Fact Check: Zelensky Calls on NATO to “Nuke Moscow” in Viral Video

No, Zelensky didn’t urge NATO to “nuke Moscow” in the video.

An interview video featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has recently come to light, along with assertions that he has requested NATO to launch a nuclear attack on Moscow.

The video has gained widespread attention on social media, with a noticeable trend on Twitter, as observed by MandyNews.com.

The following details describe the origin of the claim.

The claim: David Vance, an American blogger who was banned from Twitter in 2022 due to allegations of racism, tweeted the caption, “Zelensky says it is fine to nuke Moscow but Russia must not respond in kind.”

Another viral claim by Constanze said “Zelensky’s mental health is declining as he’s saying that it’s cool if NATO drops nukes on Russia but that Russia mustn’t be allowed to return the favour.”

The 40-second video with subtitles purports to translate President Zelensky’s response to a question regarding NATO.

In the video, the President is allegedly heard making the following statement: ‘What should NATO do? They can use nuclear weapons on Russia, but what’s important I once again appeal to the international community, as it was before February 24, we need to launch preemptive strikes that they know what will happen to them if the use and not vice versa.’

However, upon conducting a thorough investigation, MandyNews.com has discovered that the video has been mislabeled with an erroneous translation incorporated into President Zelensky’s speech. This same speech has been used previously in a misleading manner to advance the notion that Ukraine is intensifying the conflict.

The now viral clip was extracted from an October 2022 virtual meeting held at the Lowry Institute in Australia, where President Zelensky was queried about the potential use of nuclear weapons by Moscow in Ukraine and the expected response from the West.

In his response, President Zelensky emphasized that the West should focus on preventing Russia from conducting a strike rather than considering potential responses to such an attack.

President Vladimir Zelensky delivered the statement in Ukrainian, which when translated to English reads as follows:

• “Що має робити НАТО? Виключити можливість застосування Росією ядерної зброї. Але, що важливо, я ще раз звертаюся до міжнародної спільноти, як це було до 24 лютого: (потрібні) превентивні удари, щоб вони знали, що з ними буде. А не навпаки – чекати на ядерні удари Росії, щоб потім сказати: “Ах, ти так, ну, ось тримай від нас!”
• “What should NATO do? Eliminate the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. But, what is important, I appeal to the international community once again, as it was before February 24: (necessary) preventive strikes so that they know what will happen to them. And not on the contrary, to wait for Russia’s nuclear strikes to then say: ‘Oh, that’s what you do, well, take this from us!'”

The erroneous translation drastically alters the meaning of the statement, transforming “preventing a strike by Moscow” into “striking Moscow.

NewsWeek conducted this fact-check, and upon further investigation by Mandy News using transcribing tools, the original video revealed the following:

“In my expectations to the international community, the preventive strikes would be preventive action so that Russia would know what would happen to them, and not in return, I mean waiting for the nuclear strikes first.”