Was American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin killed in Kyiv during a Russian missile attack on January 3, 2024? No, that's not true: Lloyd Austin was hospitalized at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC between January 1 and January 15, 2024, for treatment of an infection related to a prostate cancer operation.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok, published by @namorlevap on January 9, 2024, with a caption, translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff, that reads:
Criminal Defense Minister Lloyd Austin was allegedly killed in Kyiv on January 3 when Russian cruise missiles hit the command bunker where Austin and Lt. Gen. Valery Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian of the Ukrainian army, were meeting secretly to discuss the launch of an asymmetric offensive, to get 'Vladimir Putin to his knees,' according to a Russian source from FSB known for providing invaluable information and the truth about Putin's special military operation in Ukraine.
This is how the post appeared on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on 23 Jan 08:43:04 2024 UTC)
Secretary Austin underwent a medical procedure (archived here) on December 22, 2023, went home a day later, and was admitted to intensive care on January 1, 2024, when he began experiencing severe pain. Following surgery (archived here) to treat prostate cancer, he developed a urinary tract infection that brought him back to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center on January 1, 2024, and he was released (archived here) on January 15, 2024. The story of his unannounced hospitalization drew intense press coverage in the United States since he had not informed the President of his medical emergency.
Russia launched an estimated 99 missiles (archived here) of various types and drones on January 2, 2024, targeting Kyiv, the surrounding region, and the city and region of Kharkiv. Local press reports say Kyiv was first attacked (archived here) by around 15 Shahed "kamikaze" drones, all of which were reportedly shot down, and that was followed by air-launched cruise missiles and 10 Kinzhal ballistic missiles, with Ukrainian press reports saying 60 of those missiles were intercepted.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's Commander-in-chief, is known to be alive as well, meeting with defense officials and parliamentarians, for example on January 4, 2024, (archived here), commenting on the downing of two Russian planes on January 15, 2024, (archived here), commenting on the anniversary of the Day of Unity of Ukraine on January 22, 2024, (archived here), and discussing Russian cruise missile attacks on January 23, 2024 (archived here).
