On December 8th, 2022, a Georgian-speaking Facebook user published a post, according to which the Russian hacker group RaHDit leaked photos depicting the private life of Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska. The post is accompanied by a photo collage; one photo features Olena Zelenska herself, while in the second photo, the bodies of two women are covered with a black square and the inscription “+18”, which creates the impression that the photo shows Olena Zelenska naked. The post also includes a link to the Russian Telegram channel Первый Народный. According to the description, the channel contains the remaining pictures of Zelenska.
At various times, the same information and photo collages were distributed among Russian-language Facebook accounts as well (1,2).
The photo is being disseminated with a false description and creates the impression that Olena Zelenska has made a nude photograph together with a friend. In fact, in the authentic version of the photo, both Zelenska and her friend are wearing swimsuits. The mentioned Facebook post is a clickbait and aims to gain new subscribers to the telegram channel Первый Народный. In addition, the hacker group RaHDit has bever leaked personal photos of the First Lady of Ukraine.
The original version of the photo circulating on Facebook, which shows Olena Zelenska wearing a swimsuit, was published on the official Instagram account of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on August 11th, 2017. With the post, Zelenskyy wished their family friend, Ira Pikalova, a happy birthday.
The post disseminated on Facebook is clickbait and serves to attract subscribers to the Telegram channel Первый Народный. The post’s description urges users to “quickly go to the link” to “see” the photos until they are still available. Access to the channel is available upon request. No information about Olena Zelenska’s personal life is published on the channel. The channel publishes various news stories and anti-Ukrainian content.
It is also important to underscore that the Russian hacking group RaHDit has never leaked photos of Olena Zelenska. According to Russian media, the group publishes information related to its activities on the website НемеZида. (The site is probably blocked and currently unavailable). The group also has a Telegram channel with the same name. According to a Telegram post, the group consists of “IT volunteers” and “OSINT people” (open-source researchers). The group is characterized by anti-Ukrainain sentiments and opposes the “return of Nazism”. Information and photos related to Olena Zelenska cannot be found on the group’s Telegram channel.
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