In February 2023, the head of the Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said that the Russian Federation is conducting a large-scale disinformation operation called “Maidan-3”. According to GUR, the Kremlin is trying to weaken the AFU on the frontline by discrediting the Ukrainian authorities: it is alleged that illegitimate president and parliament of Ukraine are adopting illegitimate decisions. Indeed, Ukrainians were supposed to re-elect the bodies of state power in the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024, but this did not happen due to statutory ban on holding elections under martial law. Moreover, it is impossible to ensure full exercise of citizens’ right to elect and be elected under conditions of active hostilities and regular missile attacks. Nevertheless, the Kremlin is persistently trying to shake the confidence of Ukrainian citizens and international partners in the governmental authorities of Ukraine.
Civil Network OPORA monitored the Ukrainian segment of social network X (Twitter) during the peak period of disinformation operation. We downloaded a total of 23,278 tweets mentioning Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s name in Ukrainian during the period of May 1 to May 31, 2024. From this dataset, we immediately excluded 1,855 news reports that were published by Ukrainian media outlets, and out of final 21,423 tweets, we created a sample consisting of 8,500 tweets weighted by the number of tweets per day (i.e. if the original dataset includes more tweets that were posted on a particular day, then the sample also includes proportionally more tweets created on that day).
A graphical representation of the number of tweets broken down by creation date:
Short summary
In the process of analyzing the selected messages, we recorded 3,594 tweets (42.3% of the total sample) that discredit the President of Ukraine. Within the framework of this research study, we focused attention on the features of discrediting content rather than the accounts that spread defamatory messages. According to our research findings, almost half of the messages mentioning Zelenskyy’s name contain harsh criticism of the President of Ukraine. Obviously, criticism as such is a constructive phenomenon that facilitates the democratic process, while the declaration of public needs illustrates the demands and views of different population groups. However, the content that we have analyzed goes far beyond healthy criticism and constructive discussion.
Before providing a description of the discrediting narratives that were identified during the research study, we would like to share our conclusions about this defamation campaign.
- Disinformation as such. One would think that a defamation campaign is synonymous with disinformation, but that’s not quite right. Disinformation or, in other words, a deliberately false message, the author of which intends to cause harm to its recipients, is only one component of a defamation campaign. For example, many users, who took part in this campaign either knowingly or unknowingly, spread its key disinformation narrative by referring to Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the “acting president”. Moreover, such users often called for the invalidation of any documents signed by Zelenskyy. If this campaign had been successful, it would have destabilized the power vertical and civil society. Although the prohibition on holding elections under martial law is stipulated by the legislation of Ukraine (and has the backing of our international partners), Russian state media and authorities are trying to distort the facts and improve the image of Russia as a country that holds elections despite the war (even if the results of these “elections” are absolutely predictable).
- Undermining the legitimacy of state institutions instead of persuasion. Another feature of this discrediting campaign is that it was not intended to convince the target audience of the truthfulness of a certain version of events (as was the case with the Russian authorities’ attempts to cover up their crimes at the Zaporizhzhia NPP). In this case, Russian agents of influence and other campaign participants (either conscientious or unconscientious) sought to undermine the credibility of Ukraine’s democratic institutions as such. The agents of influence tried to change the target groups’ worldview rather than convince them of the truthfulness of certain facts or events. This is evidenced by the narratives that were used to discredit Ukrainian authorities. For example: it was alleged that the incumbent leadership of Ukraine is forming a dictatorship, and the system of checks and balances does not work in our country. The participants of discrediting campaign also speculated that President Zelenskyy and his team had committed crimes of varying severity, thereby hinting at the lack of efficient law enforcement and judicial systems that could prevent these crimes. Finally, the central narrative about the illegitimacy of incumbent authorities undermines one of the foundations of democracy –alternation of power in a legal way, as well as the predictability of processes and procedures. If successful, such a campaign does not lose its effectiveness even after the decline of public attention to the newsworthy occurrence, meaning that it has a long-term effect on the decisions made by citizens of the victim state.
- Amplification of sensitive topics. In order to increase emotional tension, the campaign participants brought up sensitive topics that have a significant impact on the daily lives of Ukrainian citizens and cause public controversy. For example, X users tweeted on the topic of mobilization and draft evasion in Ukraine. They complained that mobilization is unfair / long overdue / plagued by corruption / inefficient/etc. They also provoked political conflicts by contrasting the incumbent president with his predecessor, as well as humiliating and insulting those who voted for Zelenskyy in 2019. Such narratives are designed to touch a sore spot and evoke a sharp emotional response from citizens. It is not only that the people lose ability to think critically when emotions run high: the stronger the emotion induced by influencers, the higher the probability that a person will try to avoid discussing a sensitive topic in the future, especially if this topic elicits unpleasant associations. In addition, the majority of tweets recorded by our analysts contain hate speech, which further intensifies the emotional reaction.
