Russian propagandists have forged an Instagram story from American actor Sylvester Stallone to discredit the Ukrainian government
Russian media outlets, Telegram channels, and bot accounts on social media platforms X and Facebook are circulating a fabricated Instagram story, allegedly from Stallone, best known for Rocky and Rambo. The fake video supposedly features footage from a non-existent video game where a character in boxing gloves “punches” an animated figure resembling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his office.
According to the propagandists, Stallone promoted the “game” and shared a link to it with his followers.
This is a fake because no such game exists. The supposed link in the video leads to the Steam online store, which sells computer games, but the alleged title is nowhere to be found. The fake game does not even have a name.
Stallone never posted such a video. His Instagram follower list includes Zelensky’s official account. Had the story been real, the Ukrainian president’s team would have responded publicly.
This video was created and doctored by propagandists to resemble an Instagram story.
The Hollywood actor has publicly expressed support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. On March 1, 2022, he posted a photo of a rescued puppy taken in by Ukrainian soldiers, writing: “Bless all of the incredibly brave men, women, and children… This nightmare and vicious tragedy has to stop.”
Russia frequently fabricates Instagram stories from celebrities to discredit Ukraine. Ukrinform has previously debunked similar fakes attributed to artist Banksy, musician Moby, and actress Jamie Lee Curtis.
The false Stallone post is yet another attempt to undermine Ukraine’s leadership and diminish Zelensky’s standing in the West.
Earlier, Ukrinform also exposed a Russian propaganda hoax about “graffiti featuring Zelensky and USAID” in the U.S.
Andriy Olenin
Source: Russian propaganda falsely attributes 'ad' for fake video game featuring Zelensky to Stallone
