The first episode of the Zelenskyi Unmasked project was recently released: Who is Volodymyr Zelenskyy? (“Zelenskyi without a mask: Who is Volodymyr Zelenskyi?”). It was brought to the attention of journalist Serhii Mamaiev and a detailed analysis on his YouTube channel “Special Projects of Serhii Mamaev”.

The series is hosted by Ben Swann, who calls himself an investigative journalist. But it is not so. Mamaiev found out that he was actually a television sports producer, and later a news journalist, producer and editor-in-chief of the FOX network affiliates and Russia Today America. Based on the released analysis, Detector Media presents the main messages consonant with Russian propaganda, which can be found within the first series of the project.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi did not know Ukrainian and came to power dishonestly

The authors of the film made many inaccuracies in the biography of the President of Ukraine, which indicates that the material was not carefully prepared. In particular, they also noted that Kryvyi Rih is located in the south of Ukraine, although the map that was inserted into the video refutes this. According to the creators of the project, Zelenskyi allegedly did not know Ukrainian at all before his presidency. However, in fact, he only did not use Ukrainian in everyday life.

In addition, the authors demonized both the creation of Kvartal 95, the transition of Kvartal to 1+1, and the series “Servant of the People”, the creation of the “Servant of the People” party and Zelenskyi’s participation in the presidential elections. Like, he is not who he claims to be.

The situation in Donbas is expected as it is historically a Russian region

The authors of the project repeated Russian propaganda cliches on Euromaidan and the war in Donbas from 2014. They deliberately did not mention the true reasons for the Revolution of Dignity and the shooting of students. The presenter also kept silent about the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s orchestration of the creation of the so-called LPR and DPR. The authors of the project do not talk about torture and executions of pro-Ukrainian activists in Donbas by Russians. Instead, all this is summed up with the message that Donbas is in fact a historically Russian region. However, Mamaiev notes that most of the residents of the eastern regions identified themselves as Ukrainians in the population census.

Zelensky is spreading ultranationalism in Ukraine

The presenter says that Zelenskyi allegedly betrayed his native Russian language and turned Ukrainian society towards ultra-nationalism. They say that discrimination against Russian-speaking Ukrainians is also evidenced by legislation restricting Russian music and literature. Allegedly, this was one of the reasons for the invasion. However, the authors do not mention that the Decrees on quotas on Ukrainian music and acts limiting the distribution of Russian literature came after the full-scale invasion.

Russia only wants to restore the USSR, and NATO and the USA really provoked it to attack Ukraine and sabotaged the peace process

The authors justify Russian aggression by saying that Russia simply wanted to rebuild the Soviet Union and presented this statement in a positive sense, as if what Ukraine is against looks strange. In addition, according to the presenter, it was the United States and NATO that provoked Russia into invading Ukraine, since NATO allegedly surrounded Russia on all sides. But even here the authors contradict themselves, since they show a map where NATO members indicate states that joined the Alliance after Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Next, the authors tell how in the spring of 2022, Ukraine and Russia almost agreed on a peace agreement. However, according to the presenter, the peace fell apart allegedly because of the United States and Europe, which pushed Ukraine to continue the war. They say that it is because of them that Ukraine allegedly thwarted all agreements and continued repression within the country. However, in fact, the negotiations were stopped after the criminal actions of Russian troops in Bucha. And Russia calls “repression” any actions directed against violations of the law on cooperation with occupiers, deliberately dramatizing the situation.

Propagandists as project experts

A number of people who regularly play along with Russian propaganda provided their comments for the first episode. Among them is Andrii Telizhenko, a former Ukrainian diplomat who was a frequent guest on Medvedchuk’s channels, where he promoted relevant narratives. At one time, according to Mamaiev, he also tried to help promote the idea of then-President Trump, who supposedly Zelenskyi was collaborating with the US Democratic Party.

Another character in the project is Gonzalo Lira, about whose history we have written more than once before. The project repeats the story about the “illegality” of his detention. Like, in fact, he is in prison because of his criticism of Zelenskyi. However, the SBU, during Lira’s imprisonment, emphasized that the main charge for this was the justification of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Zelenskyi destroys religion in Ukraine

The authors of the project repeated the Russian message, complaining that Zelenskyi is trying to usurp religion in the state for himself, trying to delegalize the UOC-MP. However, they are silent about the fact that the priests of this denomination justified the invasion of Ukraine and aimed missiles at civilians. And not a word that Ukraine has its own church. The authors create the impression that Zelenskyi bans Orthodoxy in Ukraine as a whole, although this is not the case.

