Fact-checkers from StopFake have drawn attention to an edited screenshot allegedly taken from a publication by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that is being circulated in the pro-Russian segment of social media.

The fake headline claims that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is willing to hold elections if he receives genuine security guarantees from the United States, but only on the condition that the vote count is conducted by the government itself. Propagandists accompany this fabricated message with mocking comments such as: “Give him money for elections, but just take his word for it”.

The original article states that Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his readiness to organize presidential elections in Ukraine within two to three months, provided that adequate security guarantees could be ensured. The President emphasized that he expected assistance from the United States, particularly in coordination with European partners, to create the necessary conditions for holding the vote. There was no mention whatsoever of any special vote-counting procedure or of the government controlling the counting of ballots.

At the same time, the issue of elections in Ukraine has been actively commented on by Donald Trump, who views them as one of the possible elements of a peace settlement to the war. In one interview, the U.S. president stated that Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s prolonged stay in office was “undemocratic”, while at the same time acknowledging that Ukrainians could re-elect him for a second term.