Russian-backed Italian media spreads fake about Zelensky purchasing €75 mln-worth villa

Rubryka refutes another Russian fake 

What is the problem?

A number of Russian telegram channels and propaganda outlets spread the news that the Zelensky family had purchased a mansion in Italy. The piece refers to Database Italia, which claims that the estate was transferred by English musician Gordon Sumner (Sting) for 75 million euros.

Citing the Italian land cadastre, sources claim that Zelensky purchased the estate two weeks after attending the 50th G7 summit in Italy, where European leaders agreed to "loan" Ukraine $50 billion from frozen Russian assets.

The article concludes with a manipulative sentence referring to a 2019 article by the Ukrainian media outlet RBC-Ukraine. "According to the Ukrainian media, it is no secret that Volodymyr Zelenskyy loves red wine. It is also known that the former Ukrainian comedian, now president, likes other types of substances that are clearly less legal than wine."

This news was posted on X by Kevork Almasyan and has gained 427,500 views since then.

What is the solution?

Indeed, at the G7 summit, the leaders discussed the transfer of $50 billion of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. However, to date, these funds have not been transferred yet.

As for the manipulative statements, Russian propagandists use the constant emphasis on the fact that the current Ukrainian president used to be a comedian.

The authors also mention that Zelenskyy likes red wine. Although this argument has no factual value, it will impress biased readers.

Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, which also denied this news, reports that in 2021 the pseudo-media Database Italia was included in the ranking of web resources that spread disinformation in Italian.

Italian fact-checkers have repeatedly refuted the news about this resource. Kevork Almasyan, a Syrian propagandist living in Germany, positions himself as a political expert and expresses his views to a wide audience.

Such news is primarily aimed at a foreign audience. It appears in news feeds with a certain frequency. As soon as readers have time to forget about it, it resurfaces. The narrative is the same—Zelensky is a thief, so we need to stop international financial support. And despite the fact that independent media publish debunking of these fakes, not all of them reach readers.

In 2024, X was flooded with news that Olena Zelenska had bought the most expensive Bugatti car for $4.8 million. Foreign users reacted accordingly:

The fake was also aimed at discrediting the US government, which allegedly "does not care about Americans, but gives taxpayer funds to Ukraine." Americans were actively discussing the need to stop providing funds to Ukraine.

In 2023, London Assembly member David Courtenay tweeted a short note with the phrase: "Zelenskyy's new yacht – purchased with American, British and European taxpayer funds." David has been caught repeatedly spreading Russian propaganda and conspiracy theories.

These and other news about fake purchases of cars, jewelry, yachts, etc. by Zelensky have been refuted many times by both Ukrainian and foreign fact-checkers but continue to appear online.

Their success lies in the fact that it is difficult for an ordinary reader to verify the veracity of the news: how to identify the owner of an Italian estate if I don't speak Italian; where to look for registers of yacht owners and whether such registers exist; how to check published receipts, etc. In addition, they perfectly reinforce the narratives already voiced, for example, that America sends money to Ukraine even though Americans themselves are suffering.