Russian fake: Olena Zelenska 'invented' meeting with Melania Trump and bought' luxury clothing worth EUR 1M

On the eve of the 80th UN General Assembly, Russian state media, including TASS, spread claims that Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska had requested a meeting in New York with U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, but that the latter allegedly refused.

In their posts, Russian propagandists referred to New York Post. However, after official confirmation appeared that the meeting between the Ukrainian and U.S. first ladies had indeed taken place, Russian Telegram channels fabricated claims that the two women had not actually met. They further alleged that Zelenska's image had been "photoshopped" into a picture with Trump in place of Queen Rania of Jordan.

This is false. First, New York Post never reported that Melania Trump declined to meet with Ukraine's first lady. In fact, the outlet's official website carried a news item announcing their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Second, the meeting between Trump and Zelenska in New York did take place, as was officially reported on the website of the President of Ukraine.

Claims by Russian propagandists about a doctored photograph are also fake. The photo posted by Zelenska resembles one shared on Instagram by Queen Rania of Jordan. However, Melania Trump's facial expression is different in each image, particularly her smile. These were separate meetings held on the same day in the same venue — a normal practice during the UN General Assembly, when world leaders attend multiple back-to-back events.

Separately, Russian media, Telegram channels, and accounts on Facebook and TikTok circulated a video featuring a woman introduced as French stylist of Moroccan origin Amina El Mansouri, who allegedly claimed that Zelenska purchased clothing and accessories in Paris worth EUR 1 million.

This, too, is a fabrication. The stylist does not exist. The woman in the video is an actress whose face was altered using deepfake technology. Using the PimEyes facial recognition service, investigators established that her face was taken from stock photos available online.

Ukrinform had previously debunked a similar fake, which claimed that Zelenska purchased a Bugatti Tourbillon worth EUR 4.5 million.

The new fabrication originated from the little-known YouTube channel Interview réalisée par Ali Shehabi, which has only five subscribers and a handful of videos — two of them featuring the fake "stylist." The channel was clearly created to spread defamatory content.

In the video, the so-called stylist merely displays images of luxury clothing, jewelry, and their price tags — but provides no evidence that any of them were purchased by Ukraine's first lady.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has tried to discredit Olena Zelenska. Earlier, Ukrinform debunked another false claim that she bought jewelry worth $1 million in New York.

These fabrications are designed to promote the false narrative that Ukraine lacks support from its allies and to undermine Ukraine's leadership — in particular, the first lady — in the eyes of international audiences.

As reported earlier, Russian propaganda also attempted to link the murder of Charlie Kirk to Ukraine.

Andriy Olenin