The United States has already made films about Ukraine, where they disseminated messages in tune with Russian propaganda. In particular, director Oliver Stone at one time began making films about dictators. In particular, in 2016 he published the work “Ukraine on Fire”, where he interviewed Medvedchuk. A year later, he recorded an interview with Putin.

Conservative media in the United States further spread skepticism regarding Ukraine, including through the spread of conspiracy theories. All this has a special context, given that the first impeachment of then US President Donald Trump was announced due to the phone call scandal with Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Since then, Trump fans have called the topic of Ukraine “toxic” and are trying in every possible way to reconcile Ukraine with Russia. This is clearly visible on Trump’s Truth Social, where we previously found a large amount of anti-Ukrainian rhetoric. This “information bubble” does not help Ukraine, and anti-Ukrainian messages are supported by the target audience of these media - recent polls from CBS News show that 61% of US citizens who identify as Republicans oppose assistance to Ukraine.

The air raids in Ukraine are supposedly in vain, because “the Russians are targeting exclusively military targets”. Russian telegrams began to disseminate such information. They say that sirens are beneficial only to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi in order to sow panic around the war among the people of Ukraine. As proof of their claims, propagandists are distributing a fake, allegedly unknown persons in the Odesa region covered with foam a siren informing the civilian population about the missile danger. However, this information has already been refuted by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

The assertion of Russian propaganda about the “inexpediency” of air raids contradicts reality, because Russia daily randomly fires missiles, bombs, kamikaze drones and artillery at the territory of Ukraine.

In particular, by spreading a fake story about covering sirens with foam, propagandists are trying to justify Russian missile terror and shelling of Ukrainian civilians. Previously, we refuted information that the air raid warning in Ukraine would be activated to supposedly make it easier to issue draft notices to men in shelters.

Propagandists are disseminating information on social networks, citing the German publication Deutsche Welle, allegedly graffiti has appeared in Berlin depicting the severed heads of the presidents of Ukraine and France, Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Emmanuel Macron. According to these reports, the author of the work is allegedly the famous German artist Van Ray. However, this is fake.

StopFake journalists, using a reverse image search on Google, discovered that this photo is being distributed exclusively through anonymous Russian telegram channels and websites expressing a pro-Russian position. They also found out that not a single reliable publication reported the appearance of such graffiti in Berlin.

To confirm this information, propagandists add a screenshot of news allegedly published on Deutsche Welle. However, StopFake journalists were unable to find material with that title on the publication’s website. The screenshot notes that its author is journalist Lucia Schulten, but there is no such thing among the materials she published on Deutsche Welle.

There is also no information about this graffiti on the artist Van Ray’s website or on his social networks. At the time of publication of this text, the artist’s representative had not yet responded to StopFake’s request.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to strengthen their message that Europe is supposedly tired of Ukraine and does not want to support it anymore. They say that the topic of Ukraine has become toxic, and all those who actively support it also suffer from public hostility.

Russian propagandists are spreading information that Ukraine has expressed its readiness to “give up Crimea and Donbas” by initiating peace negotiations. They refer to statements made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi during an interview with the American channel CBS. Propagandists claim that Country 404 proposes to begin a peaceful dialogue with Russia without demanding the return of the 1991 borders, although Kyiv previously insisted on this condition for resuming negotiations with Moscow. However, these statements are based on a distortion of reality.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this manipulation. They found that the actual content of the CBS News interview with Volodymyr Zelenskyi was reduced to incorrect conclusions to promote false narratives.

In fact, in an interview, Zelenskyi, answering a question about faith in the possibility of Ukraine returning all territories, including Crimea, emphasized that with sufficient support from partners, as well as a complete economic blockade of Russia, Ukraine will be able to restore its territorial integrity not only through military means. He expressed confidence that Russia’s defeat will lead to the loss of its support even by states that doubt Ukraine and will weaken positions within Russia itself, which will force it to dialogue. Zelenskyi called an important condition for such a dialogue the liberation of Ukrainian territories and the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine within the annexation of Crimea by Russia.

