Fact Check: 'BBC Video' Showing Ukraine First Lady Olena Zelenska Trying To Flee Abroad Is Fake
A fake BBC video claims Olena Zelenska attempted to escape Ukraine and was detained by the SBU.
The Verdict [Fake]
- The BBC confirmed that the video is fake.
Context
A supposed BBC clip reporting on Olena Zelenska's failed escape has circulated online (examples archived here, here, here, and here).
According to the clip shared on X, TikTok, Facebook, and Telegram, Ukraine's first lady had attempted to escape and arranged with an unspecified European country to grant her political asylum. However, Ukraine's security services (SBU) uncovered her plans, after which she was under the SBU's protection and was unavailable to the media, the video states. Accordingly, the escape plan had been motivated by the "aggravated relationship" with her husband, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The 30-second video clip displays the BBC logo and shows Zelenska at various formal functions.
However, the BBC confirmed to Logically Facts that the video was fake and had not been published by the BBC.
In fact
"This is not BBC journalism. Whenever we are notified about fabricated content that impersonates the BBC, we take the necessary action. We encourage everyone to use credible, trusted sources of news", the BBC Press Office told Logically Facts.
We could not find such a report on the BBC's website, nor was the video published on the BBC's social media accounts. A keyword search yielded no results from other credible sources either.
Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation shared an X post on April 7, stating that the video shared by pro-Russian Telegram channels is false. According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, the goal of the fake video is to "discredit Ukraine's First Lady and the President's family."
Logically Facts has previously covered and refuted fabricated headlines and reports supposedly published by reputable news outlets, including a fake E! News clip saying USAID funded celebrity visits to Ukraine and a fabricated Hull Daily Mail headline about Ukrainian casualties in Kursk.
Logically Facts contacted the Presidential Office of Ukraine for a comment but has not yet received a response.
The verdict
The BBC did not release a video about Olena Zelenska's failed escape and detention by the Ukrainian security services. Therefore, we marked the claim as fake.
This report first appeared on logicallyfacts.com, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.
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