Disinformation spikes after Trump-Zelenskyy row- DW- 03/06/2025

Ukrainian Head of State Volodymyr Zelenskyy Has Actually Been A Target of Pro-Russian Publicity for Several Years, Yet A Fresh Wave of Allegations and Character Assassination Versus Him and His Nation Online.

This should Current Disinformation Campaign was Sustained by a Current Disagreement within the Oblong Workplace in Between Sticking Zelenskyy, Us Head of State Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance.

“Newsguard has Seen a Significant Increas in False Claims About Ukraine on Us Social Media in Recent Weeks, Particularly Sion Donald Trump Accused Volodymyr Zelensky For Us Military Support, Madeline Roache, Managing Editor at Misinformation Watchdog Newsguard, Told DW.

“We’ve Seen an Avalanche of Different Disinformation Campaigns, Influence Campaigns, Different Means Trying to Portray President Zelensky Personaly As a Bad Leader, The Person That That That Man Made Made Everything Wrong And That Ukraine is Bad, Corrupt and Should Stop the War. Ukraine needs to extend the battle Rather Than Stop it, “Roman Osadchuk, to Open Source and Disinformation Researer on the National University of Kyiv, Told DW.

Many of those insurance coverage claims line up with pro-Russian publicity tales relating to the War in Ukraine, Often Depicting Zelenskyy as Corrupt and Profiting from the issue. From February 18 to February 24, 2025, Newsguard Identified About 27,600 Social Media Posts and Articles Mentaling “Zelenskyy” Alongside Terms Like “Villa,” ”“ ”Winery,“ OR ”Mansion“- A 2.524% Increas From the Previous Six-Day Period, What is 1,050 Search Points out.

DW Fact Check Investigated Some of the Viral Claims.

Did Zelenskyy Swear at Trump on Camera in London?

Claim: “Zelensky Burning a very Big Bridge,” claimedOn X User in a Post That Garnered 4 million sights. The weblog submit included a video clip purportedly displaying zelenskyy swears at Trump While Arriving to satisfy UK Prime Minister Keir Strandmer, The Day after their argument in theoval workplace the video, Originally Posted on TiktokSuggest Zelenskyy Utilized Words “F *** Him” Or “F *** Trump” to Reporters on his Method Inside, using a “beep” audio with the intention to cowl the supposed expantive.

DW Fact Check: False.

A Comparison of the Original footage (so here and here) of Zelensky’s Arrival at 10 Downing Street with Theshared Video Shows that The Ukrainian President Neither Mationed Trump Nor Used Any Explanvia Against Him “Mr. President, how what the trip? How do you feel? ” One of this requested “Okay, Thanks you so much”, Zelenskyy Recommended.

Did Zelenskyy Demand American’s Fight in Ukraine?

Claim: President Zelenskyy “Demanded” that the us Send Its “Sons And Daughters” to Fight Inucraine This Claim Appeared in Several Viral Posts On XAcompanied by a letter video through which zelenskyy say, “The us must ship their nons and daughters precisely the identical manner as we’re sending our nons and daughters to battle. And she must combat … and she or he will likely be dying. “

The video clip What shared by Users Search as Alex Jones, An American Far-Right Radio Host With A History of Spreading Conspiracy Theories, Reaching Millions of Viewers.

DW Fact Check: False

The video is fromA Speech Zelenskyy Gave on February 24, 2023 In it, he did not Call for us troops to combat inukraine as an alternative, he was going over a theoretical state of affairs through which ukraine sheds the battle. Zelenskyy Warned that if russia had been to get into NATO’s Baltic States, The Us and Other Nato Allies will surely be obliged to step in Under Article 5 of Nato’s Treaty.

His full quote is: “If ukraine loses, russia is going to Enter Baltic States, nato states, then the us will have to send their sons and daughters exactly in the same way as we are send our nons and daughters to war.”

Did USAID Spend for Pro-Ukrainian Bots and Fakes About Russia?

Claim: Fox News Reported that USAID Pays $ 140 million Per Month to Ukraine’s Psychological and Information Warfare Center to Create Pro-Ukrainian Bots and Fake News Regarding Russia.