- Use of conspiracy theories. Many of the discrediting tweets that were recorded by our analysts contain various kinds of conspiracy theories, that is, the theories that cannot be fully proven or disproven because they are based on statements that cannot be definitively refuted with the help of facts. The topics related to military operations and handling of troops provide fertile ground for conspiracy theories due to the fact that the defense establishments conduct activities behind closed doors and impose informational silence under martial law. The majority of these theories center on the military leadership, President Zelenskyy and the members of presidential office, who are accused of “ceding territory to the enemy” by entering into a treacherous conspiracy with the Kremlin. Sometimes such allegations are based on a true fact covered with a layer of conspiracy theories of varying level of ambitiousness. For example, the fact that Commander-in-Chief of the AFU Oleksandr Syrskyi was born in the territory of modern-day Russia was used as evidence of a secret agreement entered into between senior Ukrainian and Russian government officials for personal profit. Conspiracy theories are especially dangerous in war-time because they inspire anxiety in the society: they divide people into “us” and “them” who are weaving a plot against “us”, and although we do not know exactly who our real “enemies” are, we know for sure that they exist. The above-described tactics were sometimes complemented by manipulation of facts that are difficult to make out without specialized knowledge, as well as tweets containing hate speech on trigger issues and sowing distrust in state authorities.
- The “burning house” method. The last feature is the multichannel nature of defamation campaign. During the observation period, about half of all tweets mentioning Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s name contained discrediting information. The “burning house” method used by the aggressor state is about trying to clog the information space with narratives of different quality levels and format types. Therefore, a significant number of these tweets consist entirely of foul language or hate speech, but they do not contain any arguments. Such spam puts greater distance between X users and content that is unfavorable to the enemy’s interests. In other words, agents of influence are trying to make it harder for users to find constructive information by posting a large number of discrediting tweets.
Politics
2,213 tweets touched upon the topic of national development, politics and Ukraine’s positioning on the international stage. In particular, X users criticized Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decisions and argued that the President and his team can’t be trusted because they don’t know how to do their job or they don’t want to do it. Corruption in the top echelons of power, Zelenskyy’s “dependence” on influential political and financial circles both inside and outside the country, as well as dissatisfaction with the government’s alleged disregard for the laws of Ukraine were also on the agenda.
When it comes to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s words and actions before the full-scale invasion, X users recalled him saying that it is necessary to “cease fire”, “stop the war in our heads” and “meet halfway” prior to being elected president.
In reference to the period after the outbreak of full-scale war, X users tweeted that Ukraine didn’t implement important reforms (they even counted the days when “nothing was done to join the EU”), there was no fight against the oligarchy, and “the country’s fundamental problems have not been solved for years”. The President was also criticized for building roads, while the AFU and the GUR have to “grovel in the dust and hold giveaways” to develop the software. X users also mentioned the imperfection of information policy: they insisted that the “zombie telemarathon” and “propaganda channels of #Kremlin agent #Zelenskyy” should be shut down, and they called for the creation of “Ukrainian sock-puppet farms to negate the effect of Russian ones.” Furthermore, many commentators are convinced that there is no freedom of speech in Ukraine – the people are allegedly being imprisoned for telling the truth about Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while “those who criticize the government are publicly referred to as the enemies of the state.”
Zelenskyy’s economic policy also wasn’t to the liking of X users: previously profitable state-owned enterprises “went into the red after Zelenskyy’s election as the president,” the country lives exclusively at the expense of Western countries, the level of poverty “in Ukraine is like nowhere else except maybe in Africa,” Zelenskyy has accumulated huge debts , and Ukrainians “will spend at least the next 50 years repaying them.” Some of these statements are fair enough, but they do not take into account the situation in which Ukraine found itself. First of all, our economy weakened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then Russia launched a full-scale invasion as soon as the economy began to recover. Russia is destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, businesses, they are killing Ukrainians on a daily basis. Therefore, Russia is to blame for the rise in poverty and our growing need in external loans and grants, which are critical for the state budget of Ukraine.
Users were particularly angered by Valeriy Zaluzhnyi resignation, which allegedly interferes with the process of Ukraine’s accession to NATO, and the appointment of Oleksandr Syrskyi as replacement. According to X users, Volodymyr Zelenskyy “hinders the efforts of the people of Ukraine and the AFU to mobilize the reserves”, “gives orders to the employees of military draft offices” whose actions “cause death on a systematic basis. Furthermore, the President was accused of “covering up” the crimes committed by the employees of draft offices, killings of men at the border, and mobilizing patients with “tuberculosis and mental retardation”. X users made special mention of legal restrictions that prohibit male citizens of military age from travelling abroad: instead of introducing “visa-free travel”, Zelenskyy made it impossible to leave the country because he understands the fact that “all Ukrainians would have gone abroad on a visa-free basis, if Zelenskyy had not closed the border.”
