X posts call Zelenskiy 'well-paid puppet'

X posts published on May 22 and May 23, 2026 accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of being a “well-paid puppet” and claimed his family was living as millionaires abroad while he governed Ukraine. The posts appeared across multiple accounts and threads on the social platform X, including one cited in the source material for this story. Reuters could not independently verify the images, videos and documents circulated in those posts. Ukraine’s presidential website showed Zelenskiy continuing public duties on May 22 and May 23, including meetings with regional representatives, talks with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, and sanctions steps against people and vessels tied to Russia’s war effort. On May 22, the site said Zelenskiy discussed security and schools with representatives from Rivne, Volyn and Zhytomyr regions, and separately met wounded Ukrainian service members. On May 23, the site said he signed decrees enacting sanctions related to missile strikes and Russia’s maritime logistics fleet. ### What exactly were the posts alleging? X users said Zelenskiy had “ruined” Ukraine and was serving foreign interests, while some posts also alleged that his relatives were living in luxury outside the country. The wording echoed a broader stream of social-media claims that have circulated repeatedly since Russia’s full-scale invasion, often focusing on alleged foreign properties, luxury purchases or hidden offshore wealth. (president.gov.ua) The available source material for this story identifies one X post directly and says similar claims spread across several accounts on May 22 and May 23. Reuters could not confirm from the provided material who created the images and documents attached to all of those posts, or whether any of the material was authentic. ### What do Ukraine’s public disclosures say about Zelenskiy’s assets? The Kyiv Independent reported on May 1, 2025 that Ukraine’s mandatory asset declarations showed Zelenskiy had no notable new luxury additions compared with prior years and that most listed assets predated his presidency. (aap.com.au) The report said his declaration listed watches, trademarks and several properties, but also said he owned less real estate after taking office than before. That report said Zelenskiy still owned an apartment in Kyiv, two garage spaces and shares in two other apartments with the Shefir brothers, while holding the right to use a state-owned dacha. It also said his wife, Olena Zelenska, owned an apartment in Crimea bought in 2013 and an apartment in Kyiv through a Cyprus-registered company. ### Have similar claims been checked before? (kyivindependent.com) AAP FactCheck reported in October 2024 that online claims saying Zelenskiy was buying mansions, luxury cars and U.S. real estate were false and traced to fake stories published by websites tied to a Russian disinformation campaign. AAP said Bugatti denied one widely shared report about an alleged purchase by Olena Zelenska, and it found no evidence that Zelenskiy bought Florida property. (kyivindependent.com) AFP reported in September 2025 that posts claiming a Ukrainian anti-corruption official had exposed a $1.2 billion Zelenskiy property empire were unsupported. AFP said Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau told it no such employee existed and that Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation had labeled the claims false. ### What is confirmed about Zelenskiy’s recent public activity? The president’s website said Zelenskiy spoke on May 22 with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany about diplomacy and met officials and service members in western Ukraine the same day. (aap.com.au) The site also said on May 23 that Ukraine imposed sanctions on occupiers responsible for missile strikes and on vessels in what it called Russia’s shadow military logistics fleet. (factcheck.afp.com) Those official updates provide a dated public record of Zelenskiy’s schedule on the same days the X posts appeared. Further claims attached to the posts would require document-by-document verification from original records, property registries or official investigations that were not established in the material reviewed for this article. (president.gov.ua)