War in Ukraine: Hitler's car in front of Zelensky's estate, real information or Russian propaganda ?

Russian media accuse Volodymyr Zelensky of buying an old car of Hitler. (Illustration). MAXPPP – Arnaud Beinat

Since the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory, accusations between the two camps have continued to circulate. Recently, Russian media claimed that the Ukrainian head of state had bought an old car of Hitler for 15 million dollars.

Like any rumor, this one has spread like wildfire. Earlier this month, a Mercedes-Benz 770 that belonged to Hitler was reportedly spotted outside Volodymyr Zelensky's Kiev residence, according to the pro-Kremlin tabloid The Russian Moskovsk Komsomolets, which in turn cited Seatle Tribune.

Furthermore, the latter is estimated at $15 million according to “experts”. The Russian media claims that the Ukrainian president purchased this vehicle, at an unknown price, during a visit to the United States.

As is often the case, all this is just a showpiece”since the Russian investigative media The Insider investigated and dismantled the story. These Russian fabrications have the concrete objective of reproaching the Ukrainian government for flirting with Nazi ideologies, as they have accused them of since the beginning of this war, but also to justify the "denazification" of Ukraine, an operation launched in February 2022 by Vladimir Putin.

But who owns this car ?

The Mercedes, which has only five copies in the world, has indeed been in the hands American authorities for a long time, as explained by The Times. It was subsequently bought many times by people whose identities are unknown to us, until it ended up in 2017 in the hands of a powerful Russian for 7 million dollars.

After four years of negotiations, it ended up in the hands of Clive Palmer, an Australian politician, whose government quickly threatened to look into the matter and initiate possible legal proceedings.

Finally, the photograph of the car taken in 2017 as part of the auction was simply cut out and placed virtually, on a background representing the buildings of the Ukrainian government, according to The Insider.