Fake BBC News report about stolen Cézanne painting appearing in Zelenskyy video circulates online
What was claimed
A video shows a BBC News report about a stolen painting by Paul Cézanne appearing in footage from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Our verdict
This isn’t a real report from the BBC and the clip of President Zelenskyy has been edited to include the stolen Cézanne painting.
A video styled as a BBC News report about a stolen painting by Paul Cézanne being identified in footage from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy isn’t genuine output from the broadcaster.
The BBC told Full Fact the report is “fake” and we found that the original clip posted by President Zelenskyy was edited to include the stolen Cézanne painting.
The fake report has been circulating on Facebook, Instagram and X.
It’s true that three paintings by Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse were stolen from a museum in northern Italy in March. And the fake report includes a genuine BBC interview with art lawyer Chris Marinello about the heist at the end of the clip. But the section about Mr Zelenskyy isn’t true and features a clip of the Ukrainian president that has been doctored.
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Full Fact traced that clip of him to a video published on the Ukrainian president’s website in January. The real video features a different painting in the backround—which other fact checkers have identified as the work of Ukrainian artist Andrii Chebotaru, not Cézanne.
The Ukrainian government’s Center for Countering Disinformation also described the video with the Cézanne painting in the background as “fake”.
Before sharing videos such as these, first consider whether they come from a verifiable and trustworthy source. Our toolkit on how to identify bad information, can help you do this.
