Fact check: No, Zelenskyy didn't buy a luxury hotel
Published December 4, 2024last updated December 5, 2024
The video opens with a man in a blue jacket, a hood pulled over his head as snow falls around him. He's pointing to a big building in the background, telling the viewer that the luxury Palace des Neiges hotel recently changed hands and was now owned by a "famous person."
A video within the video pops up and a man in what's been made to appear like a TV news studio narrates that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Film Heritage Inc. bought the hotel, sharing snippets of a website as proof of the ownership change.
Claim: "Zelensky has purchased €88 million hotel in Courchevel ski resort in France," said this social media user on X. "In case you were wondering how your tax dollars are being spent." He's calling on his followers to retweet the post, which has been shared 27,000 times. This video has been shared in several languages on social media such as here, here, here, here and here.
DW Fact check: False.
A Monte-Carlo Societe des Bains de Mer (SBM) spokesperson told DW: "Palace des Neiges was acquired by Monte-Carlo Societe des Bains de Mer group in October 2023. The SBM group is currently renovating the hotel, with a view to opening in December 2026, as owner and operator."
The website in the video posted to social media is not the hotel's real website — disinformation actors created a fake version by adding the word "hotel" to the real URL. The domain was registered on November 22, 2024. The hotel's actual website was registered back in 2007.
The website hosting the video and the corresponding article on Les echos de la France was created on November 25, 2024.
Such information can be looked up on websites such as whois.com.
This is the latest in the Russian propaganda narrative against Zelenskyy, painting him as a rich man who's buying luxury goods and mansions or historical artifacts.
The aim is to undermine solidarity with Ukraine, Julia Smirnova, a disinformation specialist from the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told DW.
"Zelenskyy is the symbol of Ukraine, the symbol of Ukrainian resistance, which is why many attacks are aimed at him personally," she said.
Alima Hotakie contributed to this report.
Edited by: Rachel Baig