From September 30 to October 2, Russian-language Facebook accounts (1, 2, 3) and a Facebook page (1, 2) spread information that a Russian passport belonging to the wife of the Ukrainian President, Olena Zelenska, had been found in the presidential villa in Crimea. According to the post, the passport was issued years ago, before Zelenskyy was elected president. The posts are accompanied by a video showing a man taking the said passport out of a small bag.
The same information was also spread in the Russian online media (1, 2, 3.), including on the websites of Sputnik and Московский Комсомолец.
The information about the discovery of Olena Zelenska’s Russian passport is false, and the passport is fake. In fact, the photo of the First Lady of Ukraine on the passport shown in the video, was taken in 2023, which makes it impossible to be included in the document issued in 2014.
The video features a man removing money and a Russian passport from a Louis Vuitton bag. The passport contains a photo of Olena Zelenska accompanied by her personal information (name, surname, date of birth). The second page of the document displays its issuance date as April 9, 2014.
The fact that the photo attached to the document was taken from Olena Zelenska’s official Instagram account suggests that the passport is fake. The visual appearance of the photo indicates that it is relatively recent and was not taken for a passport in 2014 or earlier. This photo was posted on Olena Zelenska’s Instagram page and on the website of the President of Ukraine on March 20, 2023, and it features the First Lady speaking about the importance of the Ukrainian Center opened in Vilnius in 2022.
The photo was apparently taken in February 2023, when the First Lady recorded a video address to the Australian people wearing the same clothes, hairstyle and jewelry.
Ukrainian media outlets have also verified the information and confirmed the forgery of the passport presented (1, 2, 3).
Since February 24, 2022, a number of fake news reports have circulated about Olena Zelenska in an effort to discredit the President of Ukraine and his wife. For more information, please, refer to the articles by Myth Detector:
- Photomanipulation as if Olena Zelenska is Relaxing on a Nudist Beach in Israel
- Olena Zelenska or Millionaire Richard Heart – Who is Actually Depicted on the Fabricated Photo?
- Disinformation as if Hackers Leaked a Private Photo of Olena Zelenska
- “British Bastards” or the Human Cost of War – What was Discussed during Olena Zelenska’s Interview with the BBC?
About the sources:
A Russian-language Facebook account Τατιάνα Ριζένκοβα frequently spreads anti-Ukrainian posts, including disinformation.
A pro-Russian Facebook page Мiръ СССР has already shared a post containing false information in the past.
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