Zelensky prison photo comes from fictional TV series

A widespread post on X claims to show a mug shot of Volodymyr Zelensky in a Russian prison that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson broadcasted online. This is false; the image comes from a fictional television series the Ukrainian president starred in during his time as an actor.

"BOMBSHELL  TUCKER RELEASED AN VIDEO (sic) FROM ZELENSKY BEING CAPTURED… HE IS BEING TRANSFERRED TO BLACK DOLPHIN PRISON (RUSSIA) WITH HIGH SECURITY," says the April 8, 2024 post.

The post appears to show Carlson, who now uploads episodes of his independent talk show to X, reacting to Zelensky posing for a mug shot.

Similar posts have spread across the platform -- including in French, Spanish and Japanese.

But Zelensky, a frequent target of disinformation throughout the war in Ukraine, has not been captured.

On April 9, he inspected defensive fortifications in the northeastern Kharkiv region and issued his latest call for military aid as Russia intensified its attacks more than two years after launching its invasion, a conflict that has taken a heavy toll on the region.

And while the image spreading online is authentic, it comes from a fictional Ukrainian television show.

The logo for Kvartal 95, the production company Zelensky co-founded during his pre-politics career as a comedian and actor, appears in the upper right-hand corner of the picture.

The scene in question comes from the first episode of the third season of "Servant of the People," a hit show in which Zelensky plays a teacher who unexpectedly becomes president after a video of him complaining about corruption goes viral (archived here). The episode was released in 2019.

The show, now available on Netflix, helped propel Zelensky's entry into politics and his election in 2019, when he represented a party also called Servant of the People.

In the episode, Zelensky's character is imprisoned and takes booking photos.

The screenshot of Carlson, meanwhile, appears to come from the first episode of his program on X, which he posted June 6, 2023 (archived here). He is wearing the same shirt and tie.

While Carlson attacked Zelensky in the segment, he did not say the Ukrainian leader had been captured -- nor did he air the mug shot from "Servant of the People." No such commentary appears on Carlson's X feed (archived here).

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the war in Ukraine here.