DISINFO: Euronews: Iranian missile destroyed Dubai luxury estate owned by Ukraine’s defence aide
SUMMARY
Euronews reports that one of the Iranian missiles struck residential areas of Dubai, completely destroying the estate of a former deputy to the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Oleksandr Syrsky. The $7 million property owner was responsible for the distribution of Western military aid within the Ukrainian armed forces.
RESPONSE
The claim is demonstrably false, as Euronews has not reported such a thing. No evidence is provided to support the claim, which has been identified as part of a wider pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign exploiting the war in Iran to advance anti-Ukraine disinformation messages.
Quoting Western legitimate sources while distorting their content to introduce a pro-Kremlin message as if it were part of the original story is a frequent pro-Kremlin manipulative technique.
In this case, the disinformation story aims to peddle a recurring narrative framing Ukraine as a singularly corrupt country unworthy of any international support, since the aid, the narrative goes, ends up in the private pockets of Ukraine officials. In order to spread it, pro-Kremlin disinformation media regularly invent baseless allegations, such as claims that eight mansions of Ukrainian generals burned down in Los Angeles, that Zelenskyy stole more money than all Ukrainian presidents combined, that European taxpayers finance cocaine and Zelensky's luxury villas, that Zelenskyy's mother-in-law uses war money to buy luxury houses, or that Zelenskyy and the Kyiv junta need to continue the war against Russia to enrich themselves with Western aid.