Ukraine's MFA says the video alleging USAID funded celebrities' trips to Ukraine is fake

Heorhiy Tykhyi. Photo by Heorhiy Tykhyi on Facebook

Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said that the video alleging that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded celebrities' visits to Ukraine is fake.

He said this on February 7 at a briefing in Kyiv, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

“This is a fake video. Of course, this is nonsense. The celebrities came to Ukraine to support our state,” the spokesman said.

Tykhyi added that there is a lot of disinformation online right now, in particular that being spread by Russians.

“We urge everyone to be careful and recognize these fakes and not share them,” Tykhyi stressed.

Earlier, American businessman Elon Musk shared a fake news story on X alleging that USAID funded Western celebrities' trips to Ukraine. The video said that "the involvement of celebrities made it easier to coordinate funding programs for Ukraine during the conflict" and "this was done to increase Zelensky’s popularity among foreign audiences, particularly in the United States."