Russian propaganda spreads fake story about Zelensky's 'Russian passport,' property in Moscow

Propagandists forged an investigation allegedly carried out by hackers and attributed it to a Ukrainian media outlet.

Russian media and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels are circulating a video bearing the logo of the English-language version of the website and YouTube channel of the Ukrainian outlet NV. The video claims that hackers from the Anonymous group supposedly hacked the Russian Federal State Registration Service (Rosreestr) and allegedly discovered information about a Russian passport belonging to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said to have been "issued" to him in Crimea in 2015. It also claims that using these supposed passport details, the hackers allegedly found Zelensky's apartment at Moscow-City worth almost $2 million.

This is fake news. The material does not appear on the NV website nor on the outlet's English-language YouTube channel, where the latest video was published four weeks ago.

The passport copy is forged. The photograph that Russian propagandists inserted into the document using editing software is dated February 24, 2022. It is a screenshot from President Zelensky's video address recorded several hours before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, related to Russia's recognition of the so-called "LPR/DPR."

The claim that Zelensky owns an apartment in Moscow is also fake, as it is based on the fabricated passport.

It should be noted that this is not the first time Russian propagandists have circulated claims about a fake Russian passport belonging to Zelensky. In 2022, Russians published a similar document allegedly issued in the Moscow region in 2001. The author of that fake news was former MP Illia Kyva.

This fake story aims to discredit Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian propaganda previously forged a Charlie Hebdo cover concerning Angelina Jolie's visit to Ukraine.

Andriy Olenin