An Adjusted Screenshot of a Supposed Fox Newspaper Article February 10, 2025 Has Actually Distributed on Social Media Sites -Consisting of X” Reddit” Telegram andFacebook The altered picture Claims USAID Funds Ukraine’s “Psychological and Information Warfare Center” at a Rate of $ 140 Million The Screenshot Features A Fox News Journalist’s byline and a Declared Declaration Insisting That The Facility Has Actual BEN FABricAcacating Material and Releasing Crawlers Srression 2022.

DW Fact Check: False.

Fox Information Never Ever Released Search A Tale. A spokes particular person Told Reuters that no search submit exists. Additionally, Journalist Aubrie Spady’s Author Page on the Fox News WebsiteContains No Record of Thealleged Article the Timestamp within the Screenshot Matches A different report Showing that the image was repurposed to unfold out the wrong insurance coverage declare.

A Consider Main Us Information, in keeping with Exposes Importing Information Regarding This Insurance Claim. A 2024 Report (Pages 24–27) By the Special Inspector General to the Us Congress, which Monitored Government Activity Related to Ukraine Between 2022 and 2024, Explained Congress Appropriated $ 182.75 Billion for Ukraine-Related EFFORFS. USAID’s Share was Approximately $ 39.9 Billion, with the Bulk Allocated to Humanitarian Aid, Governance Programs, and Public Service Support.

There was no reference of a $ 140-million-per-month discbursement to a “Psychological and Information Warfare Center.”

If USAID Were Spending $ 140 million Each Month (Roughhly $ 1.68 Billion Annually) on a Solitary Program, that Quantity would Certainly Tower Over The Firm’s Entry Allocate Operating Costs, Evaluation, Evaluation, Evaluation length.

According to The Ukrainian Ministry of DefenseThe “Psychological Operations Unit” Belongs to Its Special Operations Forces (SOF). A January 2025 US Department of State Fact Sheet On US Armed Forces Help to Ukraine Stated that SOF Received a Total of $ 42 million, which was designated for coaching and Various different Services to Develop Sof and Ukraine’s National Guard, Conventional Forces, Non-Commissioned Officer Corps, and Combat Medical Care Sion 2014.

Did Ukraine Stage War Scenes to Obain Even more money from the United States?

Claim: “Ukraine ‘Soldiers’ have resorted to faking combat in order to appear ‘was torn’ So the slush find from the us keepers churning money their way!” claimedAn X User, Posting A Video Showing A Woman in Combat Uniform Receiving Professional Makeup and Asking in Ukrainian Whether She Should Tighten.

The Post Went Viral, Garnering 8.1 million sights. The Video, Along with the Claim, so Cooperated Different Languages, Consisting of German” Russian andSpanish

DW Fact Check: False.

The video clip within the weblog submit not illustrate a introduced was publicity scene inukraine as an alternative, it was shot by the manufacturing unit of the video for the monitor “Brothers” by Ukrainian artists misha scorpion andvistyk

The Video Clip, Presenting The Username “@Vitsikkk2”, What at First postedOn the tikk account of the musician vitsyk, that could be a paramedic provide in Theukrainian military he responded to allegations of manufacturing a pretend battle film in Another TikTok video: “I Want to Appeal to Those who are trying to raise the number on our music video … as if we were making a movie, as if the war in Ukraine was a movie … we are here, we are fighting, we are evacuating, we are winning.”

The girl enjoying the position of the killed paramedic within the music video isn’t anactress Either Her identify is mariana chacheliuk, a 25-year-old coverage from Mariupol Who Remained in Russian bondage for higher than freed in May 2024. The Music Video Which confirmed up on youtube merely a Week previous to this submit was launched.

Similar Claims Have Been Common In Past Russian Propaganda, Often Accusing Ukraine Offaking Atrocities DW’s Fact Check Has Debunked Such Narratives, Consisting of the Alleged “Living Corps” After the Bucha Massacre and Claims That Air Attack Victims in Kyiv Were “Sted.”