The news appeared after Ukraine deployed thousands of troops in a major invasion of Russia’s western Kursk region on August 6 (archived link).
Ukraine claims it has made further progress in its offensive against Russia, having captured more than 1,100 square kilometres. It is the largest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II.
Ukraine says it now has control of dozens of settlements and Sudzha, a town five miles from the border.
The photo was also shared elsewhere on X here, here, here, hereand Facebook here.
However, the photo was taken in 2022, more than two years before Ukraine launched the attack and There are no reliable reports that Zelensky was in Suja or any other part of the Kursk region on August 15.
Photo 2022
A reverse image search and subsequent keyword searches on Google found the the same photo — distributed by the Ukrainian presidential office — published in the AFP archives on May 29, 2022.
According to the caption of the photo, it was taken in Kharkov, Ukraine. The photo shows Zelensky visiting homes and other structures destroyed by fighting in the city and meeting with military officials.
Below is a screenshot comparing the image shared in the fake X-post (left) with the photo published by AFP (right):
AFP also reported in May 2022 that Zelensky visited the country for the first time in the war-torn east since the Russian invasion, traveling to the Kharkov region (archived link).
