The woman behind Olena Zelenska and Cartier’s hoax lives in St. Petersburg, Russia

Did Olena Zelenska buy $1,100,000 worth of Cartier jewelry in New York? This is a viral hoax posted in a paid article on the Nigerian website Nationwhich based the entire story on a series of Instagram stories posted by the account @gorgeous.bb.jeanette attributed to a sales assistant who was fired due to the fault of the Ukrainian First Lady. Open fact check I have dismantled, point by point, the fake news spread by Russian TV channels and the Russian Embassy in the UK via Twitter/X. After checking, at first Posted on TwitterWe continued to search for the source of the fake news. thanks for the Valuable contribution From your colleague and friend Shayan Sardarizadehjournalist and fact checker in Verified by BBCl Open fact check We decided to check her discovery further: the social accounts of the woman as we read that she lives in St. Petersburg.

Russian social network VK

VK is a Russian social network known for being a safe place for neo-Nazis and anti-Semites from all over the world, where they can act without disturbance and in complete freedom. Over the past few years, we have reported on some of the far-right groups included in the program accepted by the Kremlin, such as Italian Francesca Rizzi (known as “Miss Hitler”) and the former Ukrainians of Azov, enemies of Poroshenko first and Zelensky. today. All of this is in complete contrast to Russian propaganda during the invasion of Ukraine that originally began in 2014. The hero of the video, despite this presence, frequents and owns a VK account called “Gabriel Yugo“(@stylishhhh).

Tik Tok and Instagram accounts

By referring to the profile details, we get a window containing information and multiple links pointing to other social networks such as Tik Tok And Instagram.

Several photos and videos posted on the two social media networks show a woman who vaguely resembles the one in the hoax video. While in the latter she wears very little makeup, on TikTok and Instagram we see a very elegant woman with an almost model-like appearance, perhaps helped by both the makeup and filters available on social media.

Check social media

By checking the numerous videos posted on both social networks, we can say that the faces share several elements, such as lips and nose holes.

In the video used by Russian propaganda, the woman speaks freely and shows off her imperfect teeth. The latter is equivalent to a signature, somewhat similar to fingerprints. Thanks for some videos (this And this), it was possible to find common defects.

She was tagged on Instagram early Where they interviewed her. The voice is identical to the woman’s voice in the viral video.

Evidence of its presence in Russia

Let’s get to the evidence that leads us to say that he lives in St. Petersburg. Among the stories saved on the Instagram profile we find a group titled “Ochoba“, or “studies” in Russian.

in video TikTok talks about leaving for the outside of the airport Domodedovo to He flies.

We find this in the profile pictures of the VK account a With a Russian language magazine sitting on a restaurant table.

The woman claims to be the director of a company called Stylishhh based in St. Petersburg. Among the photos on the VK profile we find QR code Which is used to communicate with you via WhatsApp.

The Whatsapp number turned out to be Russian, with the prefix +7. This is a business account, and this allows us to display information about the place: Opened in 2020, located in region North St. Petersburg.

Another proof of his stay in Russia is early It was released on January 27, 2023, with the title “My Daily Life”. In the clip you can see some Russian buildings.

In the cover image as background: Image by jannoon028 On Freebec

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