The campaign participants also touched upon the topic of international politics: X users condemned Zelenskyy’s public criticism of Biden, speculated about the alleged underutilization of the lend-lease opportunities by the Ukrainian side and the “refusal” to deploy French allied troops to Ukraine (although it is still unclear whether the French government actually proposed to bring in foreign troops at this stage of the Russo-Ukrainian war).
Many tweets were dedicated to the President’s attempts to start peace talks (some users tweeted that “the Russians would stop killing Ukrainians if politicians came to agreement”). It was also said that Zelenskyy’s “peace formula” is unfeasible, security agreements “do not provide any security” to Ukraine”, and Zelenskyy is not entitled to sign a peace treaty with Russia because “there are serious doubts about [his] legitimacy”. X users paid special attention to “peace summit” that took place in Switzerland on June 15-16, 2024. Commentators sneered at the fact that the leaders of certain countries refused to participate in this event and called it a “diplomatic failure”, they also pointed to its insignificance due to the absence of Russian representatives and said that “this is not a peace summit, but a summit on continuation of the war.”
Commentators share the opinion that Volodymyr Zelenskyy “destroyed democracy” and “turned the State into a fear machine that strikes its citizens with scare.” Furthermore, they call on the President to resign from his post because by doing so “he would make a much larger contribution to our country’s victory”, and they also threatened to “get rid of Zelenskyy” if he refuses to resign from his post. Finally, X users tweeted that “Zelenskyy is inciting people to revolt through the efforts of security forces and military draft offices, restriction of the rights and freedoms, and systematic violation of the country’s Constitution”. They urged people to “hold on and wait for payback time to come.”
Many users said that they don’t trust Volodymyr Zelenskyy because he doesn’t know how to do his job or he doesn’t want to do it. They pointed out that “difficult times call for simple but effective decision-making”, and “Zelenskyy is not capable of making such decisions.” They also tweeted that Zelenskyy is unable to act independently, he can’t adapt and survive in difficult political conditions, he lacks negotiation skills, he can’t distinguish between real friends and enemies (the latter conclusion was drawn from the MFA of Ukraine’s contacts with China). Commentators complained that Ukraine would not be able to maintain its statehood because of Zelenskyy, who is “incompetent to deal with matters of war”. He ignores “the work of state institutions”, and lost public trust and legitimacy both domestically and internationally.
X users also mentioned that the President lacks practical knowledge and conducts “criminal activities disguised as incompetence”. They call for “renewing the composition of ineffective government which is unable to carry on a war.” X users mentioned the following reasons of public distrust in Zelenskyy: he “allowed the second stage of the war to happen”, “killed 100,000 Ukrainians, abandoned the Azov regiment and 2 marine battalions in Mariupol, and left them at the mercy of Russians”, failed to evacuate people from the temporarily occupied territories, aims to build a concentration camp and destroy the opposition in Ukraine, and he does not want Ukraine to win because he benefits from this war without bearing any responsibility for it. The messages about concentration camp in Ukraine and the killing of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians carry little credibility, while other allegations seem fair to us. In particular, restriction of freedom of opposition media is not a good practice for a democratic state, but the claim that Zelenskyy is building an authoritarian regime and destroying the opposition in Ukraine appears to be significantly exaggerated.
Members of Zelenskyy’s presidential office also received their fair share of criticism. They were referred to as a “chapiteau circus”, “a team of traitors, provocateurs and fools”, “criminal group”, “gang”, “green stinkers”, etc. In particular, X users tweeted that there are many pro-Russian agents in the President’s team: Volodymyr Zelenskyy is surrounded by “katsap henchmen”, who had previously worked for Yanukovych and now they “turn out to be corrupt collaborators and traitors”, “loot humanitarian aid, demine the border, lay asphalt roads for the occupying forces”. They seek to “fulfill the Omani agreements with Patrushev” rather than achieve a victory in the war against Russia. Furthermore, Zelenskyy’s team was suspected of having ties to the FSB, which may be the reason why the state authorities of Ukraine don’t place restrictions on the activities of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), and why the Russians know the location of arsenals of weapons that were delivered by the West.
Zelenskyy’s team was also criticized for supporting his initiatives and the parliament’s insufficient efforts to win the war: X users mentioned the missile programs, unbuilt fortifications, changes in the rules of trade in medicinal products, etc. Furthermore, X users accused the president’s entourage of being engaged in corruption schemes on the basis of mysterious documentary evidence, according to which “the amount of theft and damage to state property caused by the actions of Zelenskyy’s team is estimated at $12.6 billion”, and hinted that the country’s top leadership reached the “end of the era of poverty”. The incumbent authorities supposedly “came to power for the purpose of fighting corruption, but it turned out that they took charge and improved corrupt business practices”. Users called for “confiscating [the state officials’] funds deposited in accounts and the property that they looted over the past 5 years”.
