Ukraine-Russia war is ongoing; viral claim of Zelenskyy surrender is baseless | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
·3 min read
184

The claim: Zelenskyy surrendered and Ukraine has fallen

A Nov. 4 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, that includes a black and white photo of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Zelensky has surrendered,” reads part of the X post. “Ukraine has fallen.”

It was liked more than 1,000 times in two days. The original X post was shared more than 2,000 times in two days.

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Our rating: False

As of Nov. 7, Zelenskyy has not surrendered and Ukraine remains independent. The war between Ukraine and Russia is ongoing, according to numerous news outlets.

No credible evidence of Zelenskyy surrender, Ukraine defeat

Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the 20 months since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian leaders have expressed concerns that the conflict has reached a “stalemate."

But there is no credible evidence of either a surrender by Zelenskyy or the defeat of Ukraine, as the post claims.

Fact check: No proof to back claims on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's assets and income

Numerous news outlets have reported developments in the ongoing war in the days after the post was shared. For example, a Russian ship was damaged by a Ukrainian missile strike on a shipyard in Crimea, the Associated Press reported Nov. 5. That could not have happened had Zelenskyy already surrendered or had Ukraine previously fallen.

On the day the claim was posted, Zelenskyy was photographed greeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a railway station and speaking at a press conference with her. His remarks included no mention of a surrender, and media coverage of the day described Russian attacks with no indication that the war had ended.

Zelenskyy also appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Nov. 5 and invited former President Donald Trump to Ukraine. Zelenskyy said he would need only 24 minutes to explain to Trump why he can’t "manage" the war after the former president repeatedly claimed he could end the conflict in 24 hours. Such an invitation would not make sense if a surrender had already occurred.

Zelenskyy acknowledged that global interest in the war has dropped off, along with the level of international support for it, but said he remains steadfast in his belief that Ukraine can win, according to the cover story in the upcoming Nov. 20 issue of Time magazine.

USA TODAY reached out to Ukraine's embassy in Washington but did not immediately receive a response.

Neither the X user who wrote the original post nor the Instagram user who shared it could be contacted by USA TODAY.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Zelenskyy, Ukraine have not surrendered, contrary to post | Fact check

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