Alleged BBC News chyron on Ukrainian presidency is fake
"UK has already decided on the next president of Ukraine. Zaluzhny! Makes it easier if the already pre-announce it," says a March 31, 2025 post on X.
The apparent screenshot shows a photo of Zaluzhny above a red BBC News banner in the lower third of the frame, with a timestamp and text that reads: "Valerii Zaluzhnyi. The next President of Ukraine."
The post comes from "Lord Bebo," an X account that has previously spread other disinformation, including about Ukraine. "Sprinter Observer," another user AFP has repeatedly fact-checked, also amplified the image.
Similar posts spread in other languages such as Russian, Polish, German and Arabic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in power for 25 years, has frequently challenged Zelensky's legitimacy as Ukraine's leader and called for new elections in war-ravaged Ukraine -- points that US President Donald Trump has repeated as global efforts to secure a ceasefire continue to stall.
Zelensky was elected to a five-year term in 2019 but has remained president because Ukrainian law stipulates that elections be suspended during times of major military conflict.
In March 2025, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Zelensky: "You have full backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you with Ukraine for as long as it may take."
Zaluzhny, who led Ukraine's army from before Russia's 2022 invasion until his dismissal by Zelensky two years later, was appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom in 2024. The popular former general has polled favorably and been seen as a contender to unseat Zelensky were he to stand for any future presidential vote.
No election has been called as of April 15, 2025, however -- and the BBC has not declared Zaluzhny "the next President of Ukraine" in a chyron.
A BBC spokesperson told AFP in an April 11, 2025 email that the posts spreading online "are fake screenshots and not genuine BBC News stories."
AFP found no evidence of any such segment on BBC's website or YouTube channel, although the outlet did report on comments Zaluzhny made about the Trump administration and speculation that Zelensky could choose to hold elections (archived here and here).
The picture of Zaluzhny used in the posts is not a BBC photo, but a picture he posted on Telegram in October 2024 (archived here).
AFP has debunked other misinformation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine here.
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