Russian media that spread pro-Kremlin rhetoric and in the Russian segment of Facebook distributed a video with American actor Dean Norris, where he allegedly calls on Volodymyr Zelenskyi to go to Hazelden Betty Ford, a rehabilitation center for alcoholics and drug addicts. This video was allegedly posted by the actor on Instagram and tagged the official account of Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the rehabilitation center. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case. Actor Dean Norris did not post this video on social media, nor did it get circulated in reliable media. The videos were probably bought on the cameo platform, where you can buy personal videos from celebrities. Also, there are no details in the video indicating that the actor is referring specifically to Volodymyr Zelenskyi, just as there is no mention of Ukraine. In the video, Dean Norris refers to a certain “Volodymyr”. And the background and clothes of the actor are similar to those in other cameo videos. Moreover, after the start of the full-scale invasion, actor Dean Norris supported Ukraine and tweeted about it.

Thus, propagandists are trying to promote the thesis that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi allegedly has problems with drugs and alcohol, therefore, he is inadequate, and the whole world is trying to call him for treatment. Earlier, we refuted the fake that American boxer Mike Tyson and American actor Elijah Wood urged Zelenskyi to be treated for alcohol and drug addictions.

Such information was disseminated in social networks and propaganda media. Reports say that the US is unhappy with Zelenskyi’s policies “because of the constant shelling of Moscow”. Like, Volodymyr Zelenskyi is engaged in arbitrariness and lawlessness reigns in Ukraine. The authors add that Western leaders dream of “getting rid of and eliminating” Zelenskyi. They assure that the United States is already looking for the next president of Ukraine. The publications also cite Politico publications. This is manipulation.

Analysts of the StopFake project took up this case and determined that the Politico material does not refer to the “liquidation of Zelenskyi”, that is, the assassination or removal from power. They are talking only about possible scenarios in the event of an attempt by Russians on the President of Ukraine. The material itself is called "Ukraine's plan if Russia assassinates Zelenskyy”. In his column, an American journalist analyzed the situation with the likely murder of Zelenskyi.

Indeed, at the beginning of a full-scale invasion, there were several unsuccessful attempts to eliminate Zelenskyi. The journalist described the course of actions of the Ukrainian authorities in such a situation. That is, the material did not talk about the murder or removal from power of Zelenskyi. In the author's column, the media worker described his thoughts and predictions. At the same time, the propagandists distorted the context of the material and invented the theses that were beneficial for themselves.

By spreading this manipulation, the authors seek to show that the world is dissatisfied with Zelenskyi and they want to get rid of him. Thus, propagandists present the President of Ukraine as an “incompetent” leader who is engaged in arbitrariness.

Users of the American segment of the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, Facebook and in the Russian segment of TikTok, are distributing a video with a digital billboard image with the alleged inscription: “Stop Zelenskyi, stop the war”. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of The Reuters paid attention to the case. A video circulated online allegedly featuring Zelenskyi on a billboard in Japan has been edited. Russian propaganda took a long video filmed 2 years ago as a base; before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it was posted by the verified YouTube account “Virtual Japan”, a streaming channel that shares videos of everyday life in Japan. At 21:22, pedestrians and passing cars can be seen in the background in the edited video. The video was filmed in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the support of Western partners and convince Ukrainians that tabroad they believe that it was Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenskyi who started the war with Russia. In fact, Japan supports Ukraine in the fight against the aggressor, that is, Russia. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that the West is supplying weapons to Ukraine and thereby allegedly violates international law.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are circulating a cover allegedly published by the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo depicting Volodymyr Zelenskyi against the backdrop of the burning Crimean bridge. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. No issue of Charlie Hebdo had such a cover. On the fake cover it is indicated that this is a special issue of July 18, 2023, the number of which is 1579. The publication’s website has an archive of all issues, so the fact-checkers found the magazine under the number 1579. It was released on October 26, 2022 and had a different cover.

Russian propaganda systematically distributes fake covers of famous foreign publications. Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to laugh at Volodymyr Zelenskyi and show that the President of Ukraine is not respected all over the world. Earlier, we refuted the fake that the American magazine The Nation dedicated a cover to Zelenskyi calling him an “evil boy”.

