Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Did Volodymyr Zelenskyy announce that he would "no longer take a call from Xi Jinping?" No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the Ukrainian president made the comment about Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Lead Stories previously debunked another made-up quote from the same Twitter account. The claim appeared as a post published on Twitter on April 6, 2023…

Is there evidence that children in Ukraine are being punished for questioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no information that supported this statement. Additionally, an image used to support this claim is not related to the claim. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published on Twitter on February 18, 2023. It included…

Did Polish media "accidentally" catch on camera Volodymyr Zelenskyy's lookalike as he followed the Ukrainian leader during President Joe Biden's February 20, 2023, visit to Kyiv? No, that's not true: The person seen following the Ukrainian president is his bodyguard Maksym Donets, who has been photographed and filmed many times in public settings with the president. Social media posts shared…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say the United States should send its sons and daughters to war now to fight for Ukraine against Russia? No, that's not true: His quote was taken out of context. Zelenskyy was addressing a hypothetical situation of what he believes would happen if Ukraine were to lose the war and Russia were to enter the…

During his February 20, 2023, trip to Ukraine, did President Joe Biden promise Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "stake in the United States" as a reward for "staying the course"? No, that's not true: This claim was published by a site known for printing fake news stories. The claim was part of an article with other debunked claims, including one…

Did new graffiti negatively portraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appear in London? No, that's not true: Based on analysis of open-source data, Lead Stories identified the location of the purported drawing as Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich, Switzerland. The Lindt Home of Chocolate spokesperson confirmed to Lead Stories that the posts in question showed the front of their building,…

Did an image of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy depicting him as a "locust" eating up budgets around the world appear in New York City's Central Park as of January 10, 2023? No, that's not true. A Lead Stories reporter found no traces of it and the NYC Parks Press Office denied seeing such a drawing. The claim appeared in a…

Did the BBC post a graph that showed a dramatic increase in the "Fortunes of Ukrainian politicians" between February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and December 2022, after the receipt of billions of dollars in U.S. assistance? No, that's not true: The BBC did not post this image, which has been widely distributed on social media.…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bring a national flag with the "Nazi SS" symbol to Washington, D.C.? No, that's not true: The image circulating on social media was flipped to distort the original inscription. The claim appeared in a post published on Facebook on December 23, 2022. It contained an image showing U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President…

Does the image in this tweet document Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska on what appears to be a private jet after she spent "€40000 on a shopping trip in Paris"? No, that's not true: The image is a digital manipulation that puts her face on a selfie posted by a bitcoin promoter in August of 2022 on his Twitter feed.…