Andriy Yermak was one of the most harshly criticized political figures: he was accused of seizure and abuse of power, “grand theft, incompetence, and profiting from the war. By tradition, Yermak was accused of operating in the interest of the Russian Federation, disclosing classified information to Russian intelligence services and planning to “cede half of Ukraine’s territory to the enemy”. However, X users were divided over the question of how to deal with the President’s team: some users said they should be arrested, put on trial and expelled from Ukraine, while others suggested exchanging them for captured Ukrainian soldiers or simply execute them by shooting.
X users also brought up the topic of corruption in the context of political decisions taken by the President. They created 704 tweets on this topic. In particular, they said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy and members of his team are “inefficient and corrupt” politicians, “Ukraine has never seen such a large-scale embezzlement of budget funds”, and the President “should be brought to justice”. Corruption (rather than Russian missile attacks) was cited as the main reason for power outages in Ukraine.
X users criticized the President for appointing non-professionals to official positions. They had a suspicion that “Zelenskyy’s plan is to let his friends steal billions,” and they said that Zelenskyy “had a chance to make history, but he chose money”. Some users tweeted that foreign countries don’t want to support Ukraine because of large-scale corruption, the money received from the United States are being “embezzled” (however, the United States continues allocating funds to the corrupt government of Ukraine and intends to use corruption as an explanation why Ukraine is losing the war), and “none of the sane civilized countries would want to stain their reputations by holding meetings with a... looter”.
However, the most commonly encountered are angry tweets about Volodymyr Zelenskyy and how he created an extremely corrupt system that hasn’t existed since the declaration of independence of Ukraine. The President keeps this system “under his control”. According to X users, within the framework of this system, money is stolen primarily by the President, the head of presidential office Andriy Yermak, military leaders and employees of military draft offices, who “buy private jets”. The reason for creating such a system is the impunity of Ukrainian authorities for committing corruption practices (“you plunder the country, but the maximum punishment that you receive for this offence is the people’s assessment of your activity in the elections”) and acting in the interests of Russia (all Zelenskyy needs is to get personal security and inviolability guarantees from Putin, after which he will step down from his post and go abroad to splash millions of dollars that were stolen in Ukraine”). X users also offered their solutions to this problem: “restoration of the rule of law in Ukraine” followed by “arrest, confiscation of property and life imprisonment of Zelenskyy-Yermak-Tatarov criminal group and their close associates”.
However, the idea that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not an independent policy-maker, but a puppet ruler who follows the orders of other politicians or oligarchs was not very popular amongst X users. Most of the 64 tweets containing this idea bring up the topic of Zelenskyy’s dependence on the current head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak. X users refer to Yermak as the “real power holder”, “illegally acting president of Ukraine”, “a Russian FSB mole” that “coordinates the president’s foreign trips with Russia”, while Zelenskyy is referred to as a “hired actor”, “ puppet”, and “traitor” who handed over presidential power to the head of the Office of the President. According to some commentators, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is afraid of Yermak because the latter “can disclose the president’s secret about Oman”.
At the same time, the head of the Office of the President is not the only candidate for the position of “puppet master”. According to X users, both Zelenskyy and Yermak are protégés of Ihor Kolomoisky, who is the real “shadow president of Ukraine”. Commenters even compared the situation in Ukraine to the plot of “The Perfume” movie: the people of Ukraine are zombified by the state authorities, they think that Zelenskyy and Yermak are running the country, but they do not realize that these two politicians are Kolomoiskyi’s henchmen”. X users were divided in opinion on other issues: some of them think that the President follows the orders of Vladimir Putin, while others believe that he obeys the Western countries, depends exclusively on their will and acts as an “intermediary in the adoption of unpopular laws during the war”.
Users also emphasized that the government and the President personally ignore the law, disregard the Constitution and the will of the people. Some users were outraged that the Zelenskyy’s regime has introduced “elements of extra-constitutional restriction of the constitutional rights and freedoms of the citizens of Ukraine” because “Zelenskyy does not care https://x.com/cat4ua/status/1794837091773469032 about the Constitution and laws”. Furthermore, X users tweeted that “Zelenskyy and Yermak are building a police state that will grant law enforcement agencies unlimited rights with complete disregard for the Constitution”, while blogger Myroslav Oleshko, who actively criticized the President’s policies throughout the period of research study, wrote that “no one wants to live in a country where the Constitution isn’t working”.
War
1,203 tweets brought up the topic of war. The general trend of its appearance on social media platform X is similar to that of the topic of politics. The main difference is that the intensity of discussion on war-related issues was somewhat lower than the intensity of political discussion before the key peaks in media mention of the war, which were recorded on May 17, 21, and 25.
X users tried to discredit the President by criticizing his decisions on the handling of AFU troops – about half of the tweets on the topic of war included this content. Despite the large number of tweets falling under this category, the list of users’ complaints is quite short: Zelenskyy was blamed for problems with the material and technical supply (basic needs and weapons) of the AFU, demining of border areas, and the lack of fortifications.
