A photo of a man standing next to a caramel gold-colored Rolls-Royce Ghost luxury car in Kyiv has been shared alongside unevidenced and misleading claims that it belongs to the Head of the National Bank of Ukraine.
The claim, which appeared to have been amplified by Russian state media outlets and Kremlin-friendly Telegram channels, has also been widely shared by right-wing commentators in the U.S. and prominent conspiracy theorists alongside anti-Ukraine narratives.
Newsweek Misinformation Watch looked into the origins of the viral photo, separating the facts from the fiction.
"Well looky here. The Head of the Ukrainian national bank has bought himself a new Rolls-Royce. Keep donating to Ukraine.....times are so tough," David Vance, a right-wing blogger who was suspended from Twitter in 2022 following accusations of racism, wrote in a tweet that received more than 2.7 million views.
"Andriy Pyshnyi, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, has purchased a new Rolls Royce. CONGRATS!" wrote Stew Peters, whose account in December 2022 was reinstated on Twitter after a lengthy ban for sharing anti-vaccine and conspiracy theorist materials.
"Remember the scene in Goodfellas after The Lufthansa Heist when the guy buys a pink Cadillac and a mink coat and De Niro kicks off and tells them to take it back.
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This is Ukraine's Finance Minister with his new Rolls Royce," another tweet with more than 30,000 views said.
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