File on the war between Ukraine and Russia The luxury brand denies “false information” that the Ukrainian first lady bought jewelry worth more than a million dollars. The circulation of this “information” is highly suspicious.
Question asked by Lili on October 5, 2023
A rumor circulating on social media claims that Olena Zelenska, the Ukrainian president’s wife, spent $1.1 million at luxury jeweler Cartier during her visit to the United States at the end of September. An invoice dated Sept. 22 shows she purchased a bracelet, earrings and necklace at the brand’s flagship boutique on 5th Avenue in New York.
The name of the saleswoman who appears on the invoice is that of an employee of the New York jewelry store (found on the social network LinkedIn). The references of the bracelets, earrings and necklace also correspond to those that can be found online for this jewelry. The document is similar to Cartier invoices that can be easily found online (e.g. on resale sites, where the invoices are accessible to authenticate the jewelry’s origin). Which obviously isn’t enough to prove anything.
Contacted by CheckNews, the Cartier brand officially denies and assures that “this is false information”.
“Sponsored post”
The way this “information” was distributed is also highly suspicious. The invoice actually comes from a video published on social networks at the end of September, in which a woman posing as a native of Benin and claiming to have gotten an internship at the store thanks to her uncle, ensures that she is fired after he tried , helping the Ukrainian first lady while she was shopping in New York. In revenge, she published a copy of the bill, which she managed to obtain.
This statement was broadcast in stories (fleeting videos) on Instagram from an obscure account – @gorgeous.bb.jeanette (whose name has been changed twice since its creation in August) – which had no subscribers, followed no one and did not count any publications.
It was then a Nigerian website, The Nation, that spread the rumor on October 2nd. In a text signed by “our reporter,” the website claims that a certain Boukari Ouédraogo collected information from the former employee. Contacted by CheckNews, Editor-in-Chief of The Nation, Sunday Oguntola, says the published text is “a sponsored publication.” We didn’t write the article. It was purchased by a customer. The publisher did not want to provide any information about the identity of the client.
It is this text that was financed by a mysterious third party and then picked up by other websites and Internet users to express their hostility towards the Ukrainian president. Pro-Russian institutional bodies such as the Russian Embassy in London were happy to share the accusatory “article” from The Nation.
Finally, let us add that several auditors, such as the editorial board of the American newspaper Newsweek or our BBC Verify colleague Shayan Sardarizadehargued that the September 22 date on the “invoice” was inconsistent with Olena Zelenska’s agenda, even though she had traveled to the United States with her husband at that time.
Opportunity for misinformation
The Ukrainian president’s diary and media coverage of his visit to North America confirm that the couple landed in New York on September 18, where they attended the United Nations General Assembly. The presidential couple then returned to Washington on September 21st. Which he left in the evening to land in Canada, in Ottawa. On September 22, Olena Zelensky was in the Canadian capital where she was photographed alongside her husband and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the President of the Canadian Parliament paid tribute to a former Ukrainian Nazi soldier. The couple then returned to Toronto before landing in Poland on September 23rd. Given these various elements, it is difficult to believe the rumor.
Zelensky’s trip to America was the cause of several false reports, which were debunked in particular by the fact-checkers at AFP Facteur. Those around him were falsely accused of starting a fight in a New York bar. An image of a fake billboard was also shared.
The First Lady, Olena Zelenska, was the subject of disinformation during a visit to Paris in January 2023. She was accused of spending €40,000 in luxury boutiques without providing any evidence. A false montage showing her on board a private jet was also circulated to tarnish her image.