Most of the messages were formulated in the form of aggressive questions such as “Where are the *fill in the blank* (missiles, air defense systems, fortifications, etc.)?” Users also speculated on the question of how it could be that Ukraine lacks these priority items (according to UkrTwi rating). However, the choice of hypotheses is rather limited: according to some commentators, the government officials are striving to enrich themselves by profiting from the war. Users suggest different ideas and options for enrichment. Some argue that “after the embezzlement of public funds that were allocated for “Large Construction” initiative as well as other methods of unlawful enrichment the state budget doesn’t possess enough money to purchase weapons. They also speculate that the absence of domestically produced weapons is part of a deliberate plan that was developed by Zelenskyy and his presidential office with the aim of profiting from a prolonged war and taking advantage of the concentration of power under martial law. Some complained that Ukraine still hasn’t launched its own missile production because Zelenskyy “spent all our money on asphalt road paving”, although he should have “allocated funds to powerful manufacturers instead of stealing money and begging with an outstretched hand in the West”. Others said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy should produce “his own missiles with the use of money that he has stolen from Ukrainians over the past 5 years” and fire these missiles at the Russian Federation. Behind these speculations we can see some traces of familiar narratives about “Zelenskyy’s dictatorship” that were used to discredit Ukrainian authorities before the US government decided to continue providing financial assistance to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy was unexpectedly often accused of entering into an insidious conspiracy with the Russian Federation. It is alleged that our government was “preparing to surrender Ukraine to the Russians”. For this purpose, Ukrainian authorities contributed to degradation of the AFU, which is why the Russian army is making progress now. Furthermore, some X users tried to convince others that the President helped Viktor Medvedchuk to get rich and come to power before the full-scale invasion, and he also promoted Russian narratives about the “civil war in Ukraine”. Many tweets expressed outrage that Zelenskyy did not warn the public about Russia’s invasion “even after the visit of the CIA director”, and later he called on the residents of occupied territories to resist Russian invaders, thereby putting them in danger.
According to some X users, the fact that Ukraine does not carry out missile strikes against the Crimean bridge and the Kremlin, sells titanium ore to the Russian missile production enterprises, and “yields Ukrainian land to the master of Kremlin piece by piece” is yet more proof that the President of Ukraine entered into an insidious conspiracy with the Kremlin. There was also a conspiracy theory that Russia had put Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the wanted list so that he could “drink champagne with Putin”, and Russia did not shell those cities where Zelenskyy was staying. Furthermore, X users noted that the goal of President Zelenskyy is to “kill as many Ukrainians as possible and hand over the remaining population to the Muscovites”, he wants to commit genocide against the population of Ukraine, which is why he understates the number of Ukrainians killed, sabotages the war efforts of the AFU, and prohibits strikes on Russian territory. From time to time, they refer to Zelenskyy as a traitor who is “responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians” and call for putting him on trial at the Hague Tribunal.
X users also explained how Zelenskyy (in person) was preparing to surrender Ukrainian territories to the Russians. In particular, they recall the “Large Construction” initiative: they say that Zelenskyy “built roads for the convenience of occupying forces” and “laid asphalt for Russian tanks”. Some users said that the Kremlin ordered Zelenskyy to kill as many Ukrainians as possible, so all the defeats at the frontline and problems in the handling of troops stem from the fact that Zelenskyy was following the instructions of “Muscovite curators”.
From time to time, users mention the “destruction of all missile programs” as evidence that Zelenskyy is “Putin’s henchman”. Most likely, the phrase “destruction of missile programs” refers to temporary cutbacks to funding of the military-industrial complex at the beginning of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s tenure as president. They also said that Zelenskyy “withdrew troops, demined territories, pulled the plug on defense and missile programs” shortly before Russia’s invasion, which “weakened the country and made the invasion more likely” because “it gave [Putin] reason to believe that he will conquer Ukraine quickly and easily”.
Fortifications were also mentioned in this context. X users wrote that the funds allocated for building of military defenses were embezzled by state officials both at the level of national leadership and at the local level. The ongoing war, civilian and military casualties “do not stop Zelenskyy and his servants from filling their pockets with the people’s money”. According to X users, the absence of fortifications is equivalent to high treason, and “the embezzlement of funds that were allocated for fortifying works” is equivalent to “looting”. The issue of fortifications is often used as evidence that Zelenskyy and his team are on the Kremlin’s payroll, which is why they cleared the way for the Russian army to invade Ukraine.
The so-called “demining” of the border is cited as evidence of “high treason” – X users are still promoting the infamous “who demined Chongar?” narrative. More specifically, the official investigation into the events that took place in southern Ukraine during the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion is under way, but many users have already claimed that Zelenskyy carried out the demining almost single-handedly. In the same context, users raised rhetorical questions as to why the enemy forces weren’t blown up by land mines in the fields of Donetsk and Kharkiv regions: they are convinced that the demining of these territories took place on Zelensky’s direct order to allow the Russian army to enter Ukraine.