On August 1, 2023, the American publication Politico published an article that talks about Ukraine's plan in the event of the death of Volodymyr Zelenskyi. In this case, the “governing council” will supposedly include the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, the head of the Office of the President Andrii Yermak, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. At the same time, Valerii Zaluzhnyi will remain the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The publication refers to the comments of the Ukrainian MP from the opposition party “European Solidarity” Mykola Kniazhytskyi and senior researcher at the Eurasian Center of the Atlantic Council Adrian Karatnytskyi. Ukrainian businessman Yaroslav Azhniuk ruled out the possibility of a Russian assassination as “the realm of alternative history”.

The case was studied by the Center for Strategic Communications. On August 1, on the air of the telethon, NSDC Secretary Oleksii Danilov commented on Politico's article and called it nonsense and stuffing. “We have a Constitution, we have laws, we know how to do it. But why do some representatives of our country do such information stuffing providing [journalists] with absolutely non-validated information, this is a question”, Danilov said.

Oleksii Danilov also noted that recently Russia has stepped up information attacks, and it can use Western media to spread lies.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. American boxer Mike Tyson is reportedly suggesting that Zelenskyi “fight drug addiction”. The authors add that the whole world already “knows” about the dependence of the Ukrainian president and world leaders are trying to turn him, they say, onto the right path. An alleged video of the Reuters news agency is added to the publication.

The Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council explains that the video has been compiled. First of all, it is without sound, which means it is impossible to determine what the athlete was saying. Moreover, with the help of a reverse Google search, fact-checkers managed to find out that Reuters does not have exactly such a video with Tyson, where he tells something live in the studio. It is most likely that the news agency badge was superimposed on the video sequence, because this is not the original video.

That is, the authors of the messages did not provide hard evidence that the athlete called on the Ukrainian president to be treated for drug addiction. They posted the video without sound and the alleged source. This makes it easier for propagandists to manipulate and simply promote the thesis they want.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that an Indian magazine recently ran a cover featuring Volodymyr Zelenskyi as Lord of the Rings character Gollum the Hobbit. Also on the cover there is an inscription: “No ring can help hide the truth”. It is not true.

Fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation investigated this case and found that such a cover does not exist. The fake cover states that it is scheduled for release on August 2, 2023. The announced magazine has a completely different cover as the official website of the magazine published the announcement of the magazine. 

Thus propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric is also being repeated in the West. So readers may get the impression that the whole world is opposed to Ukraine.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric and the Ukrainian segment of Twitter spread the advertisement allegedly filmed by the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany party. In the video, people in uniform come to a German family and begin to take everything of value out of the apartment. Then they hang a portrait of Volodymyr Zelenskyi and say, “Heil Zelenskyi”. The main opinion of the video is that Ukraine is robbing the inhabitants of Germany. It's fake.

The case was studied by the fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications. They determined that there was no such video on the website of the Alternative for Germany party. It is not mentioned in the German press, moreover, the video is actively distributed in pro-Kremlin blogs. Radio Liberty journalists found that Russian actors played the roles in this video, which suggests that the video itself was probably also filmed by Russians.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Germany and show that Ukraine is draining the resources of other countries. All this to reduce Western aid. Previously, we talked about the manipulation that Latvia transferred all the air defense systems to Ukraine and was left without protection.

In the Georgian and Russian segments of Facebook, an alleged cover of the American edition of The Nation is being distributed, in which Volodymyr Zelenskyi holds three frightened leopards on leashes, mines lie next to them, and a little further under a tree there are Russian military men in helmets with the letter “Z”. The leopards allegedly personify the Leopard tanks handed over to Ukraine, which seem to be unable to break through the Russian defense line. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case. They determined that The Nation had never published such a cover. Moreover, fact-checkers contacted the publication, where they confirmed that such a cartoon was not published in any issue of the magazine.

