The Vogue photoshoot of the Ukrainian President and First Lady, published on July 26, 2022, has sparked a heated debate on social media.
In a series of photos posted on Vogue's Instagram account, Olena Zelenska was featured posing in front of a burned-out wreckage of the world's largest aircraft. There are also photos of the couple inside a cozy home.
The magazine published an article titled “Portrait of Bravery: Ukraine's First Lady,” with a photo of Olena Zelenska. The magazine also described Ukraine's First Lady as an "important player" and "the face of the nation."
The couple spoke to the magazine about their marriage, life during the war, the future of Ukraine, and living without their children due to Russia's invasion.
Vogue’s Photoshoot Sparks a Twitter Storm
As the photos went viral, social media users ferociously debated about them. While some social media users referred to the President and his wife as a "power couple" and praised the First Lady as a "brave woman," others harshly criticized the couple, accusing them of "romanticizing the severity of the war."
Misbar found a few digitally altered photos inspired by the Vogue collection circulating online. The photos are shared as memes to satirize the photoshoot.
Digitally Altered Photos of the Ukrainian Presidential Couple
Social media users shared a photo of the President and the First Lady sitting in front of money, claiming the photo was in the Vogue photoshoot collection.
A reverse image search by Misbar revealed that the original photo shows Floyd Mayweather, an American boxing promoter and former boxer. Mayweather's face was digitally replaced by the faces of the Ukrainian presidential couple. However, a gold watch can be seen in both the original and altered photos.
Another clearly doctored image shows Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum's Founder and Executive Chairman, hugging Ukraine's president. Users ironically shared the photo with satirical claims.
Moreover, an altered photo of President Joe Biden hugging Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and his wife has also gone viral.
Others shared Vogue's cover of the couple alongside a photo purporting to show Hitler with his wife on the cover of Vogue in 1939.
However, there is no evidence that the photo of Hitler and his wife was the cover of the magazine. Despite a thorough search of the Vogue archive, Misbar was unable to find any images of Hitler and his wife on the magazine's cover in the 1930s. The original photo was found on a Greek website.
Since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Zelenskyy has been a target of misleading and satirical claims.
Misbar's Sources:
Vogue
Talk Sport
Vogue
Propaganda
Vogue Archive
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