A fake story about Zelenskyy's $43 million estate in Norway has begun circulating online

A fabricated video is being circulated on the social media platform X and pro-Russian news outlets, claiming that a company allegedly linked to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has purchased a property belonging to the Norwegian royal family.

The property in question is 240 acres in size and was supposedly purchased for $43 million.

This information is false, and the video is entirely fabricated.

The fake video is styled to resemble a report from a well-known American online entertainment outlet. However, there is no such material on that outlet’s official channels.

Furthermore, there is no official confirmation of a deal to sell the royal property to the company mentioned in the fabricated story.

There is no information about such a transaction in the Norwegian media or in official statements from the Royal Palace of Norway.

An analysis of the video shows that its creators used edited archival footage that does not corroborate the information presented in the clip.

At the same time, the audio track and narration show signs of having been generated using artificial intelligence tools.

It should also be noted that the use of well-known media logos in fabricated videos is a hallmark of the Russian disinformation network “Matryoshka.”

Similar disinformation campaigns against Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his family have been circulated in the past.

In particular, Russian propaganda has repeatedly circulated fake stories about the Zelenskyy family’s allegedly expensive purchases. Such reports were widely disseminated on social media and other news channels.

This time, the fake story was based on the alleged purchase of a Norwegian royal family estate for $43 million.

According to the authors of the debunking, the campaign’s goal is to discredit Ukraine’s leadership, sow doubt about the transparency of international aid usage, and weaken support for Ukraine from Norway and other European partners.

Thus, there is no evidence that a company linked to Zelenskyy purchased Norwegian royal real estate for $43 million. The video being circulated shows signs of being fabricated and is part of a disinformation campaign.

This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation. 

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