A villa, a sports car, expensive jewellery: in the 40 months since Russia invaded Ukraine, there have been at least as many fake news campaigns about the private spending of president Volodymyr Zelensky. Many of these come from or were spread by pro-Russia Telegram channels. Their aim? To undermine support for aid to Ukraine.
‘Repetition works’: 1 Russian fake news story about Zelensky’s wealth every month since invasion of Ukraine
In short
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, at least 40 fake news campaigns have been launched, reporting on the alleged expenses of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, primarily by pro-Russian channels.
The articles, alleging luxury purchases such as a villa or a sports car by Zelensky or his wife, have been debunked every time. They appear to be intended to undermine support for aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
VRT NWS Russia expert Marijn Trio: “The Russians are very good at capitalising on the algorithms of social media and they know which sensitive topics they can use to sow division.”
Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife did not buy a “€4 million Bugatti” in Paris and the president did not buy a French investment bank . But that’s what many posts on social media would have us believe: that Zelensky is taking Western money meant for the defence of his country and spending it on luxuries.
In the 40 months since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, our journalists have counted at least 40 fake news stories about the president’s supposed spending – one fabricated story for every month.
What are they saying? There have been false claims about Zelensky’s purchase of villas around the world, as well as fake reports about his wife’s pursuit of luxury goods .
See how regularly these fake stories have surfaced since the start of the war
Origin
Sometimes the stories originate on pro-Russian Telegram channels, from where they are spread further.
One example is the rumour about Zelensky buying a villa in Florida: the video first appeared on Telegram and was subsequently picked up by Pravda, a global Russian information operation that spreads fake news about Ukraine, among other things, via simulated websites.
Other articles are first published on obscure websites set up for the sole purpose of spreading a particular falsehood. That was the case, for example, in the story alleging Zelensky had bought Hitler’s summer residence . Messages are then picked up and spread further by channels with a wider reach, such as the X accounts of Russian embassies or pro-Russian influencers.
How a made-up story about a sports car and Zelensky’s wife found an audience of millions
The fake story about Zelensky’s wife buying a sports car in France is a perfect example of how Russian disinformation works and spreads online.
A fake story – “Olena Zelenska buys a Bugatti in Paris” – is attached to a real event: the couple’s visit to France. A news website is created – in this case, a site called Vérité Cachée, or Hidden Truth – for the sole purpose of writing an article about it. This article is then used as a source by Russian media and pro-Russian accounts on social media to spread the fake story.
How much money does Zelensky actually have?
The spate of fabrications also brings to mind allegations of tax evasion by Zelensky. He surfaced a few years ago in the Pandora Papers : leaked documents from companies that had parked offshore funds. So how rich is he, really?
Estimates on his wealth vary. The Celebrity Net Worth website estimates it at around $25 million , as of March this year. According to the US business magazine Forbes , his wealth in 2022 stood at $20 million.
Following the Maidan Revolution in 2014, Ukraine introduced a system of transparency in which public figures including MPs are required to submit a declaration of their assets each year. The most recent declaration by Zelensky – from March this year – shows that he already owned most of his assets before the Russian invasion of February 2022. The list of assets includes several apartments in Ukraine.
Sowing doubt over support to Ukraine
Why are pro-Russian factions going to so much effort to create all these fake stories? They have one major goal: to cast doubt on support to Ukraine and make people ask if aid money is getting to where it should.
According to VRT NWS Russia expert Marijn Trio, the Russians are trying to undermine Zelensky’s legitimacy. The undertone of each of the stories is: “This is what’s happening with the aid to Ukraine. It’s not going to the Ukrainian people or to the army, but to the wallets of the Ukrainian elite.”
And that message cuts through, because “repetition works”, he says. People see the stories and are subconsciously influenced, especially if there’s a continuous stream of them. Trio: “People mention it to me. They see stories like this and ask themselves if something isn’t right.”
Fake news works best if it’s based on a grain of truth. In this case, the false stories recall the long history of corruption in Ukrainian politics . “But Zelensky was elected precisely on a promise to address this corruption,” says Trio. “So it’s extra hurtful for him to be accused of corruption.
“The Russians are very good at capitalising on the algorithms of social media and they know which sensitive topics they can use to sow division,” he says. “It’s important that people know the ways in which this happens so they can be alert to it.”
This article was produced as part of the Prebunking at Scale project, with support from the European Fact-Checking Standards Network .”