Fact-check: Did Zelenskyy’s wife spend €4 million in aid money on a Bugatti?

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine rages on, so too does Moscow’s disinformation war against its adversaries.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is no stranger to being a target of such false claims, but this time it’s his wife, Olena Zelenska, who’s been caught in the cross-hairs in an apparent effort to discredit international support for their country.

This picture going viral on social media supposedly shows an invoice for a 4.4 million Bugatti bought by the Ukrainian first lady.

The currency isn’t specified, but some posts say it’s in dollars, while others say it’s in euros.

The invoice shows Zelenska’s name and that the car will be delivered to Paris, alongside a production date set for January 2026.

Sometimes, the picture is shared with allegations that the Bugatti has been bought with “American taxpayer dollars”, while other posts online suggest it was “British taxpayers” that paid for it.

Either way, the implication is that Zelenskyy and his wife are misappropriating aid money from the West as they continue to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

But, as the BBC reports, the posts are false and part of a Russian disinformation campaign targeting the US ahead of its presidential election in November.

The claim that Zelenska bought the car appeared in various low-profile Russian news outlets online, all of which pointed to a supposedly respectable French website.

Ironically, it’s called Veritée Cachée — or “Hidden Truth” in French.

According to the website, the Zelenskyys had a private showing with Bugatti while in France for the D-Day commemorations in June.

Zelenska allegedly put in an order for a new hypercar yet to go public, which would have made her the owner of one of the first 250 of these cars made,