A website founded by a former US Marine who now lives in Russia has fuelled a rumour that Volodymyr Zelensky purchased two luxury yachts with American aid money.
Despite the false claim, the disinformation plot was successful. It took off online and was echoed by members of the US Congress making crucial decisions about military spending.
It was an incredible assertion - using two advisers as proxies, Mr Zelensky paid $75m (£59m) for two yachts.
But not only has the Ukrainian government flatly denied the story, the two ships in question have not even been sold.
Despite being false, the story reached members of the US Congress, where leaders say any decision on further aid to Ukraine will be delayed until next year.
I feel like that’s honestly giving them too much credit. They’ll buy into this because it’s a convenient excuse to sabotage things like their Russian masters have told them to.
The “imagine what they would do” part is being corrupt traitors that would take money from just about anyone and buy stupid shit like yachts.