Zelensky Remains in Ukraine, Despite False Claims on Social Media

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appeared in quite a few modern films that clearly show he has remained in the place due to the fact Russia invaded on Feb. 24. But a write-up circulating on Fb falsely statements he fled and recorded a movie using a eco-friendly screen to make it surface as however he’s even now in Ukraine. There’s no evidence to assist the declare. A electronic forensics professional instructed us that practically nothing in the video clip implies it was filmed making use of a eco-friendly display screen.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video clip of himself to his Fb and Instagram accounts on March 18 saying humanitarian help jobs and reporting on Russian army methods.

The movie was filmed in entrance of Kyiv’s famed Household with Chimeras, where by Zelensky had recorded one particular of his initial videos subsequent Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24.

An impression readily available on Google Maps demonstrates the vantage stage from which the the latest movie was shot.

But a clip of the video clip has been circulating on Facebook with this untrue assert: “The cowardly Ukrainian President Zelenskiy fled Kiev abandoning his people today [and] broadcasts Presidential video clips with a environmentally friendly display background from the safety of a NATO bunker in Poland.”

In the early times of the war, Russian point out media started pushing disinformation alleging that Zelensky had fled Ukraine, but those people promises have been greatly debunked. In the months since, Zelensky has been proven in video clip footage in his Kyiv office almost day-to-day. Most not long ago, on March 21, he manufactured an charm via video to Germany from that business.

The Fb website page that posted the assert, known as “I Love Australia,” did not offer you any evidence to support its allegation, and it didn’t answer to our message looking for comment. The site transformed its name on March 13, in accordance to transparency facts listed on Facebook. Before that, it had been referred to as “Aussie Cossack,” which is an obvious reference an ethnic group with ties to Russia, and the site even now lists its affiliated YouTube channel as the “Aussie Cossack,” which has posted numerous video clips supportive of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian profession of Ukraine.

We also asked Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in electronic forensics, to seem at the video clip and evaluate no matter whether it could have been recorded utilizing a green display screen.

“I see no evidence that the video clip is filmed in opposition to a environmentally friendly monitor,” he explained to us by electronic mail. “The lighting on Zelensky’s deal with and body are reliable with the environmental lighting, and at the beginning of the movie we can see his solid shadow on the avenue, which would not have had the similar overall look if this was a green display.”

So, this seems to be a further example of untrue information and facts about the war. See a checklist of other claims we have debunked here.

Editor’s observe: FactCheck.org is one particular of quite a few organizations performing with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our prior stories can be found here. Fb has no control over our editorial content material.