Following Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, a photo of a woman dressed in military fatigues was shared hundreds of times in social media posts that claimed she is "the wife of the elected president of Ukraine". This is false: the photo shows a Ukrainian soldier during a military parade rehearsal in August 2021. As of March 11, 2022, there have been no official reports that the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, has been directly involved in armed combat.

The photo was shared here on Twitter on February 27, 2022.

The post's simplified Chinese-language caption translates to English as: "The wife of the elected president of Ukraine!"

Russia's invasion of its pro-Western neighbour has since led to deadly conflict and a mounting civilian disaster, killing hundreds and forcing two million to flee in less than two weeks.

In an open letter to the global media on March 8, 2022, Olena Zelenska described the invasion as "mass murder of Ukrainian civilians" and called for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Ukraine, AFP reported.

As of March 11, 2022, there have been no official reports that she or her husband Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been directly involved in the fighting.

The same photo was shared hundreds of times alongside a similar claim here and here on Twitter.

However, the claim is false.

Ukraine soldier

A reverse image search on Google found the image published by UK-based photo agency Alamy on its website on August 22, 2021.

The photo is captioned: "Kyiv, Ukraine -...

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