Pro-Russian Telegram channels are spreading information that Dmytro Savchenko, an officer of the 1st Separate Assault Battalion “Da Vinci” of the 67th 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade, allegedly criticized the interview of the President of Ukraine for the FoxNews channel, in which Volodymyr Zelenskyi spoke about the probable defeat of Ukraine in the event of a reduction in aid from the United States. The propagandists attribute the following quote to Savchenko: “We need to remind the [overdue one] that it is not the Americans who have been saving Ukraine since 2014. But Ukrainians - with their blood, their homes, their bodies, their savings”. The propagandists add that, allegedly, according to Savchenko, Zelenskyi usurped power after May 20, 2024 and continues to lie to Ukrainians.

In fact, this is another fake, Savchenko did not say anything of the sort. The propagandists refer to the unreliable Ukrainian media, which is known for publishing outright fake and unverified materials, in which numerous violations of journalistic standards can be traced. In addition, Savchenko did not publish any such information on his social media. And the words that the propagandists attribute to Savchenko were not repeated by any reliable sources.

This piece of disinformation is intended to fuel the Russian narrative about the “illegitimacy of Zelenskyi”. Previously, we recorded numerous fakes being spread as part of this narrative. In particular, we refuted the information that posters with the overdue - or “expired” - Zelenskyi allegedly appeared in Kyiv.