Propagandists spread such manipulations to discredit the President and cause a split in Ukrainian society. Detector Media previously refuted other Russian lies about Zelenskyi.

Kyiv is allegedly massively filled with “posters” with the image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the words “expired”. A video with such content and three photographs is being distributed on pro-Russian telegram channels and on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

However, this is a fake, they write at the Center for Strategic Communications and Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. The printouts were most likely made by the author of the photo and video material specifically to create political “content”. In addition, the video was created unknown where and when, and is presented as a sign of “mass dissatisfaction of Kyiv residents” with the lack of elections during the war. This is an exaggeration, as is calling A4 printouts “posters”.

This case of disinformation is part of the Kremlin’s special operation called Maidan-3 to destabilize the socio-political system in Ukraine. One of its components is speculation on the topic of Zelenskyi’s “illegitimacy”. At the same time, not a single Ukrainian political force questions the powers of the head of state. Previously, we refuted information that Zelenskyi was allegedly preparing to leave for the United States on Washington’s orders before March 31, 2024, that is, after he allegedly became illegitimate, but this did not happen.

An alleged cover of the Spanish satirical magazine El jueves is being circulated on social networks, which depicts Zelenskyi on a roller coaster and “rapidly sliding down”, thus hinting at the political future of the president. It is not true.

The Center for Countering Disinformation writes that information about the issue with such a cover was not published on the publication’s official pages on social networks. Moreover, it was supposedly the March issue No. 2.398, but then the issue for March under No. 2.397 had already been published.

Social networks are spreading information that Volodymyr Zelenskyi is secretly negotiating with Russia to “surrender” Ukraine on dictator Putin’s terms. Moreover, propagandists refer to the words of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz  who allegedly said this. It's a lie.

VoxCheck project analysts took up the case and explained that Scholz did not say that Ukraine was conducting secret negotiations with Russia.

The Chancellor, in an interview with the Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung, only stated that decisions were being discussed that could begin the peace process. However, the German Chancellor did not say that the Ukrainian government was conducting secret negotiations with Russia to sign a peace agreement.

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information about the purchase by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi of the Highgrove House mansion from the British King Charles III. In asserting this, propagandists refer to the so-called British newspaper London Crier. According to this publication, the cost of the royal residence is 20 million pounds.

In fact, this “news” is just another invention of Russian propagandists, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

Firstly, the London Crier website was created on March 26, 2024 (a week before the mass dissemination of this news). Secondly, links to the newspaper’s social networks lead to an incomprehensible resource of a company selling website templates. Thirdly, materials in the London Crier are published by anonymous users - and this provides additional grounds for asserting that this British newspaper is fake.

In addition, in the corresponding article about Zelenskyi there are no photos of receipts or a purchase agreement - nothing that could confirm the purchase of the mansion. The “publication” covers Russia’s war against Ukraine exclusively from the position of Moscow.

In the end, during the monitoring, the Center also established that this “news” was also distributed by The Intel Drop, which had already been noticed in distributing anti-Ukrainian fakes, as well as the Russian network of Pravda news websites.

Russian propaganda telegram channels citing the words of the former Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko spread information that Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Office of the President planned to flee to the UK before a full-scale invasion. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that propagandists carried out this manipulation based on an interview with Vadym Prystaiko for Ukrainska Pravda, published on March 12, 2024. In it, he spoke about preparations for the invasion in his role as Ukraine's ambassador to the UK. In particular, they talked about discussing with the British government the possibility of finding premises in London for the Ukrainian authorities in the event of the fall of Kyiv. In addition, measures were considered to evacuate data from electronic registers, banking systems, television and radio broadcasting to cloud storage, and even move the gold and foreign exchange reserves outside the country in order to protect it from falling into the hands of Russian troops.

During the outbreak of the aggression, Zelenskyi was offered several times to leave Ukraine, including an offer from the US government and the British Prime Minister, but he refused. Propaganda accusations of Zelensky’s cowardice and plans to escape are not supported by evidence and are intended only to sow panic among the Ukrainian population. Previously, other fakes regarding Zelenskyi’s alleged plans to flee to the United States were refuted.

