On February 2, POSTV, a media outlet with a pro-government editorial stance (1, 2), along with a Russian-language account, shared a video of a protest where demonstrators were chanting the phrase “Зелю геть!” (Zelenskyy, go away!). According to the description, the footage depicts a protest against Zelenskyy in Kyiv and was allegedly recorded on February 1.
The circulating footage, in which protesters chant “Зелю геть,” is old and was actually filmed during a protest in January 2022. At that time, Ukrainians gathered in Kyiv to support former president Petro Poroshenko, who was accused of treason and supporting terrorism. In 2025, no protest against Zelenskyy took place in Kyiv.
On January 19, 2022, the initial court hearing of Ukraine’s fifth president Petro Poroshenko was held in Kyiv. In December 2021, he was charged under three criminal articles: financing terrorism, high treason, and creating a terrorist organization. He was accused of purchasing large quantities of coal from separatists in 2014-2015. If found guilty, he will face up to 15 years in prison. On January 19, 2022, the court did not remand him in custody but ordered him to stay in Kyiv and to hand over his passport. To this day, no final verdict has been issued.
According to the investigation, after Kyiv lost control over the coal mines in Western Donbas, Ukraine experienced a coal shortage and planned to purchase it from the Republic of South Africa. However, Viktor Medvedchuk, a deputy from the opposition party “For Life,” blocked the deal in favor of buying coal from separatists. He allegedly had the government’s backing for this arrangement.
Poroshenko denied the charges, calling the case a politically motivated prosecution led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the initial court hearing on January 19, 2022, Poroshenko’s supporters gathered outside the courthouse, chanting “Зелю геть!” (Zelensky, go away!). Scenes from this very protest were shared by POSTV, falsely claiming that the protest took place in Kyiv on February 1. The original protest footage was widely circulated by Ukrainian media at the time. The videos clearly show protesters holding flags of Poroshenko’s party, “European Solidarity.” However, in the version spread by POSTV, the flags were obscured by the captions. Nonetheless, the same video appeared in other sources, where the symbols and flags were visible more clearly.
It is worth noting that Ukrainians also chanted the phrase “Зелю геть!” during a protest in October 2019. However, during that demonstration, protesters were not holding flags of the European Solidarity party, which indicates that the footage spread by POSTV is actually from the January 2022 protest. In October 2019, Ukrainians were protesting against the so-called “Steinmeier Formula,” which proposed granting special status to Ukraine’s separatist regions. According to the agreement, elections were to be held in the occupied territories under Ukrainian law and OSCE supervision, ensuring a free and fair process. After the elections, the region would receive self-governing status.
The circulating video was also verified by the Ukrainian fact-checking organization StopFake.
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