In this viral video, Zelensky is taken out of context
The general consensus among Russian and Ukrainian speakers is that President Zelensky did not directly insult or address JD Vance. It’s not an insult, it’s a sign of irritation, not towards a person, but towards a situation. A notification on the social network X explains this context–that the word is a sign of general frustration, not an insult
The general consensus among Russian and Ukrainian speakers is that President Zelensky did not directly insult or address JD Vance. It’s not an insult, it’s a sign of irritation, not towards a person, but towards a situation. A notification on the social network X explains this context–that the word is a sign of general frustration, not an insult
We analyze a Facebook post claiming the following:
Zelensky swore at Vance with a Russian swear word, су́ка блядь, [suka blyad], (bitch, whore). Is this what the end looks like? Follow the Macedonian channel for news about the new post-Western world…
General consensus coming from native Russian speakers is that President Zelensky did not directly insult JD Vance. One user who has a degree in Russian philology says that this word, yes, it translates to the word “bitch” but only when used as a noun, so when referring to a place, person, or thing. Another user in this answer to the post contacted a friend in Belarus who says the same thing, it is not necessarily an insult, but a sign of irritation, not towards a person, but towards a situation. As there was also a fact-check made by X on a post also explaining this context. This says it is more of a sign of general frustration than an insult, so it seems to be a normal swear word in Russian or Ukrainian culture, say fact-checkers at France 24 in their video.
As Snopes fact-checkers write, the audio of the available recording of the meeting was not clear enough to prove without doubt what Zelensky said, other than that it began with an “s” sound.
Furthermore, even if Zelensky did say “suka,” that wouldn’t necessarily mean he was insulting Vance directly. The term can also be a general expletive in Ukrainian. The word can also be an all-purpose expletive aimed at a situation rather than an individual, Snopes writes.
Yuri Shevchuk, a senior lecturer in Ukrainian at Columbia University, said over email that he was not convinced that what Zelensky said was “suka.”
Shevchuk said he was unable to tell exactly what Zelensky said, but that he believed it was likely ‘something situationally equivalent to the English, ‘Oh, not again!’ Snopes writes.
Krystyna Golovakova, a lecturer in the Russian and Ukrainian languages at Cornell University, described “suka” as “a widely used profanity in Ukrainian.”
While it literally means “female dog,” it is commonly used to express frustration, anger, irritation, or exasperation, she explained for Snopes.
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