Propagandists are spreading information on social networks citing an article by the NY Daily News, that the Paramount Pictures studio, commissioned by Kvartal 95, will begin filming the blockbuster “The Price of Victory”, dedicated to the life path of Volodymyr Zelenskyi from comedian to president. According to them, James Mangold will direct, and Sean Penn, Shia LaBeouf or Jeremy Renner are being considered for the lead role. The film's budget is allegedly estimated at 115 million US dollars. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the website that published this news was registered on January 18, 2024, shortly before the fake news appeared. At the same time, the site positions itself as a publication founded in 1975 by journalist J.R. McDouglas, information about which is not available in open sources. The name of the publication on the website is listed as New York News Daily, although the correct name should be New York News Daily. The fake resource is trying to imitate a real American publication with a similar name, founded in 1919, which has a good reputation. It is easy to confuse the two sites due to the similarity of domain names. The contact information on the fake site is incomplete or unclear, using placeholder text, highlighting its questionable reliability. The publication describes itself as the standard of journalism, however, it publishes contradictory articles that do not meet the standards of objectivity and honesty, and duplicate the fakes of Russian propaganda, especially on the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

They also discovered a “producer” profile on social network X, where the tweets that first shared the information likely originated. Access to the page was restricted at the time of writing, but an archived copy exists. Using facial identification tool PimEyes, VoxCheck analysts determined that the photograph was indeed that of Venezuelan surgeon Henry Garcia. So, a fake account allegedly produced by Paramount Pictures on platform X was created specifically to publish information about the non-existent film “The Price of Victory”.

The script of this film, which is given by propagandists, also looks rather implausible. For example, in one scene, President Zelenskyi is asked about the greatness of Ukraine, to which he responds with criticism of the situation in the country, in particular, recalling the years under the rule of the regime and the oligarchs, the restriction of freedom of speech and the violation of human rights. It’s hard to believe that a Ukrainian studio would agree to such a scenario in the current conditions.

In addition, propagandists recall that the cooperation between Paramount Pictures and the Kvartal 95 studio was allegedly facilitated by director Oleksandr Rodnianskyi through his company AR Content Studio, which previously worked with Paramount TV. However, there is no publicly available information confirming this collaboration. In 2022, Rodnianskyi did mention plans to make a film with the American company Anonymous Content about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, based on Peter Pomerantsev's article “We Can Only Be Enemies”, with Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi as director. There is no information yet about the implementation stage of this project.

Paramount Pictures, Kvartal 95, James Mangold, Sean Penn, and Jeremy Renner also did not announce the creation of the film “The Price of Victory” about the President of Ukraine. No reliable world or Ukrainian media confirmed this information. In addition, on the IMDb website, which is the largest resource about cinema, there is no information about the filming of such a film about Zelenskyi.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Zelenskyi. They say that while things are difficult in Ukraine, the president is spending a lot of money on a film about himself. Detector Media also refuted other fakes aimed at discrediting Zelenskyi.

Such information is spread by propaganda telegram channels with reference to a survey by the British company GLPOR. In addition, pro-Russian sources write that in May 2024, a “campaign of civil disobedience against the Zelenskyi regime” will begin in Ukraine.

In fact, this information is not true. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council analyzed the GLPOR website and found it to be fake. According to the results of the Google search, it was not possible to find any information about the company with the abbreviation GLPOR, except for publications on Russian propaganda resources. Also, most of the links on the site are inactive. And the domain of the site was registered not so long ago - only in September 2023.

Russian propaganda uses the creation of fake websites of relevant world publications or sociological companies as one of the ways to spread disinformation. Such “surveys” as in this case are aimed at splitting Ukrainian society, undermining Ukrainians' trust in each other. Previously, we refuted the information that according to the results of an alleged “sociological survey” by the companies Global Service and the European Migration Support Bureau, a third of Ukrainian youth migrated to Russia. In fact, no such survey has ever been conducted.

Propagandists are distributing a photo of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi that allegedly appeared on a board of shame in an Odesa supermarket with a photo of thieves and the inscription “They are stealing from us!”.

Specialists of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. After conducting a keyword search, they discovered that the photo had originally appeared on a Russian Telegram channel. At the same time, no Ukrainian media and social networks spread this news about the photo of Zelenskyi in the supermarket.

The authors of the fake did not specify the name of the store where, according to them, the board of shame is located, so it is not known whether such a board really exists in one of the supermarkets of Odesa. The blue color of the board may indicate that it may be in the ATB chain of stores. However, representatives of this network said that placing such a photo in their stores is impossible.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Zelenskyi. Detector Media wrote that Russian propaganda has already invented other fakes for this.

