Thread: You may have seen viral posts that Olena Zelenska, President Zelensky's wife, spent $1.1m on Cartier jewellery during the couple's recent visit to the US.
Let's find out why those posts are false, and examine how pro-Kremlin disinformation of this kind travels online.
The claim first appeared in a 30 September YouTube video by an obscure channel.
In a series of Instagram stories, a woman claims to be a former Cartier employee, who was apparently sacked because Zelenska didn't like her. She then unveils a $1.1m receipt in Zelenska's name.
The alleged former Cartier employee's Instagram appears to be ".jeanette".
Head over to Instagram and you'll see the account has no posts, no followers, and no following. That should immediately make you suspicious. gorgeous.bb
Now let's examine the receipt, which is likely doctored. It's dated 22 September at Cartier's Fifth Avenue store in New York.
Zelenska couldn't possibly have bought jewellery in New York on 22 September, because she'd landed in Canada on the 21st and spent the 22nd in Ottawa.
That alleged employee video then becomes the source for a story on the Nigerian website The Nation, which has been widely shared by pro-Kremlin users.
Apart from the issues with the video and receipt, the Nation's story, as pointed out by @DavidPuente, is a sponsored post.
You'd have thought if Zelenska had been spotted at Cartier on New York's Fifth Avenue, we'd have seen images or videos of it posted somewhere, or that US outlets would have got the story ahead of a Nigerian website, a dormant Instagram account and an obscure YouTube channel.
Despite clear evidence that the story is false, it's gone viral on Telegram, Twitter, TikTok and other platforms.
Some tweets with the claim have now got Community Notes, but I wonder how many of those who saw the initial claim on major platforms now know that it's false.
The reason I'm highlighting this is that there's been an uptick in recent months in false yet viral claims that Zelensky and senior Ukrainian officials are using Western aid to enrich themselves, nearly all of which follow a similar pattern in how they reach millions online.
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