Russian propagandists systematically distribute fake covers of foreign publications. Thus, they are trying to ridicule Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian authorities and show that the West does not support Ukraine. Earlier, we refuted the fake that the humorous magazine LeMan depicted Zelenskyi on the cover, who was tied to a pole with burning military equipment.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that the Azovstal garrison allegedly surrendered without the order of Volodymyr Zelenskyi in order to save their own lives. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. The operation to leave Azovstal was coordinated with the leadership of Ukraine, the garrison carried out the order of the highest military command. On May 16, 2022, the commander of Azov, Denys Prokopenko, announced that the defenders of Mariupol had complied with the order of the top military leadership. On May 17, 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that the commanders of units at Azovstal received an order to save the lives of personnel.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Azov battalion and the defenders of Mariupol, saying that they themselves decided to leave Azovstal, and the top military leadership has no influence on them. Allegedly, the Ukrainians again made heroes out of traitors. Earlier, we refuted the fake that NATO could involve the Azov and Kraken battalions to suppress protests in France.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. American actor Elijah Wood allegedly recorded a video addressing President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi with words of support and an invitation to “go to treatment centers for alcoholism and drug addiction”, reports say. The authors add a screenshot and a video supposedly from stories on Instagram. It is not true.

StopFake's fact-checkers managed to analyze this case, and they determined that there is no such video on the actor's official social media pages. It is most likely that the video was compiled using special programs. Experts explained that the video contains obvious editing facts, because it is sketchy. That is, the continuity of the video (one of the signs of the originality of the video, shot live without pauses) is broken. Moreover, on the fake screenshot of the story, the name of the actor's Instagram account is false. He also repeatedly stated that his Instagram page is now non-public and closed. Now only Twitter is an open and public page on the actor's social networks.

Fact-checkers also found out that the actor has a page on cameo.com. Here you can order an appeal from a star with any text for a certain amount of money. Elijah's address costs £265. Experts suggest that the authors of the fake message used this particular resource.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that during a meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyi and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he gave Zelenskyi a robot - a military man who is capable of “fighting”. This happened during a visit of officials to one of the British military facilities. The authors add videos to the publication. It's a lie.

The case was analyzed by Reuters fact-checkers, which determined that the video was edited. That is, a robot was superimposed on the original video, it “goes” along with Zelenskyi on the territory of a military facility. All shared videos had a special TikTok watermark.

That is why the fact-checkers additionally decided to check the account where the video was first downloaded. Therefore, on the original video there is a caption that the robot is made using 3D technologies. It is not real. The author of TikTok himself creates similar videos with the participation of robots.

Users of the Russian segment of Facebook and TikTok are spreading a video in which a man in a shiny suit dances a belly dance and claims that this is Volodymyr Zelenskyi. One user put an emoji with the flag of Ukraine and wrote: “Every time you need more money… you should put on a good show for them!”, alluding to Western partners. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Reuters media drew attention to the case. In fact, it is not Volodymyr Zelenskyi who is dancing in this video, but belly dancer Pablo Acosta. The dancer posted similar videos on his Instagram on July 1.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to humiliate and laugh at Volodymyr Zelenskyi, saying that the President of Ukraine has to go even to such extremes in order to get weapons from Western partners. Earlier, we wrote that the Spanish magazine El jueves published a cover on which the Ukrainian military allegedly abandoned the counteroffensive and refuted the fake that the official Twitter account of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine wrote that Zelenskyi was a “naked clown”.

Russian media, broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, spread the information that Volodymyr Zelenskyi, in an interview with ABC News, allegedly stated that “the United States was in charge of the Ukrainian aggression” and allegedly added that “the United States could end the conflict in Ukraine at any second, since they [the Americans] unleashed it”. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has not made any statements that the United States has unleashed a war in Ukraine. He confirmed that Ukraine itself decides on the occupation of its territories. Zelenskyi commented on Donald Trump's words that he could end the war in 24 hours. The President of Ukraine said that Trump already had his 24 hours, but then he had other priorities. He also added that the option of ending the war with Russia through trade in its own territories is unacceptable for Ukraine.

Thus, Russian propagandists are once again trying to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi and worsen relations with Western partners, hoping that they will reduce military assistance to Ukraine. Earlier, we refuted the manipulation that Jens Stoltenberg refused to shake hands with Zelenskyi.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric have circulated a video showing a man posing as a priest trying to obstruct Volodymyr Zelenskyi's motorcade during his visit to Bulgaria. He said: “anathema” and “fascist Ukraine”, and also rushed at other officials getting out of the car. The video shows how this “priest” is detained by the police.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated the case. They note that the Bulgarian media Telegraph wrote an article about the man. The video shows Atanas Stefanov posing as a priest. In fact, he is the head of the public association “Friends of Russia” and a supporter of Patriarch Kiril.

