Donald Trump's criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House led to a surge in misinformation about Ukraine's president, alleging that he swore at Trump, staged the war and misused USAID funds for propaganda.
The claim, shared across Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and X (archived) in the form of an image, read:
The President of Ukraine owns a 35 million dollar home in Florida and has $1.2 billion in a overseas bank account. Zelensky owns 15 homes, 3 private planes, and has a monthly income of 11 million dollars. Why is no one questioning where our AID is going?
However, there was no proof of any of the claims shared within the image.
Verdict: False.
The video shows a behind-the-scenes look at a music video for a song called "Brothers" by Misha Scorpion and Vitsik, not Ukrainian soldiers "faking combat."
Claim: A photograph authentically showed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska posing in front of stacks of money.
Rating: Fake
Users are now sharing a viral video claiming to show crisis actors faking injuries for the Ukrainian army in order to "solicit" more money from allies. We debunk these claims in this edition of Truth or Fake.
Claim: Ukraine was caught faking combat scenes to ask for more money from the US.
Fact: This video does not show Ukrainian soldiers creating fake combat scenes. It's a behind-the-scenes shot from a music video.
Claim: On Feb. 28, 2025, before a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Democrats who convinced him to reject a deal that would allow the U.S. to exploit minerals in Ukraine in exchange for U.S. support in Ukraine's war with Russia.
Rating: Mixture.
What's True: Zelenskyy did meet with Democratic U.S. senators ...
What's False: ... but that meeting also included at least three Republican senators. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, emphatically rejected claims that the Democrats of the U.S. Senate delegation had dissuaded Zelenskyy from taking the minerals deal. Further, Zelenskyy confirmed to reporters two days after the meeting that his country was ready to accept the deal.
We take a look at the viral claims made by President Trump and others about Ukraine over the last two weeks.
A video with millions of engagements on X purports to show a New York Post video reporting that the US government's humanitarian agency paid Time $4 million to feature Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on its magazine cover as its 2022 Person of the Year. But the supposed report is fake, and the claims it makes are inaccurate, according to the New York Post and Time.
Russia's war against Ukraine is not only a military confrontation, but Moscow is also deliberately targetting the Ukrainian president with disinformation and narratives that seek to discredit him. In early February 2025, posts on social media falsely claimed that Volodymyr Zelensky had purchased a property known as the Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden in the southern German state of Bavaria. However, the site -- which was closely associated with the Nazis during World War II and is a popular tourist destination even today -- is still owned by the state authorities. Furthermore, the false claims seem to have originated from a Russian disinformation network.