False: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his former advisor Oleksii Arestovych attended a 1999 New York Pride event.

Context

Ukraine marked the somber anniversary of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2023. Misinformation about the war continues to spread on social media. One such image shared on Twitter shows Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his former advisor Oleksii Arestovych together at a pride event. The text under the picture reads, "Photo: Yes, it's ZELENSKY. 1999 New York United States (sic)." Several other posts on Facebook and Instagram claimed that the photo showed Zelenskyy at various LGBTQ pride events held in other cities across different years. 

While the image has been viral since 2022, it is circulating again due to U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Kyiv on February 20, 2023.

In Fact

Our research revealed that the picture has been digitally manipulated, and Zelenskyy and Arestovych’s faces have been superimposed onto a photo taken during a Gay Pride event in 2006 in New York, U.S. A reverse image search of the viral picture showed that the actual image was first posted on Flickr.com. The picture is part of an album by U.S.-based photographer Thomas Hobbs titled "Gay Pride 2006." It notes that the photo was taken on June 25, 2006.

Similar images from the event were also posted on Getty Images. The caption, "Atmosphere during Gay Pride March 2006," confirms that they are not from 1999, as the viral post claims. The original image shows a different person wearing a curly black wig and an olive green helmet.

A similar fact check by AFP News in 2022 debunked the claim. 

The Verdict

A digitally manipulated image is circulating to claim that Zelenskyy was part of an LGBTQ pride event in 1999. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.