Between August 27 and September 2, Georgian (1;2) and Russian-speaking (1;2;3;4) Facebook users spread claims that Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) had discovered evidence showing that Volodymyr Zelenskyy had purchased real estate in Europe worth $1.2 billion. According to the posts, after a former NABU investigator (Olena K.) discovered the property, she fled to Europe, taking hundreds of documents full of evidence with her. The posts also cite the investigator’s comment, alleging that the Ukrainian president, through his close associates, was transferring money to offshore companies and then using it to buy property. As a result, he allegedly acquired real estate in the UK, Spain, France, Italy, and the UAE. Some of the posts cite the London Telegraph as the source.
The same claim was also published by Russian-language websites: Ukraina.ru; krasnopolye.by; lenta-novosti-rossii. Ru.
The claim that a NABU employee discovered Zelenskyy’s property is disinformation. The original source is a website posing as a British media outlet, which was created in August 2025 – just 12 days before publishing the article. The photo of the article’s author does not belong to the named individual; instead, the website uses a stolen photo of a British journalist. The documents shown in the report are, in fact, materials previously published by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), which have no connection to the president.
- The “London Telegraph” Website
The claim spread by Facebook users originates from an English-language article published on the website Londontelegraph.uk. The article, carrying the same claim, appeared there on August 26. At first glance, the site resembles a media outlet. However, open-source searches do not confirm the existence of any media company called London Telegraph. The name is likely intended to imitate the British newspaper The Telegraph to appear more credible.
According to Whois.com, the website was created on August 14, 2025, just 12 days before the article’s publication.
The site includes buttons linking to supposed social media accounts. Notably, none of these buttons lead to accounts belonging to a “London Telegraph” media outlet. Instead, the descriptions of the accounts (1;2;3) read that their owner is a “WordPress developer” who creates minimalist WordPress designs. It is unclear whether the account owner is connected to the website.
It is worth noting that archived versions of the site show that in the initial version of the article, the author was listed as Charlotte Davies. In the updated version, only the name remains visible, and her photo is no longer shown in the “authors” section.
The American fact-checking organization Lead Stories also investigated the claim. They found that the photo added in the author’s field actually belonged to British journalist Ellen Brown, not Charlotte Davies. Thus, the site, created on August 14 and posing as a media outlet, is using a stolen photo of a British journalist. Furthermore, no information about a journalist named Charlotte Davies can be found in open sources.
- Embedded report and displayed documents in the article
The website also embedded a short video showing the alleged investigator who “discovered the documents.” The video includes an audio recording in Ukrainian, played over a blurred photo of a person with a covered face. According to Ukrinform, when Olena K. speaks in Ukrainian, she makes numerous mistakes: verbs are misplaced, and the sounds “і/и” are pronounced incorrectly. This suggests that the person is not Ukrainian and is merely reading a prepared text. Importantly, the real identity of “Olena K.” has never been confirmed, nor has it been verified that she ever worked at NABU.
The video accompanying the article shows documents, but the text on them is unreadable because it has been deliberately blurred. However, these documents could not prove Zelenskyy’s alleged purchases, since they are actually taken from previously published photo materials. Specifically, they appear in documents released by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) on July 22, which the SBU seized during searches of the homes of relatives of MP Fedir Khrystenko. That case has no connection to the Ukrainian president.
In addition, no reliable media or credible sources have reported on any alleged discovery of documents about Zelenskyy’s real estate purchases by a NABU employee.
The claim that a NABU employee discovered documents proving Zelenskyy purchased real estate is disinformation. It is part of a smear campaign targeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The website that belongs to a non-existent media outlet was created only 12 days before the article’s publication, uses a stolen journalist’s photo, and lists a fictitious author. The documents shown in the video were taken from unrelated SBU materials and have nothing to do with Zelenskyy.
Since February 2022, Myth Detector has fact-checked numerous disinformation claims alleging that the Ukrainian president or his family acquired various luxury properties. See more in our previous reports:
- Yet Another Disinformation Claim Asserts That Volodymyr Zelenskyy Purchased an Expensive Hotel
- How Did Zelenskyy’s and Ivanishvili’s Wealth Change During the Russia-Ukraine War?
- Disinformation, as if the Zelenskyy Family Bought a Winery Estate in Italy from Sting
- Disinformation about Zelenskyy buying a £150 million villa in Cyprus
About the source:
Facebook user Nona Sharabidze regularly spreads false information with anti-Western content and Kremlin-aligned narratives. Myth Detector has previously fact-checked the claims shared by Sharabidze multiple times.
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