Modified: 26/02/2025 - 20:16
3 min
Deepfakes, specious videos of Ukrainian soldiers and false narratives about Zelensky buying luxury properties -- some of which have circulated for years -- have resurfaced online, inflaming anti-Ukraine sentiment three years into Russia's invasion.
AFP has also debunked fresh lies, including false claims that Zelensky banned Trump's Truth Social platform in Ukraine.
Researchers say much of the disinformation spreading among Americans was previously seeded by Russia, with some of the influence campaigns that sought to affect US elections increasingly focused on the Ukrainian president.
"We have observed a notable resurgence in anti-Ukraine disinformation narratives across US social media, many of which appear to be repurposed content from prior Russian influence campaigns," said McKenzie Sadeghi, an analyst with the misinformation watchdog NewsGuard.
The claims intensified following Trump's attacks on Zelensky, whom he called a "dictator."
"Trump's comments seem to have sparked renewed interest in anti-Ukraine narratives that had faded," Sadeghi told AFP.
The president's son Donald Trump Jr and conservative influencer Kyle Becker promoted a long-debunked deepfake of Zelensky dancing.
Another Trump ally, Republican Senator Mike Lee, amplified dubious footage that purported to show Ukrainian soldiers setting fire to a Trump effigy, while other prominent X accounts shared a clip supposedly depicting the country's troops burning copies of...
Member of the group DJ DOC, Lee Ha-neul has announced a counter-suit against singer Jubi Train and the representative of his agency BASS Camp Studio. On the 21st, BASS Camp Studio issued an offici...