Did Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video, say the Caspian Sea was the territory of Belarus and promise to find all Belarusians who launched their rockets from the shores of the Caspian Sea? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found this video has been manipulated.
This claim was published by different TikTok accounts in Russian. On April 7, 2023, this claim appeared in the video posted on the TikTok account @yuliyakukharenko (archived here) and was also shared by accounts @belevichoksana (archived here) and @rysskaia999 (archived here).
In this video, Zelenskyy says: "Today, I want to address the citizens of Belarus. We will find you all. Each of you will be responsible for these strikes. And if someone thinks that he will evade responsibility by saying that such was the order, you are mistaken. And you will not hide anywhere -- not on the shores of the Caspian Sea, over which your rockets are launched." The text accompanying the video read:
Tell me where we have the Caspian Sea in Belarus. There is something I don't know.
Below is how the post appeared on TikTok at the time of this writing:
(Source: TikTok.com screengrab taken Tue May 2 10:59:23 2023 UTC)
In the original video, Zelenskyy's evening address, dated June 26, 2022 (Timecode: 3:47), Ukraine's president addresses these words to Russians responsible for launching missiles in Ukraine, not Belarusians.
He says: "Firstly, all pilots, controllers, technicians, and other people who provide missile launches on Ukraine must understand: we will find you all. Each of you will be responsible for these strikes. And if someone thinks that he will avoid responsibility by saying that such was the order, you are mistaken. When your rockets hit residential buildings, these are war crimes. A trial is what awaits you all. And I would like to address the citizens of Belarus today separately -- people, both civilians and those in uniform. You are being drawn into a war. And even more actively than it was in February and in the spring months. The Kremlin has already decided everything for you: your lives are worth nothing to them. But you are not slaves or cannon fodder. You must not die. And you can not let anyone decide for you what awaits you next."
The manipulated video deliberately begins with Zelenskyy's address to the Belarusians and continues with words addressed to the Russians.
The Caspian Sea washes the shores of five countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Azerbaijan; Belarus is not among them.
