claim is false.
