Four million euros on a Bugatti – social networks accuse the wife of the Ukrainian president of embezzling Western aid.
Experts, as tells Euronews, refuted the propaganda fake. It's not true at all, and let's figure out why.
Fake check
A photo on social media allegedly shows the bill for a 4.4 million Bugatti purchased by the first lady of Ukraine. The currency is not specified: some reports speak of dollars, others of euros. The invoice lists Zelenskaya's name and states that the car will be delivered to Paris, with a production date of January 2026.
Sometimes the photo is shared alongside claims that the Bugatti was bought with US taxpayer dollars, while others claim it was paid for by British taxpayers. But both reports imply that Zelensky and his wife are pocketing aid money from the West, which continues to support Ukraine's defense against Russian invasion.
According to the BBC, All these messages are not trueis actually part of a disinformation campaign aimed at the United States ahead of the presidential election in November. The claims that Zelenskaya bought the car appeared in various obscure Russian online publications, all of which linked to a reputable French website. It’s called Veritée Cachée — “Hidden Truth” in French.
Bugatti's Exclusive Rebuttal
According to the website, the Zelenskys attended a private showing of Bugatti while they were in France for the D-Day celebrations in June. Zelenskaya was allegedly very impressed by the hypercar, which she was shown a couple of weeks before it became public knowledge, and ordered one.
Bugatti officials denied the story, making an exception to their rule of not disclosing customer information. According to Veritée Cachée, Zelenskaya was supposed to be the owner of one of the first 250 cars produced. Journalists presented a copy of the invoice, and the article even showed the seller talking about the deal. However… it all turned out to be fiction.
On the official Instagram account of Bugatti Paris, the car dealership where the first lady of Ukraine allegedly bought the car, denied both the very existence of the transaction and the authenticity of the invoice.
The statement said that The document contains many inconsistencies: the price is wrong, the description is inaccurate and the format is outdated. The invoice is missing details such as the order number and the seller's address, which are mandatory for such documents issued in France.
The seller is generated by AI
Video of dealer talking about sale created by artificial intelligence. The man in the video is not real: his face is constructed from a stock photo, according to fact-checkers. Experts say it is difficult for an untrained eye to spot a fake, but there may be some telltale signs, such as strange movements and robotic speech.
More Stories
The Greek economy is moving "to nowhere"
Families of Russian diplomats leave the US
Sociologists on the differences in political views of new migrants from Russia