Fact Check: Did Ukraine's Zelensky Buy a $48 Million Yacht?

Among the many misleading and misinformed claims about how funding for the war in Ukraine has been used, none have been more ridiculous than the allegations of ostentatious spending by the country's presidential office.

The most common victim has been Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska, who has been falsely accused of using taxpayer cash to go on a spending spree in Paris and splashing out $1.1 million at Cartier in New York.

President Volodymyr Zelensky faced similar accusations this week, with an allegation from a right-wing U.K. politician that he had used U.S. funding to buy a yacht worth over $48 million.

The Claim

A post on X (formerly Twitter) by the leader of the U.K.'s right-wing Heritage Party, David Kurten, posted on November 29, 2023, was viewed 253,800 times. It showed a video of a yacht called My Legacy.

Kurten wrote alongside: "Zelensky's new yacht - purchased with donations from US/UK/EU taxpayers."

The Facts

The recent and false allegations against Olena Zelenska, accusing her of corrupt exorbitance, were each let down by their inconsistencies and lack of evidence. The claim she spent $1.1 million in a Cartier store in New York, for example, neglected to consider that Zelenska was in Canada when her alleged splurge was said to have happened.

This new claim about President Zelensky is similarly false and shallow in its construction.

For a start, the yacht in the video, My Legacy, is still for sale. Its broker, Burgess, confirmed to Newsweek that it was still on the market.

"Burgess can confirm that MY LEGACY is currently for sale, with Burgess as the exclusive listing brokerage house," a spokesperson said.

"We can confirm that the yacht has not been sold and, therefore, remains for sale."

Kurten provided no other evidence to support his allegation that Zelensky had bought My Legacy. Newsweek found no evidence elsewhere that Zelensky had bid or bought a yacht. Newsweek has contacted Kurten's Heritage Party via email for comment.

As Newsweek's Fact Check team has previously stated, U.S. funding toward Ukraine is heavily audited, with millions spent on auditing alone.

The Office of Inspector General Oversight in the Department of Defence (DOD OIG) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID OIG) both provide audits of the use of funding in Ukraine and investigate complaints and allegations of misuse or attempted misuse of USAID funding and DOD funding.

Part of the USAID OIG's remit includes examining avenues for fraud and corruption in U.S-funded foreign assistance programs and providing preventive measures.

These include (but are not limited to) verification of cash assistance, using regulated money transfer agents, and using security-locked beneficiary lists before they are disseminated.

To pay for this using U.S. funding, Zelensky would have required a major lapse in oversight from those auditing Ukraine and a breakdown of protections in place to ensure funds could not be re-appropriated.

In any case, the company that has brokered the yacht has confirmed it is still for sale and there is no evidence elsewhere that Zelensky has made such a purchase.

Newsweek has contacted the Office of the President of Ukraine via email for comment.

The claim is the second this week where the Zelensky family has been falsely accused of misappropriating millions in taxpayer cash. First Lady Zelenska was also rumored to have spent $95 million buying a private island in Florida, despite the island in question, much like Zelensky's yacht, still being up for sale.

The Ruling

False.

Volodymyr Zelensky has not bought a $48.9 million yacht, as confirmed by the broker handling its sale.

There is no evidence a similar purchase has been made elsewhere. Funding to Ukraine is heavily audited and itemized, making it very difficult, if not impossible, for Zelensky to make such a purchase using U.S. contributions.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team