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 is rising online.

This most current disinformation Campaign was sustained by a current disagreement in 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, TOLD Dw.

“We’ve Seen an Avalanche of Different Disinformation Campaigns, Influence Campaigns, Different Means Trying to Portray President Zelenskyy Personaly as a Bad Leader, The Person That That Person That That Made Made Everything Wrong And That Ukraine is Bad, Corrupt and Should Stop The War. Ukraine wants to prolong the war Rather Than Stop It, “Roman Osadchuk, An Open Source and Disinformation Researer at the National University of Kyiv, Told DW.

Many of these insurance claims line up with pro-Russian publicity stories regarding the War in Ukraine, Often Depicting Zelenskyy as Corrupt and Profiting from the problem. 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, which 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 blog post includes a video clip purportedly Showing Zelenskyy Swearing at Trump While Arriving to Meet Uk Prime Minister Keir Starmer, The Day After Their Argument in theOval Office The Video, Originally Posted on TiktokSuggest Zelenskyy utilized words “f *** Him”Or “f *** Trump” to Reporters on his method inside, utilizing a “beep” audio in order to cover 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 Explantives Against Him “Mr. President, how was the trip? How do you feel?” One of theReporters Asked “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 inUkraine This Claim Appeared in Several Viral Posts On XAccompanied by a brief video in which Zelenskyy Says, “The Us Will have to send their nons and daughters exactly the same way as we are sending our nons and daughters to war. And they will have to fight … and they will 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 Didn’t Call for Us Troops to Fight inUkraine Instead, he was going over a theoretical situation in which ukraine sheds the battle. Zelenskyy Warned that if russia were to get into NATO’s Baltic States, The Us and Other Nato Allies would certainly be obliged to step in under Article 5 of Nato’s Treaty.

His complete 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 dated February 10, 2025 has actually distributed on social media sites -consisting of X,, Reddit,, Telegram andFacebook The Altered Image Claims USAID Funds Ukraine’s “Psychological and Information Warfare Center” at a Rate of $ 140 million byMonth The Screenshot Features A Fox News Journalist’s byline and a declared declaration insisting that the facility has actually been fabricacating material and releasing crawlers sression 2022.

DW Fact Check: False.

Fox information never ever released search a tale. A spokes individual Told Reuters that no search post exists. Additionally, Journalist Aubrie Spady’s Author Page on the Fox News WebsiteContains no Record of theAlleged Article The Timestamp in the Screenshot Matches A different report showing that the picture was repurposed to spread out the incorrect insurance claim.

A consider main us information, so 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 enttire allocate operating costs, evaluation, and health and wellness programs incorporated throughout the exact same duration.

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 training and various other 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 obtain even more cash 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 Her.

The Post Went Viral, Garnering 8.1 million sights. The Video, Along with the Claim, so what cooperated Different Languages, consisting of German,, Russian andSpanish

DW Fact Check: False.

The video clip in the blog post does not illustrate a presented was publicity scene inUkraine Instead, it was shot throughout the manufacturing of the video for the track “Brothers” by Ukrainian Artists Misha Skorpion andVistyk

The video clip, presenting the username “@vitsikkk2”, what at first postedOn the tikk account of the musician vitsyk, that is a paramedic offering in theUkrainian Army He Responded to Allegations of Producing A Fake War Movie 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 Woman Playing the Role of the Killed Paramedic in the Music Video is not anActress Either Her name is mariana chacheliuk, A 25-year-old Police policeman from Mariupol Who remained in Russian bondage for greater than 2 years and was freed in May 2024. She can be clear determined in The Music Video which showed up on youtube simply a week prior to this post was released.

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 Corpses” After the Bucha Massacre and Claims That Air Attack Victims in Kyiv Were “Sted.”