Bloomberg mistakenly publishes headline claiming ‘Russia invades Ukraine’

The financial news outlet Bloomberg has issued a public apology and retraction of a headline it mistakenly published online on Friday saying ‘Russia invades Ukraine’ despite no such invasion having taken place.

The erroneous headline appeared around 4PM on Friday afternoon. Users who clicked on the headline were taken to an error page. Bloomberg later published a retraction and apology for the mistake.

“We prepare headlines for many scenarios and the headline “Russia Invades Ukraine” was inadvertently published around 4 p.m. ET today on our website,” the statement reads. “We deeply regret the error. The headline has been removed and we are investigating the cause.”

Russia has not invaded Ukraine, in spite of building up troops along its borders for the last several weeks in an attempt to prevent Ukraine from becoming a NATO member. The headline caused some surprise among the news community.

“I went on the site and saw the breaking news but knew it wasn’t real because I deal with Ukraine and will be one of the first to know,” Russian analyst Olga Lautman told The New York Post. “It is bizarre and a pretty big mistake to make considering this is a potential large-scale invasion and everyone is on edge.” 

Lautman says the headline remained posted on Bloomberg’s website for about half an hour before being removed.