Pro-Kremlin resources are distributing online photos of leaflets depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who holds out his hands and asks for money in different languages of the world. According to propagandists, such leaflets began to appear in European countries.

In fact, these postcards were posted by the Russian community in Germany. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council after contacting the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. They were posted solely to create propaganda content, after which the leaflets were torn off by the Russians themselves.

Thus, Russia continues to portray Zelenskyi as a “beggar”. Finally, the goal of such actions is to influence the reduction of international financial support for Ukraine. Previously, we refuted the information that graffiti with Zelenskyi was created in Munich, where Elon Musk beats him and forces him to “not whine for money anymore”.

Propagandists disseminated information in the Russian media that the President of Ukraine, according to them, during his last visit to Odesa allegedly revealed the location of a secret base in the port area of the city, where, according to them, drones were being prepared for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, these statements are not confirmed.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They note that the meeting between the President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Greece was of an official nature and took place in the presence of many government officials and journalists. It is baseless to assume that a secret military base was included in the excursion program as part of such a visit.

The Greek Prime Minister confirmed that the delegation was near the port when the shelling occurred, but this has nothing to do with Zelenskyi's visit to any secret base.

Propagandists spread such fakes in order to discredit the President of Ukraine and quarrel between Western countries and Ukraine. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted fakes directed personally against Zelenskyi.

Screenshots of an allegedly published article in the online edition of the Daily Mail are being circulated online, which has the following title: “Why Ukraine’s President wants to be more Charlie Chaplin than Churchill”. Russian propagandists, for their part, say that it is with this title that the Daily Mail is presenting Simon Schuster’s book about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council checked this information. As it turned out, the article with that title is not available on the official website of the online newspaper. In addition, the Center discovered a fake news aggregator, where the article was posted on behalf of the Daily Mail.

By spreading “news” or “articles” on behalf of reputable foreign publications, Russian propaganda is trying to make its fakes more believable. This is one of the tactics of Russian propaganda. Previously, we have analyzed such artificially created materials more than once.

An alleged screenshot of a message from Volodymyr Zelenskyi on X (former Twitter) is being circulated online, in which he allegedly made a statement in English: “I will sign a decree that will require all Western countries to deport Ukrainian men living there back to Ukraine”. It is not true.

VoxCheck analysts investigated this case and found out that it was satirical news. The X page from which the message was distributed is a parody and does not belong to Zelenskyi. On the real Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s X page,  there is no such message.

In addition, the colors of the verification checkmarks for X are different in both accounts. Thus, since 2022, the accounts of politicians and government agencies have a gray check mark; Zelenskyi’s account has it in exactly this color. In the fake screenshot, it is blue, which is the color of the checkmark that users who have an X Premium subscription may have.

Russian resources are disseminating information that the President of Ukraine promised the West that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will use long-range weapons provided by partner countries only against targets in territories that Ukraine considers its own. However, according to a recent presidential decree, the list of “ours” now allegedly also includes one area (krai) and five regions of Russia, propagandists say.

In fact, this information is distorted, as reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. Zelenskyi’s decree on the territories of Russia historically inhabited by Ukrainians concerns exclusively the protection of the national rights of Russian citizens of Ukrainian ethnic origin, but propagandists pass it off as a demonstration of “territorial claims”.

The weapons transferred by partners are used exclusively to defeat Russian targets in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. The Defense Forces are destroying objects on Russian territory by Ukrainian-made weapons.

By manipulating information, in this case, Russian propaganda seeks to mobilize Russians for war against Ukraine and the “collective West”, resorting to demonization. Propagandists also want to intimidate Ukraine’s Western partners with “escalation” from Russia in order to disrupt further assistance. Previously, we denied information that NATO countries would try to capture “six Russian regions”.

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that a female serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine born in 2006 died at the front. That is, at the time of her death she was not even 18 years old. As evidence, Russian propaganda uses a photo of the supposedly military badge of the “deceased woman”.

In fact, this information is not true. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes that the badge in the photo is fake. Personal badges indicate the last name, first name and patronymic of the serviceman, his blood type, Rh factor, as well as a personal number assigned in accordance with his registration number. In addition, the name of the formation in which the soldier is serving is indicated on the badge. However, they never indicate the date of birth, much less the date of death, as on the “token” distributed by propagandists.