The alleged fact of “delegitimization” of Zelenskyy (according to Russian propaganda) is used as evidence that the President of Ukraine has ties to the Russian authorities. However, X users put forward different logical arguments to support this theory: some argue that Zelenskyy managed to withstand a siege solely because he works for the Kremlin, while others say that the “already illegitimate” Zelenskyy has nothing to lose, so he will “plunder the army” and “drown Ukrainians in blood”. About half of these disinformation messages bring up the topic of Zelenskyy’s “illegitimacy” in combination with accusations of high treason. It is noteworthy that X users mostly do not provide any evidence of Zelenskyy’s “illegitimacy”, but they present “loss of legitimacy” as a proven fact, which is used to explain all other “sins” of the President.
Some of the tweets duplicate the narratives that we have already seen among the English-speaking audience, although they constitute a small proportion of the total amount. These messages refer to Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator” and “usurper”. X users accuse him of committing “war crimes” and “high treason”, and sometimes they make a causal link: Zelenskyy has usurped power because he knows that he will be prosecuted for his crimes as soon as he loses the presidency. Users mention several crimes that were allegedly committed by the President, including “high treason” in the form of “collaboration with Russia” and corruption referred to as “looting”, etc.
Society
Besides the war, politics and hate speech against Volodymyr Zelenskyy, X users sometimes tweeted about Ukrainians in general, opposition parties, politicians, and social divisions in our society. These topics are brought up in 302 tweets, which were included in our sample.
In this context, X users often mentioned the opposition parties and politicians, including Petro Poroshenko. Some users argued that the former president was much worse than the incumbent one because his decisions brought Zelenskyy to power and he enriched himself during the war, so he should never be allowed to take power again. Others wrote that there is no difference between Zelenskyy and Poroshenko: both are corrupt politicians, liars and fascists. However, such tweets were in the minority.
On the other hand, many more X users said that Petro Poroshenko is a highly skilled politician, and Zelenskyy will never reach his level. According to users, Poroshenko “preserved, strengthened and protected Ukraine from a full-scale invasion”, he would never have allowed the war to happen nor would he surrender to Russia, he would have provided a much higher standard of living, he “clawed out visa-free travel and Tomos”, and he is providing assistance to the AFU now. Users said that Ukrainian society unfairly blames the former president for virtually everything, while Zelenskyy’s team retains full power. Users believe that under Petro Poroshenko’s presidency the AFU would have been much more powerful, national economy would have been stronger, Ukraine would have de-occupied its territories, would have become self-sufficient in producing weapons, would have built robust defense lines and fortifications, would not have withdrawn its troops, would have launched missile strikes on Russian territory, military draft offices would have been overcrowded with volunteers, and a full-scale invasion would not have happened at all.
In addition to praising or criticizing Ukrainian politicians of all kinds, X users expressed their negative attitude toward the main source of power in Ukraine – the people of Ukraine, or more precisely, a specific segment of the population referred to as the “Zelenskyy voters”. The comments about them mostly contain hate speech and foul language without providing any arguments. For example, the people who voted for Volodymyr Zelenskyy were called “a herd”, “fanatics”, “suicidal locals”, “mentally retarded”. They were accused of “giving away the country for free”, and they “have no moral or intellectual right to condemn” Stalin and his supporters because they “brought organized crime to power in a democratic manner”. Many users questioned the mental abilities of “Zelenskyy voters”: they were called “fools”, “stupid”, “degenerates”, “naïve” people who “have the intelligence of a two-year-old child”, they “outsmarted themselves” because they “see no connection between their voting choices and living conditions”. Furthermore, X users addressed an ironic question to them: in 2019, they voted for corrupt and incompetent state officials, so why aren’t they in a festive mood right now?
These accusations culminated in claims that all of “Zelenskyy voters” had consciously sought to develop friendly relations with Russia, abandon the pro-Western policy and destroy the Ukrainian defense industry, and now they support Putin, defend the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and “help the state authorities deceive the population”. Furthermore, X users wrote that Zelenskyy voters “dreamt of storming the city of Moscow”, but now they “don’t want to go to the frontline and fight under the command of their incomparable leader Zelenskyy”, they evade military service or illegally cross the Ukrainian border because “they voted for the wrong person, but others have to clean up after them”.
Some X users claim that the government and President Zelenskyy are trying to split Ukrainian society. Most often, they write about the 2019 presidential election and the never-ending fight between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Petro Poroshenko. X users insisted that the then-presidential candidate Zelenskyy was trying to divide Ukrainian society back in 2019, and “Poroshenko became the enemy and the culprit in all the troubles”. Currently, users complain that “Ukrainians are being split into mutually hostile camps – those who support Zelenskyy and those who are against him”. According to users, the state authorities place a special emphasis on sowing discord between Ukrainians living in Ukraine and abroad, as well as between civilians and the military.
