Fact check: Posts misrepresent clip of Volodymyr Zelenskyy talking about U.S. troops in Ukraine

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Post implies current Ukraine situation will require U.S. to send soldiers

A March 1 Instagram video shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking at a press conference while a woman translates his words into English.

"The U.S. will have to send their sons and daughters exactly the same way as we are sending their sons and daughters to war," the woman's voice-over says. "And they will have to fight because it's NATO that we're talking about and they will be dying."

The post's caption reads, "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the US will need to send their sons and daughters to fight and die for Ukraine in their war against the Russian Federation."

The post garnered more than 8,000 likes within a day. Similar posts have been shared on Facebook and Twitter.

Commenters expressed their belief that Zelenskyy was describing the current situation in Ukraine.

"If you have a Ukraine flag in your bio, you should be the first ones in the fight," said one user.

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Our rating: Missing context

The implied claim here is wrong. The video shows Zelenskyy describing a hypothetical scenario of what would happen if the U.S. stopped offering support, Ukraine lost the war and Russia invaded nearby NATO countries.

Clip shows future hypothetical scenario, not plan to send troops

The clip is from a press conference Zelenskyy held on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Reuters uploaded a full live stream of the conference on YouTube with a spoken translation for Zelenskyy.

An ABC correspondent asked the president what his message was to Americans who believe their country is giving too much support to Ukraine. Zelenskyy responded by thanking the Americans that have supported Ukraine and issuing a warning for those that haven't.

He went on to predict what would happen if Ukraine lost its war with Russia.

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"The U.S. is never going to give up on the NATO member states," Zelenskyy's translator said. "If it happens so that Ukraine, due to various opinions and a weakening and depleting of assistance, loses, Russia is going to enter Baltic states, NATO member states, and then the U.S. will have to send their sons and daughters, exactly the same way as we are sending (our) sons and daughters to war, and they will have to fight because it's NATO we're talking about. And they will be dying, God forbid because it's a horrible thing."

He concluded his answer by expressing his hope for peace and ongoing support from the U.S.

Several countries bordering Ukraine are members of NATO, including Romania, Poland and Hungary. As is stated in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, an armed attack against any of these bordering NATO countries would be considered an attack against the U.S. as well.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment.

The claim has been debunked by Reuters, the Associated Press, Lead Stories and AFP as well.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No, Zelenskyy didn't say U.S. troops are needed in Ukraine