For years, a photo has spread online, allegedly showing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska posing in front of stacks of money.
The photograph recirculated on X in February 2025 and in early March 2025 was used as a thumbnail photo on YouTube.
(X user @Arwenstar)
"Can you think of any country that is more corrupt than Ukraine?" one June 2024 post with the photograph read. The post reached over 303,600 views, 6,300 likes and 3,100 comments. The photograph also spread on X in July 2022 and June and December 2024.
However, the photo was not genuine. It was digitally altered to include Zelenskyy and Zelenska, so we have rated this claim as fake.
The TinEye reverse-image search tool showed that the original photograph depicted Floyd Mayweather, a former professional boxer.
(www.tineye.com)
Mayweather originally posted the image on his Instagram profile in July 2019, captioning it:
This is what I've been hearing for 23 years... "All Mayweather does is brag about his cars, his jewelry, his mansions, his ladies, his clothes and his money ". And this is what Mayweather says back... "I'm happy y'all spent over 2 decades hating on me instead of building your own legacy " ?
P.S. I'm here to stay
Photo Credit : @moneyyaya
The photograph of Zelenskyy and Zelenska included in the edited image was originally featured in Vogue's article from July 2022, with the title, "Portrait of Bravery: Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska."
(www.vogue.com)
The same image was also shared on the magazine's official Instagram profile in July 2022.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Zelenskyy has been the subject of numerous false rumors.
For instance, in June 2024 Snopes investigated whether Zelenskyy purchased a casino resort in Cyprus. In October 2023, Snopes debunked a false claim that Zelenska spent $1,100,000 on Cartier jewelry and got a salesperson fired in the process during a visit to the U.S. with her husband in September 2023.