DISINFO: Zelenskyy gets military advice from his 9-year old son
SUMMARY
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gets military advice from his 9-year old son. Kyrylo Zelenskyy is one of the “war advisors” of Zelenskyy, as his wife Olena Zelenska told the British newspaper Daily Mail. “My son is a growing political scientist, he knows everything, he gives us military advice, what we should buy…”, the Ukrainian first lady admitted.
RESPONSE
The article is a disingenuous distortion of the comments made by the Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, aiming to portray the Ukrainian leadership as incompetent and denigrate Ukraine.
The original article in the Daily Mail reads: “Mrs Zelenska said she 'always tried to speak honestly' with her children about the war. 'With my eldest daughter, it is easier, she is already an adult,' she said. 'She reads everything, sees everything, and knows what victories we have to achieve to end the war. 'It is different with my son, he is a growing up politologist, he knows everything, he gives us military advice, what we should buy…”. While these words may be open to interpretation, it can’t be inferred that President Zelenskyy is basing his war planning on the counselling of his younger son. However, this is what this disinformation story tries to do, through a misleading headline and the claims that the kid is one of Zelenskyy’s “advisors” and that Ukrainian fist lady “admitted” it, a verb that is not present at all in the original story.
This article is part of the ongoing disinformation campaign aiming to justify Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and promote Russian interests in its unprovoked invasion against its peaceful neighbour. Frequently attacking and denigrating Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is part of this disinformation strategy.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Zelenskyy is only a marketing operation, a Jewish face for a Nazi regime, that he is just a PR-director in Washington’s game, that he is a dependent person who was brought to Washington, or that he fled Kyiv in the early days of the invasion.