AAP FACTCHECK – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spent millions on cars and beachside property in the US, according to claims online.
This is false. The claims are based on fake stories published by websites linked to a Russian disinformation campaign.
New Zealand preacher and anti-vaccination activist Billy Te Kahika repeated the false headlines in an October 7 Facebook video.
“Why is it that he has gone from being virtually an ordinary man, a Ukrainian, who was a comedian, he had no money. To now suddenly being a very, very wealthy man,” he says of Zelensky.
“How does that happen? How does he get to buy his wife a Bugatti car? How does he get to buy real estate in Miami? How is that? Because he’s not calling the shots … he’s a comedian, he’s an actor, and he’s acting a part,” (23 minutes).
Reports of Zelensky purchasing a Bugatti car and investments in Florida real estate previously appeared on websites posing as local news outlets.
In June 2024, French website Verite Cachee reported that Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska purchased a Bugatti Tourbillon (misspelt in the story as “Turbillon”) for almost 4.5 million euros during a trip to Paris.
The story included a copy of a supposed invoice as evidence.
However, in an Instagram statement the car company called the report “fake news” and said no such transaction existed.
Reuters and USA Today both debunked the story, pointing out anomalies and spelling errors in the invoice.
There is also no evidence Zelensky bought real estate in Miami.
In November 2023, a story about his supposed purchase of a $20 million mansion in Vero Beach, Florida, appeared on the website DC Weekly.
The property featured in the article is actually located in Ponte Vedra Beach and was sold in early 2024 after being on the market for four years.
The article includes the byline of “Jessica Devlin” but uses the photo of author Judy Batalion, who is not connected to the website.
Zelensky’s name also doesn’t appear in any of the property records for Florida’s 67 counties listed on the Department of Revenue‘s website.
These fake news stories have been linked to a Russian disinformation campaign pushing propaganda to American audiences.
More than 150 fake local news websites, including Verite Cachee and DC Weekly, have been connected to John Mark Dougan, an American former police officer now living in Moscow.
The latest story about Zelensky’s spending habits comes after his visit to the US in September 2024.
A report that he purchased a Mercedes-Benz once owned by Adolf Hitler was published by the Seattle Tribune and has since spread across social media.
“Zelensky bought Hitler’s Mercedes … ,” a Facebook post is captioned, with an image of the car supposedly outside an office in Kyiv.
“The car has been seen at the beginning of October at the presidentiel [sic] building of 11 Bankova at Kiev, when Zelensky arrived. The amount paid by the dictator for the Mercedes-Benz is unknown, but experts say that the car is worth around 15M $.”
A reverse image search shows the image has been edited using two separate pictures of the building and the car.
The original photo of the Mercedes has been online since at least 2018, while the photo of the president’s office was taken in 2021.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked claims made by Billy Te Kahika.
The Verdict
False – The claims are inaccurate.
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