By spreading this disinformation, Russian propaganda seeks first of all to demonize Zelenskyi. Moreover, such rhetoric by Russians aims to cast doubt on the advisability of Ukraine to defend itself, because supposedly “the youngest are already going into battle”. After all, in Ukraine teenagers are not mobilized, and only citizens over the age of 18 are liable for military service.

• Read also: The first teenager from an orphanage mobilized into the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly died in the war

Propagandists are distributing messages on anonymous telegram channels about the release of an energy drink called “Tears of Zelenskyi” by a Swedish company, along with a corresponding photo. However, this is a fake photo.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that OVRHYPD does not produce such a drink with the appropriate name and design. The fake makers edited the photo, replacing the original name of the drink with “Tears of Zelenskyi”.

A search under the name “Tears of Zelenskyi” did not return any results, but under the name of another drink, “Snot juice”, the fact-checkers found the drink company OVRHYPD. However, on their website and social networks there is not a single drink with the name “Tears of Zelenskyi” or the face of the Ukrainian president on the packaging. Russian resources mainly wrote about this “new” drink.

Using a reverse photo search on Google Images, the original image was found posted on the US website Reddit on December 27, 2023. There was not a single energy drink with Zelenskyi's face on it, but instead of the name “Tears of Zelenskyi” - “F*ck You You F*ckin' F*ck”. In addition, the propagandists made other changes to the photo, removing the drawing of a condom from the red and blue cans and the drawing of a penis from the white can.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

This information is disseminated by pro-Russian media. They argue that reaching the 1991 borders is an impossible goal. Even President Zelenskyi is now supposedly beginning to think about the reality of victory. In the corresponding “news”, the Kremlin media refers to Ukrainian political scientist Konstiantyn Bondarenko.

In fact, this information is not true. This is written about in the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. During a press conference on December 19, 2023, Zelenskyi stated that “the strategy cannot be changed, according to our Constitution - these are all our territories”. In a December interview of the same year for The Economist, the President of Ukraine also emphasized that only after the Russian army leaves the 1991 borders will it be possible to transfer the war from a military path to a diplomatic one.

It can be argued that statements about “Zelenskyi’s despondency” are just Bondarenko’s personal speculations, not supported by real facts. The political scientist himself has a rather dubious reputation. In 2021, he collaborated with the pro-Russian blogger Anatolii Sharii, recording a series of lectures in Russian about the OUN, UPA and Ukrainian nationalism for one of his YouTube channels. In addition, already on the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he collaborated with the Russian propaganda online publication Ukraina.ru. Previously, we denied information that EU countries are seeking to take control of part of Ukrainian territories.

A video is being circulated on social networks claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is allegedly planning to move to the United States, and even showing a fake naturalization document. The fact-checkers from FactCheck.org refuted this fake.

The video begins with the text: “Will Volodymyr Zelenskyi soon become a US citizen and move to live in the sunny state of Florida?”

He was voiced by former Fox News host Clayton Morrison, according to FactCheck.org.

Reports of his alleged move are based on unconfirmed sources and contain numerous inaccuracies, such as the absence of a middle name on the naturalization document and a false name of the signatory.

Such documents require a clear indication of the full name and signature of the person who is not on the certificate shown in the video. This indicates its inauthenticity and an attempt to spread misinformation.

Steve Eil-Lohr, a professor of immigration law at Cornell University, also told AFP Fact Check that a real certificate of naturalization would include the person's signature next to the photo. This is not in the fake image.

Zelenskyi remains in Ukraine, despite the long war, and continues active international activities aimed at strengthening the country’s defense capability and international position. The spread of false claims about his upcoming move is part of an information war aimed at discrediting Ukrainian leadership and misleading the public.

This is not the first time that propagandists have attributed other citizenships to Volodymyr Zelenskyi. For example, in December 2022, they reported that Volodymyr Zelenskyi has a Russian passport.

Propagandists broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric on anonymous telegram channels are disseminating information that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has stated that if assistance is refused, he will no longer consider the United States a strategic partner. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that Zelenskyi really didn’t say that. An excerpt from his speech was disfigured.