Elections
The main topic is the non-conduct of presidential election due to martial law. In peacetime, the presidential election would have been held on March 31, 2024. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 5-year term ended on May 20, 2024. In view of the aforesaid, users discussed the absence of elections, Zelenskyy’s alleged loss of legitimacy, and “usurpation of power”. We recorded 1,550 tweets that brought up these topics.
The main topic of discussion related to the (non-)conduct of elections is the delegitimization of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Many users argue that Zelenskyy lost his presidential powers in the spring of 2024, and any further actions he takes constitute usurpation of power. However, there are different opinions as to when the President lost his legitimacy.
For example, April 1, 2024, is mentioned as the date of delegitimization of Zelenskyy in at least 27 tweets, of which 13 end with these words – “a traitor, looter and murderer of 500,000 Ukrainians”. Others say that Zelenskyy lost his powers on May 21, 2024, so he should not sign any documents after that date, as any of them can be challenged in court. Moreover, anyone who follows his orders will be breaking the law because such documents allegedly have no legal force and constitute a criminal offence.
At the same time, Zelenskyy is referred to as a “temporary acting president”. However, since the politician has not recognized this status, “political experts” on social media platform X believe that he has usurped power and appointed himself for a second presidential term. In order to remedy the situation, Zelenskyy must transfer his powers to the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, otherwise he will be considered a usurper. However, according to some X users, the Verkhovna Rada is not a legitimate state authority, but a “criminal gang of Muscovites Zelenskyy-Yermak-Tatarov” working to destroy Ukraine on the orders from the Kremlin”. There are also users who have lost all faith. They claim that all bodies of state power in Ukraine are “expired”. Finally, a group of users believes that Zelenskyy should hand over power to Stefanchuk and “take a walk”.
According to the majority of X users, Zelenskyy is illegitimate because the Constitution of Ukraine says so. The President can allegedly exercise his powers “only for a period of 5 years, and there are no “buts” about it”, and only the Constitutional Court can deliver an opinion on President’s legitimacy or illegitimacy, but unfortunately the court “keeps silent”. Users are convinced that Zelenskyy allegedly had to submit a request to the Constitutional Court (CCU), but for some reason he did not do so. Some users will consider Zelenskyy illegitimate until the CCU delivers an opinion that suggests otherwise.
X users also appeal to the text of the Constitution, saying that the presidential term lasts only 5 years, and the Basic Law does not provide for any other time frame. Others argue that the President has usurped power due to the fact that elections to the Verkhovna Rada are prohibited under martial law, but the Constitution does not impose a direct ban on holding presidential elections. Unfortunately, many X users are convinced that the President simply does not care about the Constitution, so they blame both him and the Verkhovna Rada for doing nothing to “remedy” the situation.
What other consequences do users see in the postponement of presidential election and the alleged delegitimization of the President? First, they predict the end of Ukraine’s partnerships and alliances with other countries due to the “expired president”. Secondly, the end of Zelenskyy’s term as president is the cause of all existing and future problems. One user claimed that Ukraine is becoming a “failed state” due to Zelenskyy’s illegitimacy and usurpation of power, and the President is turning the country into “something worse than Iran and Russia...” Furthermore, X users are convinced that Zelenskyy should not only leave the office of president, but also receive punishment: in particular, they propose to impose “US sanctions” on him.
Some X users believe that Zelenskyy is using the war to postpone the elections. In their opinion, Zelenskyy and his team should decide how to hold the elections instead of “pretending they didn’t hear”. Furthermore, users argue that Zelenskyy’s presidency is absurd because it is based on the “martial law” that can be extended countless times. For some users, it doesn’t even matter that elections are prohibited under martial law – they no longer see Zelenskyy as a legitimate president. Some users wonder why it is not possible to hold elections in the government-controlled territories of Ukraine, given that this has already been done since 2014, and Zelenskyy was elected as the President without taking into account the votes of residents of the TOT.
Something similar happens when it comes to dealing with other problematic issues. According to X users, power cuts are taking place in Ukraine not so much because of Russian missile attacks as to prevent people from criticizing the government. In the words of Х users, politicians use sensitive issues (such as the childlessness tax) to divert public attention from the fact that the President has usurped power.
However, X users hardly ever talk about the difficulty of organizing elections during the war and the legal ban on holding elections under martial law. From the perspective of President’s critics, anyone who says that elections should not be held under martial law automatically becomes a “Zelebot”.
Some users put forth a rhetorical question: the fact that Zelenskyy does not step down from office can be considered a “power grab”? They confidently maintain that he will not give up power. X users are convinced that Zelenskyy would remain a usurper forever, even if elections will be held in the near future, because he did not relinquish power when his time was up.
Some users wrote that the SBU officers should have arrested “Zelenskyy’s gang and Yermak”, and they would have told them “how they planned to usurp power after 21.05.24.” The incumbent authorities were also accused of helping “the master of Kremlin to destroy Ukraine and massacre Ukrainians from within”. The incumbent president was compared to Viktor Yanukovych, and it was said that Zelensky could be replaced only through a “Maidan 3”.
