Note: The views and opinions expressed in blog/editorial posts are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the views or opinions of Misbar.
The military war between Ukraine and Russia, along with the social media-driven misinformation war, has been ongoing since Feb. 24, 2022.
Before the invasion, the Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his intention was to “demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.” His stated goal was to defend those he claimed had been victims of the Ukrainian government's eight years of intimidation and genocide.
The battle of misinformation between the two countries has escalated since the beginning of the military war. Misbar investigated widely circulating claims amid the ongoing war and found many misleading and fake stories that have been widely shared online by social media users and biased media outlets.
The latest social media-driven misinformation claim was that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is suffering from an illness.
Zelenskyy Denies Rumors of His Ailment
Zelenskyy used social media to debunk rumors that purported that he had lost control after becoming ill. Looking healthy in a video published via his official Instagram account on Thursday, July 21, Zelenskyy accused Russia of orchestrating yet another cyberattack against Ukraine by disseminating “false news.”
“Today Russia has launched another fake news, claiming that the state is not run by President Zelenskyy, as he is in the hospital, or rather in intensive care, due to his serious health condition,” Zelenskyy said in the video, “Anyway, I am in the office. I have never felt as strong as I am now. And bad news for all of you who spread such fake news. I am not alone, there are 40 million of us. And, with all due respect to old age, 44 is not 70.”
The Ukrainian president, wearing a khaki t-shirt of the type he has worn since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, appeared settled and comfortable in the video.
In a post on Telegram on Thursday, Ukraine's State Special Communications Service claimed that “cyber criminals” had hacked into Ukrainian radio stations to disseminate a hoax that the country's president was ill.
Zelenskyy, who is 44 years old, concluded his speech by satirizing the 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has also been the subject of ailment rumors.
According to Newsweek, Zelenskyy became the most recent international leader to respond to potentially unstable rumors about his health when he countered the rumor alleging that his health was deteriorating.
President Zelenskyy has been the subject of bogus claims on social media since the beginning of the war in February 2022. For instance, a video made by the deepfake technique showing Zelenskyy telling Ukrainians to surrender was debunked in March 2022.
In March 2022, social media users also falsely claimed that the Ukrainian President fled from Ukraine and was using a green screen to make it appear as though he was still in Ukraine.
Misbar’s Sources
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