During the Munich Security Conference, Volodymyr Zelenskyi and US Vice President Kamala Harris held a joint briefing. When asked about “Plan B” if the US Congress does not support the bill on additional funding for Ukraine, the President of Ukraine noted that no alternatives are being considered.

He expressed hope for a positive decision by Congress, pointing out that Ukraine views the United States as a strategic partner, and therefore hopes for its further support. Zelenskyi stressed that an alternative position would mean instability in relations. These words have been twisted and used to create a manipulative “quote” that is being circulated online without proper context.

Kamala Harris also supported Zelenskyi, expressing confidence that the bill will be passed and called for a focus on “Plan A” - providing Ukraine with the necessary resources. She stressed the importance of avoiding politicization of the issue and the need to remain steadfast in supporting allies. The President of Ukraine also expressed his faith in the positive decision of Congress and said that he does not consider the adoption of the bill a treacherous position, because, in his opinion, the strategic partner will not leave Ukraine without support.

Propagandists spread such manipulations to undermine bilateral relations between the United States and Ukraine and stop US support. They say Zelenskyi is provoking America, which means we won’t see the money. Detector Media also refuted other manipulations regarding Ukraine’s relations with the United States.

Russian propagandists claim that in Ukraine, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the number of police officers per 10 thousand population has increased from 20 to 100. In asserting this, propagandists refer to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko, who allegedly made a corresponding statement. As a consequence, Ukraine allegedly “became a 100% police state”.

In fact, the information was manipulated. In an interview with the “We are Ukraine” channel, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko spoke about increasing the number of police officers fivefold specifically in the deoccupied territories, and not throughout the entire territory of Ukraine.

“On average, there were 23-26 police officers per 10 thousand population of Ukraine before the large-scale war. Today there are more than 100 in the deoccupied territories. Because the regime is much tougher, because there are many more tasks. I can say that the police began a large-scale war and increased their functionality by 80%. But we are not increasing the number of police officers”, the minister said.

For comparison, according to Eurostat, on average in EU countries there were 335 police officers per 100 thousand population in 2019-2021. That is, on average 33-34 police officers per 10 thousand people. In 2021, in Ukraine this figure was 287 police officers, and in Russia - 510, which was one of the largest figures in the world.

In 2014, Russia had 564 police officers per 100 thousand people, and that year it was recognized as the most police state. It is significant that over the past 10 years the number of police officers in Russia has remained at one of the highest levels in the world, while in Ukraine this figure does not exceed the European average.

By manipulating information, in this case, propagandists seek to create a picture of an authoritarian Ukraine led by Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Like, now it’s clear why people don’t oppose the “Kyiv regime”. However, Ukraine is a free and democratic state, and Russians’ reproaches about authoritarianism in their neighboring country have no basis.

• Read also: Police were allegedly allowed to use traumatic weapons, rubber truncheons and tear gas to disperse rallies

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are distributing videos depicting discreditable posters of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and First Lady Olena Zelenska. This content is accompanied by the caption: “Rome, Italy. Our days. Zelenskyi is shown on all streets. Judging by the posters, he is not liked everywhere”.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council reports that such posters were posted by the Russian community in Italy to produce propaganda content. The Center learned about this after they submitted a corresponding request to the Ukrainian Embassy in Italy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The purpose of this slander is to create the illusion of fatigue from Zelenskyi and Ukraine. In addition, Russian propaganda systematically discredits the Zelenskyi family with the hope that Ukrainians will “eventually rise up against them”.

For now, the discreditable posters have been removed, and the Ukrainian Embassy in Italy is already working to prevent similar actions by Russians in the future. Previously, we refuted the information that the journalist who published the “investigation” of the purchase of a villa by the Zelenskyi family was allegedly “killed”.

On February 6, 2024, during an interview with pro-Russian journalist Tucker Carlson, Russian dictator Putin said that the father of the current President of Ukraine Oleksandr Zelenskyi was a front-line soldier and fought against fascism.

This information is not true. This is written about in the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. Oleksandr Zelenskyi was born after the end of World War II - in 1947. Therefore, he could not possibly participate in the “fight against fascism”.

The dominance of neo-Nazism in Ukraine is the same fiction, while in fact its signs: the worship of symbols, the militarization of youth, the restriction of rights and freedoms, the seizure of foreign territories, are found precisely in Russia.

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