Pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer has apologized for previously minimizing the devastation of the war in Ukraine, saying a trip to Kyiv this week forced her to confront that she had been influenced by Russian propaganda.
After experiencing an air raid during Russia’s latest attack on Ukraine and hearing firsthand accounts of alleged Russian war crimes, Loomer said she would commit to sharing only what she believes to be the truth about the conflict.
“I feel like such an a–hole for minimizing the struggle of Ukrainians for the last 5 years,” Loomer wrote on X after the strikes.
“There are people in Ukraine who have to run to a bomb shelter every day, and some of us had the audacity to say Russia wasn’t wrong because we believed the lie that Ukraine is a country full of Nazi sympathizers,” Loomer added. “We have been so propagandized by Russia, and we don’t even realize it.”
Loomer said she traveled to Kyiv because she wanted to witness the war’s reality herself. The conservative influencer said her views shifted after seeing evidence connected to alleged Russian atrocities, including the Bucha massacre and the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
“On day one, I’ve already seen photos of dead priests in Bucha murdered by Russia and I saw the mass grave where the bodies of murdered Christians were placed after Russia sent forces from Chechnya to massacre innocent people,” Loomer recalled.
“I spoke with officials who rescue POWs and they showed me photos of Ukrainian POWs who had swastikas engraved into their forehead by Russians,” she added.
Loomer’s reversal on Ukraine quickly drew attention from pro-Russian channels, which began ridiculing her over her earlier comments and past position on the war.
Loomer, however, said she would not delete her old tweets as a way to own up for her mistakes and demonstrate the strength of Russia’s propaganda network.
“I was wrong! I have a responsibility to correct the record. Russia is very good at information warfare,” Loomer wrote.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office hailed the change of heart and said firsthand experience of Russia’s brutal invasion serves as the best cure to Russian misinformation.
It is really important that @LauraLoomer is in Ukraine and sees things with her own eyes as they are,” the office wrote on X.
“There is no better way to get informed opinion than through personal experience which allows [one] to deal with Russian propaganda.”
