A video about the maison allegedly bought by Volodymyr Zelensky was shown to viewers of state television on March 4.
“And while the world is looking for funds to continue the war until the last Ukrainian, the powerless president spends money for his own pleasure. The British newspaper London Crier reports Zelensky bought the mansion of Charles III worth more than $25 million. According to the article, it's going about an estate that the current king of Great Britain had used for 44 years,” the voiceover said.
Russian media reported the very piece of fake news linking to the same London Crier newspaper.
As fact-check reveals, there are only a few dozen short news items on the London Crier website. The first article in the UK news bloc was published in March 2024.
The London Crier website was created on March 26, a few days before the fake news about Vladimir Zelensky’s purchase of a royal mansion was reported. The media website links to its alleged social networks. However, it lead to the social networks of the company selling the website templates. The London Crier does not have its own social media accounts. Obviously, the London Crier website is fake.
The fake news article provides neither documents nor evidence of Zelensky’s purchase of the royal residence. There is only an indirect quotation of the alleged opinion of the King's former butler, Mr .Grant Harrold, claiming that the final details of the deal were agreed upon during the visit of the Ukrainian President's wife to the UK on February 29. While Mr. Harrold has not been working as the royal butler for 13 years already.
Moreover, another person conveys the butler’s alleged opinion in the article. In a piece, there is a video showing a certain Sam Murphy retelling the supposed words of the ex-butler.
We found Murphy's YouTube account with 306 subscribers. There are only three videos, all of them published on March 31.