Does a real photo show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wearing platform dress shoes during a press conference? No, that's not true: Real photos and official video from the Oct. 23, 2025, European Council event in Brussels show Zelenskyy wearing black sneakers, not platform shoes. No credible source has published or verified the photo as authentic.
The claim appeared in a post made by the account @ninnyd101 on X on Sept. 24, 2026 (archived here). The post included an image of what looked like Zelenskyy in high dress shoes, and was captioned:
When you have a hight complex for them photos.
This is what the image in the post looked like on X:
(Image source: post by @ninnyd101 on X.)
A Google Image search (archived here) revealed other social media posts that include the image, along with other fact checks that debunk the claim that the image is a real photo. The results did not include any official news or government sources. A screenshot of some of the results is included below:
(Image source: Google Images.)
Similarly, searches on Google News (archived here) and Yahoo News (archived here) of the combined keywords "Zelenskyy," "platform shoes" and "press conference" did not generate any top results that corroborate the claim.
As outlined in a fact check from Les Surligneurs (archived here), the distinctive background and the red carpet in the image is similar to that of the Europa building (archived here) in Brussels. Zelenskyy also appears to be standing next to a person who looks like António Costa (archived here), president of the European Council. Similar images of Zelenskyy and Costa were captured on Oct. 23, 2025, during a visit by Zelenskyy to speak with the council (archived here).
Lead Stories could not locate a real photo that -- minus the platform shoes -- looks exactly like the one featured in the claim in the post. The absence of a matching image to the one in the claim suggests that the image may have been digitally altered. However, there are real images such as this photo posted on Shutterstock (archived here) that show Zelenskyy and Costa speaking with the press in the Europa building on Oct. 23, 2025. In official footage -- like this video (archived here) from the European Council -- Zelenskyy is wearing what looks like all-black sneakers that are not platforms. An example of a real image from the event is included below:
(Image source: Cristi Dangelgeorge on Shutterstock.)
Besides Les Surligneurs, other outlets that have fact checked this claim include AFP and France24.
