Video of Zelenskyy Drinking Tea With Soldiers Was Before the Invasion

10th March 2022

Video of Zelenskyy Drinking Tea With Soldiers Was Before the Invasion

The footage was taken before the Russian invasion (Twitter).

The Claim

The clip shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy drinking coffee and chatting with his fellow Kyiv defenders on Feb. 26, 2022, after the Russian invasion.

News posted on

Viola von Cramon

𝑴𝑶𝑯𝑨𝑴𝑴𝑬𝑫 𝑴𝑨𝑯𝑱𝑶𝑶𝑩

Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸🇺🇦

Jessica Martina Winfield

Pray For Ukraine

Isaac Lopezarellano

Emerging story

Social media users have circulated a clip claiming it shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy drinking coffee and chatting with soldiers on Feb. 26, 2022, after the Russian invasion.

The video has over 5 million views and hundreds of reactions.

Zelensky drinking coffee and chatting with his fellow Kyiv defenders this morning.

Imagine what a moral boost it must be for these troops to have the freakin’ president literally fighting next to you.

What a badass. pic.twitter.com/PQPTkoC5bX
— Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@NickKnudsenUS) February 26, 2022

🇺🇦 I used to be a big critic of President #Zelensky, now i am the greatest admirer of his courage and bravery. Difficult times like this show the true leader & unlike coward #Putin hiding in the Urals behind nukes, Zelensky is a true leader, calmly drinking tea with his soldiers pic.twitter.com/zk9AVENFdb
— Viola von Cramon (@ViolavonCramon) February 27, 2022

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar has investigated the claim and found it to be misleading.

The video of Zelenskyy drinking tea with Ukrainian soldiers was not from Feb. 26, 2022.

The footage was taken before the Russian invasion. According to the BBC, the clip was taken during the president's visit to frontline soldiers to support Ukrainian troops.

President Zelenskyy also posted some photos from his visit to frontline soldiers on his verified Instagram account before Russia invaded Ukraine.

A supporting image within the article body

An article, in the Daily Mail, included screenshots from the video with the caption: “A video showed Zelensky in his military tent drinking coffee with his men, he coordinated the defense of Kyiv.” The article was published online on February 25, 2022.

This video of President Zelensky drinking tea with Ukrainian soldiers with 2.8 million views wasn't taken this morning, rather a week ago, before the war began. Mr Zelensky has been regularly addressing the nation via videos posted to his verified social accounts during the war. pic.twitter.com/0ZSqxGNV1v
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) February 27, 2022

It is worth noting that an active Telegram account in the President's name was sending out messages urging Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their weapons and end the war. It turned out to be a fake account. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has chosen to send his messages and make public statements through his verified social media accounts.