Earlier in March 2023, during a visit to Yordanka Fandakova, mayor of Sofia, Atanas Stefanov dropped the Ukrainian flag. Such actions discredit Bulgaria, as if it supports Russia and is against Ukraine. It may be concluded that Ukraine is not welcome in the West, and the country itself is considered Nazi.

Earlier, we refuted the fake that during a visit to Bulgaria, Volodymyr Zelenskyi was denied the supply of weapons.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. In the Dutch city of The Hague, someone drew graffiti depicting Zelenskyi hanging from a gallows, reports say. Like, the whole world wants to get rid of him. The authors add that this was done, they say, by Polish male and female artists. It is not true.

The German fact-checkers of the Correctiv project worked through the case and found out  that such graffiti does not exist. First, they analyzed the area of The Hague and found that the street depicted in the graffiti does not exist in this city. This was determined by using the location of paving stones, trees and other markers. Subsequently, they found out that the photo shows a Swiss city, not far from Zurich.

So the fact-checkers approached the local building authority to see if such graffiti existed in the Swiss city. There, the fact-checkers were told that such graffiti did not exist. Most likely, the photo was created using Photoshop.

The information was disseminated in the Georgian segment of Facebook. Reports say that during the NATO summit, Zelenskyi met with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg. As a result of the meeting, Zelenskyi extended his hand, while Jens Stoltenberg allegedly refused to shake hands. The authors add that hundreds of cameras recorded this moment, and as evidence they cite a photo of one of the photojournalists. This is manipulation.

Georgian fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project investigated this case and found out that the photo was taken not at the NATO summit, but on April 20 in Kyiv. It was also a meeting of officials. In the video meeting, you can see when Zelenskyi extends his hand to Stoltenberg, he looks at the cameras, and as soon as he notices the outstretched hand, he crushes Zelensky's hand. That is, the propagandists used the old video of the meeting and took a screenshot of the moment that was beneficial to them. However, as a result, Jens Stoltenberg did not refuse Zelenskyi to shake hands.

By spreading this manipulation, the authors seek to show that allegedly Zelenskyi is not respected in political circles and that he is generally ignored. Thus, they seek to undermine the authority of the President.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that during a visit to the Czech Republic, Zelenskyi “adjusted Ukrainian symbols with his shoe”. As proof, the authors add a freeze frame from the Czech media video. It's a lie.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project investigated the case and found out that Volodymyr Zelenskyi did not fix Ukrainian symbols with his foot. And the freeze frame does not reflect what actually happened. On July 7, Zelenskyi, together with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, laid flowers at the Velvet Revolution Memorial in Prague. The event was filmed by many Czech media. The authors stopped the video at the moment when Zelenskyi approached the Memorial and his toe was raised. Subsequently, from that moment they took a screenshot and passed it off as Zelensky's “careless attitude” to Ukrainian symbols.

However, the President simply came close to the monument and laid flowers. Then he immediately got up and walked away from the monument. He did not make any additional movements with his foot.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Zelenskyi allegedly deliberately ignores Ukrainian refugees during foreign visits and does not try to solve their problems. Like, Volodymyr Zelenskyi visits foreign countries only for self-promotion, forgetting about the Ukrainians and the war.

StopFake's fact-checkers analyzed this case and explained that Zelenskyi often addresses Ukrainians abroad, thanks other governments for asylum, and also repeatedly talks about the need for a strategy to return refugees home. The President himself makes trips abroad for tete-a-tete talks with allies, with whom he discusses the challenges of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Experts cited as an example the visit of Volodymyr Zelenskyi to Poland, where during a meeting with the President and First Lady of Poland, Zelenskyi thanked the Poles for providing asylum. Fact-checkers explain that this is not an isolated case.

This message is beneficial to propagandists in order to discredit Zelenskyi and show as if he does not care about Ukrainians, but thinks only of himself. Thus, the authors seek to show the “indifference” of Volodymyr Zelenskyi to the Ukrainians.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that a Turkish humor magazine recently published a cover featuring Volodymyr Zelenskyi tied to a pole with burning military equipment. Also, on the cover was an inscription, as if Zelenskyi was exclaiming it: “How great that we will soon be in NATO!”. It is not true.

Fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation investigated this case and found that such a cover does not exist. On the fake cover it is indicated that this is the 26th issue of 2023 (2023 \ 26). Although this number belongs to another cover, released on July 12th.

Thus propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric is also being repeated in the West. So readers may get the impression that the whole world is opposed to Ukraine.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports describe how, on June 10, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada registered a bill on medical cannabis that regulates its use in various areas. At the same time, the authors added that already on June 28, during his speech, Volodymyr Zelenskyi noted that he would legalize marijuana so that people “endure pain, stress and trauma”.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case, and found out that during his speech the President really spoke about the need to develop the field of rehabilitation assistance in Ukraine. One of the steps is the legalization of the drug based on cannabis. He also noted that he is promoting this idea so that, first of all, people do not have to endure pain, stress and injury. That is, the propagandists simply distorted the context of Zelenskyi's quote.

Zelenskyi does not want Ukrainians to “be patient”, on the contrary, he spoke about improving the rehabilitation sector in Ukraine: opening centers, rehabilitation departments, and training specialists. The legalization of cannabis-based medicine is just one step towards improving the rehabilitation conditions for the military and war victims.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric on July 12 published a selection of British tabloid covers featuring a sex scandal involving a BBC journalist as the main topic. Russian propaganda asks a rhetorical question: “Find at least a word about Ukraine and the NATO summit …”. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications paid attention to the case. They note that The Sun, Daily Mirror, Daily Star and others “traditionally prefer the “yellow” theme”. And some of the most popular and authoritative socio-political publications, such as The Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, not only wrote articles, but also covered the announcements of materials about Ukraine and the NATO summit on the first pages.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the UK and promote the view that the West is tired of the war in Ukraine and ignores the news related to it. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the German edition of Handelsblatt published a cover with Volodymyr Zelenskyi who cannot get into the NATO door.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that Polish President Andrzej Duda and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi met in Lutsk and implemented the first stage of the Warsaw Union. Like, then the Poles will seize part of Ukraine. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Liar) project drew attention to the case. Andrzej Duda and Volodymyr Zelenskyi did meet on July 9 and led the events to perpetuate the memory of all the victims of World War II and the 80th anniversary of the Volyn tragedy. The President of Poland wrote on his Facebook page to “demonstrate friendship in the face of a complex history”.

Russian propagandists systematically spread disinformation about Poland to convince Ukrainians that they want to take over Western Ukraine. Russian propaganda is trying to sow discord between Poland and Ukraine. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that NATO could agree to send troops to the territory of Ukraine.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric distribute the cover of the German satirical publication Handelsblatt featuring Volodymyr Zelenskyi. The President of Ukraine goes to the doors, on which the NATO emblem is painted. The propagandists are promoting the message that Ukraine will never get there. It's fake.

The case was investigated by fact-checkers of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation. There is no such cover on the official website of the newspaper. The barcode marked on the issue with Volodymyr Zelenskyi belongs to another issue. Moreover, this issue allegedly came out as number 134, but no such issue exists.

Russian propaganda systematically distributes fake covers of foreign magazines and newspapers. Thus, Russian propagandists seek to show that the West does not really support Ukraine, does not respect and ridicule Zelenskyi, and the Ukrainian agenda is a good reason to laugh. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the American magazine The Nation dedicated the cover to Zelenskyi calling him an “evil boy”.

In the Polish segment of Facebook, a video recording of the visit of the President of Ukraine to Prague is being distributed. During a meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel, Zelenskyi was booed. The video is also accompanied by the caption: “Television will not show this! Zelenskyi was booed in the Czech Republic”. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Demagog project drew attention to the case. Volodymyr Zelenskyi did meet with Czech President Petr Pavel on July 6, 2023, but no one booed him. The video shared on Facebook is edited. The original footage of the meeting was posted by CNN Prima News, with only the music in the background.

Thus, the Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the assistance of the Czech Republic, to convince everyone that the West is already tired of the war and is not on the side of Ukraine. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that Zelenskyi turned to the French amid protests and said that peace would return with Ukraine.