There were users who counted the days of the “unconstitutional Zelenskyy’s regime”. For example, here is day 39, and there are days 49 and 154. The anonymous channel “tZE inform”, which has been slinging mud at Zelenskyy and his team in Russian since January 2018, is also counting the days of Zelensky’s regime. All publications on this Telegram channel (which also operates a blog and an account on “Medium”) contain manipulative statements and criticize the activities of state authorities, the President, and individual politicians. However, the creators of this resource try to pretend that their arguments are based on extensive analytical work.
X users also claim that some of the President’s political decisions were made for PR purposes. The actions of the military leadership as well as appointment of officers to various positions are aimed at raising Zelenskyy’s approval ratings. According to users, he is a showman who avoids talking about important issues. According to X users, the transfer of F-16s is also a PR stunt because our partners definitely won’t deliver them to Ukraine in the coming years. Ukraine’s “peace formula” is a PR campaign organized by the government, “which should get a round of applause for Zelenskyy”.
Hate speech
Finally, we recorded 2,002 tweets that are mainly focused on ridiculing the incumbent President.
X users often make harsh comments that refer to the President’s professional qualities and decisions, his personal life, visual appearance and previous career. For example, they apply rude names to Zelenskyy without providing any explanation or subject him to personal insults: they call him a liar and a scoundrel, a useless and overconfident traitor. They also make sarcastic jokes: they suggest replacing Zelenskyy with a GPT chatbot and make fun of AI which is unable to repeat Zelenskyy’s “vocabulary”. Some users joke that they have actually tried to replace Zelenskyy, but the model turned out to be better than the original.
X users also criticize the President for his military and political decisions. For example, they often recall “Zelenskyy’s BBQ”, which is a “code name” for the infamous reassuring video, in which the President called on everyone not to panic a month before the full-scale invasion.
Furthermore, users reproached Zelenskyy for the so-called “Omani agreements” and called him an “Omani tourist”. In 2022, “Schemes” journalists found out that Zelenskyy and Mykola Patrushev visited Muscat (Oman) at the same time. Officially, the President was on vacation with his family, and therefore he was not supposed to hold any working meetings. The journalists also claim that Zelenskyy later flew home on the same plane that was used by Patrushev to fly to Oman. The Office of the President did not comment on this incident. Some online users believe that Zelenskyy was negotiating “something” with the Russian security official during that vacation.
X users also criticize the President for not donating his own money to the AFU, they call him “draft dodger” and urge him to “go to the frontline”.
X users question the President’s legal capacity – it is alleged that he is not capable of running the country on his own. In particular, they often tell the same old stories about drug problems that were made up by the enemy propaganda. Furthermore, users mentioned Zelenskyy’s grandfather, who allegedly worked for the KGB. Users bring up the “KGB grandfather’s” name every time they want to place an emphasis on the President’s allegedly anti-Ukrainian sentiments.
Zelenskyy is also criticized for alleged misuse of public funds. As an illustration of inappropriate expenditures, users provide manipulative information about the allocation of UAH 450 million for penguin research. This information was spread by a well-known pro-Russian blogger Anatoliy Shariy, who is suspected of committing high treason. According to pro-Russian propagandist Shariy, this money will be spent on wine and chocolate. Anonymous Telegram channels and certain media outlets spread the news story which was distorted by Shariy, and then it reached the audience of social media platform X. But in fact, these funds were allocated for Antarctic research and to cover the needs of Ukrainian polar explorers.
Users often refer to Zelenskyy’s past experience as an actor in “Kvartal 95” and the “League of Laughter”. They call him a “clown” who occupied Ukraine. The President is also accused of mistreating Ukrainians. According to some users, Zelenskyy has been playing “tanks” with Ukraine since 2019 (whatever that means), and they ask a rhetorical question: when will Zelenskyy introduce serfdom?
Finally, some users call for the assassination of the President and his family. Others suggest that after the war Zelenskyy should be prosecuted for treason and sentenced to capital punishment, which is fortunately prohibited in Ukraine and most countries. There are also speculations that Zelenskyy plans to turn Ukraine into a concentration camp, deprive citizens of basic freedoms and subordinate their lives to his personal interests – this is a hypothetical situation referred to as “Zelenskyy’s dreamland”.
As we can see, X users do not mince words when criticizing the President for his actions and the things that are beyond his control. Ironic, sarcastic, and sometimes groundless jokes and ridicule do not create the best image for Zelenskyy as a politician. Furthermore, social media posts are often aimed not only at expressing personal dissatisfaction with the President, but also at convincing others of his flaws or mistakes (which by no means always correspond to reality). At the same time, unpleasant but rather innocent jokes and accusations are sometimes complemented by radical and even extremist posts that call for disposing of Zelenskyy and his family members.
Co-authors:
- Olha Bedovska
- Anastasiya Romaniuk
- Olha Snopok