The Center for Strategic Communications is recording the spread of a fake about the President of Ukraine allegedly having foreign citizenships through Telegram channels targeting Ukrainian audiences.
Content of the fake: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy allegedly possesses passports from “one or several” foreign states and is preparing to flee Ukraine due to the “inevitable” exposure of his involvement in embezzling foreign aid and the US administration’s dissatisfaction with the actions of Ukraine’s political leadership.
The fake works to reproduce and amplify strategic anti-Ukrainian propaganda narratives about “external control” and a “failed state,” which the Kremlin has been broadcasting both inside Russia and abroad at least since 2014.
Distribution of the fake: According to information available to the Center for Strategic Communications, administrators of Ukrainian Telegram channels received paid offers to post “news” about Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “foreign passports.” In particular, contact was made by a person signed as “Serhiy Klynko,” who wrote from a Moldovan mobile number.
The name and profile photo were changed an hour before messaging the Telegram channel administrator. The photo was stolen from the Facebook profile of Serhiy Klymenko, owner of the Dnipro real estate agency Metrium.
During December 8, publications about Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “foreign passports” were posted on three Telegram channels:
Telegram channelAudienceLanguagePosting time (GMT+2)Status December 9Невероятно, но факт…571KRussian15:42activeНаші новини України481KUkrainian21:56activeGeorge Ivensiya80KRussian22:54active
The texts posted on the channels “Наші новини України” and George Ivensiya are identical and differ only in language. The publication on the channel “Невероятно, но факт…” contains signs of AI-generated text.
Reposts from the Telegram channel “Наші новини України” were made by the following channels:
Telegram channelPosting time (GMT+2)Status December 9RADAR НОВИН | Обізрівач22:09activeКиїв новини22:09activeОдесса | Графики света22:09activeСВЕТ ОДЕССА | Графики22:08deletedАварійка Дніпро Світло22:09deleted
The synchronous posting of the repost 13 minutes after publication of the original post, as well as the presence of similar “amplifications” of publications previously, indicates coordination in managing these channels and is a sign of their functioning as a unified network. The channels “Наші новини України” and “RADAR НОВИН | Обізрівач” position themselves as national Ukrainian news channels, while the rest are regional with a focus on publishing information about power outages and shelling.
The same text was also recorded being posted as a comment in local Telegram chats and in comments on Telegram channel publications in the time interval 22:23 – 22:25.
The anonymous channel “Невероятно, но факт…” exclusively posts “leaks” of “compromising material” on Ukrainian officials, politicians, and businesspeople, including at the regional level. Its ecosystem also includes a website of the same name (registered October 11, 2025), and pages on Facebook and X (Twitter). A typical publication consists of an AI-generated image and text that also contains signs of creation using an LLM bot. The fake about “Zelenskyy’s passports” was posted only on the Telegram channel; it is not present on the project’s website or social media.
However, an identical text was posted on the internet site “Obriy.” The resource presents itself as a news outlet; in the section about the editorial staff, AI-generated biographies of fictional persons are posted.
The channel George Ivensiya is run by a person calling himself an Odesa resident, but judging by the content created, he is located in the EU. The ecosystem includes channels on Telegram, YouTube, Rutube, and TikTok.
The Facebook page’s activity was last recorded in October 2023. The blogger spreads fakes, retransmits Russian propaganda, and offers Ukrainian subscribers “services” for organizing illegal border crossings.
He calls the Armed Forces of Ukraine “bandits,” the occupation of Ukrainian territories “liberation,” uses Russian-Soviet names for renamed cities, writes the names of Ukraine’s President and other officials in lowercase, etc.
Conclusions: Russian special services are carrying out actions aimed at infiltrating the Ukrainian information space with a fake about the President of Ukraine’s “foreign citizenships” using resources that systematically spread propaganda or engage in posting paid “leaks.” These actions contain signs of malicious interference in Ukraine’s information field with the aim of demoralizing Ukrainian citizens by undermining trust in military and political leadership.
The Center for Strategic Communications reminds that during 2022-2025, Russians repeatedly created and attempted to spread fakes in Ukraine about “Russian citizenship” and “foreign passports of Volodymyr and Olena Zelenskyy” and their possession of elite real estate in Moscow. All these “plants” were debunked and their Russian origin was proven.
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