Russian propaganda spreads fake claim that Olena Zelenska bought Princess Diana's dress for nearly $3M

Russian media outlets, Telegram channels, and bot accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube have circulated a fake video falsely claiming that Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska purchased Princess Diana's iconic dress for $2.9 million. The video was made to appear as though it came from British tabloid The Sun.

In the video, it is alleged that Prince Harry, during a supposed humanitarian visit to Ukraine, sold the dress to Zelenska due to his family's alleged financial difficulties with Meghan Markle.

This claim is false. The Sun did not publish such a video, neither on its website nor on its social media platforms.

Additionally, the video's design and formatting differ from the typical style of The Sun. The fake clip was compiled using publicly available photos and videos from the internet. The entire story about the dress sale was fabricated by Russian sources, and a voiceover was added to narrate the made-up scenario.

To make the video appear more credible, the creators included a clip of British expert and consultant Richard Fitzwilliams, supposedly commenting on the "reason" behind the dress sale. However, this footage was taken from a completely unrelated 2021 video in which Fitzwilliams discussed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview, long before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It is worth noting that Fitzwilliams did recently mention Princess Diana's dress on X, but only in the context of an article discussing royal fashion. That post made no mention of Ukraine.

With such disinformation, Russian propaganda aims to discredit Ukraine's leadership and to push a narrative of corruption and misuse of foreign aid toward Western audiences.

Ukrinform fact-checkers have previously debunked similar Russian fakes alleging that Ukraine's First Lady purchased luxury cars or expensive jewelry worth millions of U.S. dollars.

Earlier, Russian propagandists spread a false story about a conversation between Pope Francis and U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, claiming that President Volodymyr Zelensky "doesn't want peace."

Andriy Olenin