No stopping the disinformation—Kremlin’s megaphones reach a fever pitch

It is claimed, without any evidence, that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) paid $4 million to declare Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “Person of the Year.” Also, the Kremlin’s media megaphone, Sputnik , spread disinformation that the Verkhovna Rada refused to extend Zelensky’s term

 

 

Author: Matej Trojachanec

 

After the start of the second term of US President Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky was among the first statesmen to visit the White House. Although relations between the two presidents were decent before this meeting, now they are somehow quite strained. This meeting was tense and high-pitched, there was a verbal argument, and at one point Trump even threatened Zelensky that he was “gambling with World War III”. In another appearance, Trump blamed Zelensky for the war with Russia, emphasizing that he “could have reached a deal” for peace.

All of this has presented itself as a cherry on top for Russian propaganda networks, which have had a strategic mission to sideline the Ukrainian president for years. Truthmeter.mk has reviewed a huge amount of disinformation targeting Zelensky and his family, and because of this whole chaotic situation with Trump, there is a surge of yet another bunch of new disinformation, as well as a repetition of old narratives.

Disinformation about Zelensky follows several patterns. Some claim that he is misusing foreign aid for luxury purchases (villas, cars, and yachts). Another corpus of manipulated content uses AI-generated images and videos depicting false actions that Zelensky did not commit (here, here, here, and here). The worst disinformation pattern portrays him as a fascist and dictator who provoked the war.

At the same time, new disinformation is spreading, but this time with an American twist. On X (formerly Twitter), a lie began to spread that the United States Agency for International Development, colloquially known as USAID, paid Time magazine $4 million to declare Zelensky “Person of the Year” and put him on their cover:

 

This post went viral to the point that it spread to several countries and was reviewed by fellow fact-checkers from AFP and 20minutes (France), Delfi and 15min (Lithuania), Info Veritas (Spain), Demagog (Poland), Raskrinkavanje (Montenegro), and Ellinika Hoaxes (Greece). In short, the post (which, although deleted, is archived here) shares a video, supposedly from the American New York Post, which supposedly confirms this “fact”. However, colleagues from AFP checked with the New York Post, where they confirmed that no such video exists. They also checked the allegations with Time magazine, where they say:

“TIME was not paid by USAID or any other entity to select Zelensky as Person of the Year, which is chosen solely by TIME’s editors,” the spokesperson said for AFP.

The alleged four million dollar amount cannot even be found on the government website usaspending.gov, where expenses can be searched.

 

The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation also confirmed that this is false information:

❗️A fake video is spreading on the social network X, allegedly from the American publication New York Post, claiming that USAID supposedly paid Time magazine $4 million to name Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “Person of the Year.” pic.twitter.com/b4auXn5nYQ

— Center for Countering Disinformation (@CforCD) February 27, 2025

The next disinformation circulating across social networks is that Zelensky has lost the trust not only of his own people, but also of the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament). The Kremlin’s media megaphone—Sputnik—published the “news” that the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada refused to extend his mandate, and it was quickly picked up by Novosti.rs and Vijesti365.rs .

 

As colleagues from Raskrinkavanje write, but also as Truthmeter.mk has already written, even though Zelensky’s five-year term was supposed to end last year, the Ukrainian constitution provides that in exceptional cases, such as during a state of war, the term of office of the president and the Verkhovna Rada can be extended. This means, first of all, that the term of office is extended even after the official expiration, and lasts until the state of war ends or until safe elections can be organized again in which there will be no threat of Russian bombing.

 

Secondly, Resolution No. 13038, which was discussed by the Ukrainian parliament on February 24, has nothing to do with the legal process for extending Zelensky’s term. In fact, the “Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada on Supporting Democracy in Ukraine in the Context of the Aggression of the Russian Federation” confirms the impossibility of holding free and fair elections in Ukraine while the country is in a state of emergency and the war is still ongoing. It also confirms Ukraine’s commitment to schedule and hold elections as soon as a ceasefire is established.

 

It is true that the Resolution did not receive the necessary 226 votes to be voted on in the Assembly. However, one day later, on February 25, the same resolution received the necessary votes and affirmed the elections after the ceasefire, whenever that might happen.

 

All of the old disinformation, but especially the new has one goal—to undermine the reputation and support that Zelensky receives from the people and international partners. Furthermore, given that disinformation campaigns targeting Ukraine and its president have persisted for years, it is certain that these two latest attacks will not be the last. Such narratives will undoubtedly continue to spread as long as Zelensky remains a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

 

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