FACT CHECK: Did President Volodymyr Zelensky Block Truth Social in Ukraine?
A stage claim has gone viral on social media that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blocked access to Truth Social in his country after President Donald Trump decided to cut him off from initial talks with Russia to find a solution to end the ongoing war between Russia nd Ukraine.
The claim reportedly started doing the rounds on February 20, days after the US-Russia talks in Riyadh. Zelensky reportedly is upset with Trump since then but the claim that he blocked Truth social in Ukraine is completely false and baseless. In fact, both Truth Social and Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have confirmed that the social media platform was not blocked.
The Wild Claim
On February 20, as U.S. President Donald Trump made a series of statements aligning with Russia’s perspective on the ongoing war in Ukraine, pro-Trump commentator Benny Johnson alleged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had restricted access to Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform, in Ukraine.
To support his claim, Johnson posted what appeared to be a screenshot from a computer displaying the message: “Truth Social is currently unavailable in your area.”
However, the claim is completely false and baseless. In fact, Truth Social has never been accessible in Ukraine.
When the platform initially launched in February 2022, it was only available in the U.S. and Canada.
A March 2024 report from Ukrainian media watchdog Detector Media suggested that the app’s availability remained restricted to only a handful of countries.
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The report stated: “Truth Social is still only available in some countries of the world after its almost third year of existence. Among the official list of countries where the social network operates are the USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Turkey, and Australia.“
Claim Debunked
In a statement shared on X, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied claims that the country had restricted access to the app. The spokesperson added that Ukraine “would appreciate it if … Truth Social included Ukraine in its list of authorized regions.”
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In contrast to the claim, a search for Ukrainian keywords on Google News within Ukraine’s online segment found no relevant results. Also, a search of Ukrainian government websites for these keywords within materials published between January 1 and February 21, 2025, yielded no results.
Johnson, the commentator who helped spread the claim widely, was part of a group of conservative influencers whom federal prosecutors alleged in September 2024 had unknowingly received funding from Russian state media employees.
According to The Associated Press, these people aimed to deepen political divisions in the U.S. while advancing “Russian interests, including its war in Ukraine.”
Since Zelensky’s actions have no connection to Truth Social’s unavailability in Ukraine, this claim is rated as false.
