Did Ukrainians in the city of Zhytomyr receive leaflets inviting them to vote for current Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny as the new president of Ukraine? No, that's not true: Pictures purportedly showing such leaflets have been shared as Russian propaganda, along with the alleged candidacy of Zaluzhny in an upcoming election in Ukraine, according to the Department of Press and Information of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by alexandr_turner on November 11, 2023, with the text overlay (translated from Russian to English by Lead Stories staff):
In Zhytomyr Ukrainians found leaflets in their mailboxes, where they are called to make 'the right choice,' that is to vote for Zaluzhny.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Nov 22 10:18:17 2023 UTC)
Regarding Zaluzhny supposedly being a candidate in a presidential campaign, the Department of Press and Information of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine emailed Lead Stories on November 20, 2023:
We express our respect and inform you that all these dubious claims that are spread in Russian mass media and social networks are a part of an information campaign organized by the Russians against Ukraine and the Armed Forces.
The Center for Disinformation of Ukraine confirmed that no presidential campaign leaflets allegedly portraying President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Zaluzhny had been distributed in Ukraine and that the whole operation had been created as part of Russian propaganda to show an alleged rift between Zelenskyy and the commander-in-chief.
In an interview with BBC on June 22, 2023, Zelenskyy announced that no presidential elections would take place in Ukraine until the end of the war with Russia.
