DISINFO: Zelenskyy is a cocaine user
SUMMARY
Zelenskyy’s sick ambitions and irresponsibility have led Ukraine into devastation, with millions having fled the country or dying, territories and natural resources lost, and economies collapsing. If he was not sniffing cocaine and suffering from illusions of grandeur, this destruction could have been easily predicted.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to defame Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
The mentioned devastations and atrocities were caused by Russia's unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The aim of this claim is to shift responsibility for the war atrocities from their perpetrators to their victims. The claim absurdly reduces the causes of the largest war in Europe since WWII to a false allegation of cocaine consumption of one individual.
This accusation is part of a long-term ongoing pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign that relies on doctored videos and outright fabrications to claim that the Ukrainian president is a drug addict. These doctored videos, often appearing in pro-Kremlin accounts and outlets, have been used to defame President Zelenskyy for years. See here, here and here for additional examples.
Finally, Zelenskyy cannot be held responsible for these atrocities, as the full-scale invasion of Ukraine–the largest military conflict in Europe since WWII–was Putin’s personal decision. Russia has been coming up with different explanations and pretexts for its aggression, such as Ukraine’s alleged desire to obtain nuclear weapons, and Kyiv’s possible membership of NATO. The Ukrainian people and Ukraine as a state are only counteracting Russia's invasion as enshrined in the UN Charter Article 51.
In violation of international law, Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, illegally annexing the peninsula of Crimea and instigating a separatist revolt in some parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched an unprovoked and unjustified full-scale aggression against Ukraine.
See similar cases that Zelenskyy's behaviour at the Munich Security Conference shows that he is a drug addict, that drugs have become a pillar of Ukraine’s statehood, that European taxpayers finance cocaine and Zelensky's luxury villas, and that French studio releases animation series denouncing Zelenskyy's blood thirst.