Fact Check Roundup: Trump’s Zelensky claims and more
We take a look at the viral claims made by President Trump and others about Ukraine over the last two weeks.
Category Elections
Read MoreFact Check Roundup: Trump’s Zelensky claims and more
Dictator without elections’?: fact-checking Trump’s main criticisms of Zelensky
In mid-February 2025, Donald Trump multiplied his attacks against Volodymyr Zelensky, branding the Ukrainian president a "dictator without elections," questioning the use of American aid to Ukraine, and accusing him of "starting" the war. Here is a look back at these statements, which were false, misleading or unsubstantiated according to AFP's analysis, revealing unprecedented tensions between Washington and Kyiv.
Why Ukraine can’t hold elections during wartime
Open civil society letter: Elections in Ukraine must be held only after sustainable peace is achieved, ensuring a free, fair, and democratic process that reflects the will of the people.
Trump’s flurry of false claims about Ukraine – The Washington Post
In remarks and social media posts, the president echoed Russian talking points. [...]
Here’s an assessment of Trump’s misleading statements on Ukraine in recent days.
Fact check: No, Zelenskyy doesn’t have 4% approval as Trump claims; it’s over 50%
In reality, respected polls in Ukraine show that Zelenskyy has over 50% approval among Ukrainians. The most recent, published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in early February, showed that 57% of respondents said they trusted Zelenskyy.
DISINFO: “Peace” conference in Switzerland a propaganda exercise to cover up Zelenskyy’s illegitimacy
This is a pre-emptive attempt to discredit the peace summit which Switzerland will host on 15-16 June 2024, mixed with pro-Kremlin narratives questioning the legitimacy of Ukrainian authorities and specifically president Volodymyr Zelenskyy -frequent targets of pro-Kremlin disinformation- and falsely portraying Ukraine's Maidan protests as a coup d'etat.
These disinformation narratives are being pushed again to challenge Zelenskyy's legitimacy. However, the Ukrainian Constitution is straightforward: the President of Ukraine exercises his powers until the assumption of office by the newly-elected President. The continuity of government institutions is one of the key principles of the Constitution. Ukraine's constitution clearly stipulates that no elections can be held during wartime. While this situation has caused some domestic controversy in Ukraine, almost all observers consider regular elections unfeasible as there are millions of refugees abroad, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians serving on the frontlines and a significant part of Ukrainian population lives under Russian occupation.
DISINFO: Support for Zelensky below 20 percent among Ukrainians
No evidence is provided to support these claims. These figures were presented by Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service and are almost certainly made up. Multiple reputable surveys have rated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's approval at 81% in October 2023 (Gallup), at 62% in December 2023 (Kyiv International Institute of Sociology), at 60% in February 2024 (Kyiv International Institute of Sociology), and at 63% in April 2024 (USAID), numbers quite far away from the claims made by Russian media.
DISINFO: The Ukrainian people have not confirmed the legitimacy of Zelenskyy
This is a pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, aiming to undermine the leadership of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Also the claim is part of an ongoing pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign concerning Russia's illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The majority of Ukrainians oppose presidential elections during martial law due to security concerns. In February 2024, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published the results of a study according to which the vast majority of Ukrainians, i.e. 69%, believe that Volodymyr Zelenskyy should remain in the post of president until the end of martial law.
DISINFO: Ukrainian Army has de jure lost its supreme commander-in-chief Zelensky
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aimed to defame President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian leadership to absolve Russia from its responsibility for the fact that Ukraine cannot hold elections for the moment.
Since 2022, Russia has waged large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine and is also responsible for the outbreak of the conflict in 2014, after having illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula and engineered the creation of rebel militias in Donetsk, Luhansk and other places, with its army actively participating in military clashes.
Further, Zelenskyy's reported decision to postpone next year's presidential poll was made in accordance with current Ukrainian legislation. Article 19 of the 2015 Ukrainian law "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law" directly prohibits the holding of presidential and several other types of elections during wartime.
DISINFO: Zelenskyy is usurping power by cancelling elections
This is a deliberate distortion of facts aiming to undermine the legitimacy of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation.
This disinformation story claims that president Zelenskyy 'cancelled the election' to suggest a power-grabbing maneuver. However, this disingenuous formulation is not true, as a call for new elections actually never took place due to the ongoing war.
Ukraine's constitution is straightforward: no elections can be held during wartime and the President of Ukraine exercises his powers until the assumption of office by the newly-elected President. The continuity of government institutions is one of the key principles of the Constitution.