While the majority of misinformation in the war between Russia and Ukraine has concentrated on the conflict's front lines, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's wife Olena Zelenska, has been a repeat victim of falsehoods, with allegations she lives a glamorous lifestyle off the taxpayer's checkbook.
In December 2022, the Ukrainian First Lady was falsely accused of using a diplomatic trip to France to go on a $40,000 shopping spree in Paris.
In October this year, another rumor went viral that she had spent $1.1 million at the Cartier store in New York, again while on diplomatic business. Neither claim was based on real evidence.
It now seems these rumors of exorbitance are multiplying with a new claim that Zelenska bought her own island paradise.
The post was highlighted by BBC Verify journalist Olga Robinson, who screengrabbed a frame from a Russian TikTok video of a mystery island, stating alongside: "Lenka Zelenska bragging about her new purchase. Some people are living the life as others suffer."
Robinson posted another screengrab, taken from what looked like a property website, listing a 26-acre private island called "PUMPKIN KEY," similar to the screengrab pulled from TikTok.
"This is the 3rd false claim about her I've seen in the past few months," Robinson wrote.
Much like the Paris spending spree and Cartier shopping claims, this latest rumor about Olena Zelensky is bogus.
At the time of publication, few other reposts beyond a couple of examples on TikTok that ...
By the third quarter of 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has made plain that it will continue using the False Claims Act (FCA) to advance administration priorities. While the focus on diversi...