In January 2025, a screenshot of the President of Ukraine speaking against the backdrop of the Motherland monument in Kyiv went viral on the Internet. The monument is decorated with a projection of the American flag. We checked whether Vladimir Zelensky really used such a background for his speech.
On January 1, immediately after the publication of the traditional New Year’s addresses of the heads of state, images were distributed in Telegram channels and the media in which Vladimir Zelensky is standing, and the Kiev “Motherland” monument is visible behind him. The sculpture is painted in the colors of the US national flag. The users who distributed the image accompanied it with a caption: allegedly, it was against this background that the New Year’s address of the Ukrainian president was recorded. Many also emphasize that while the American flag was visible from behind, Zelensky spoke about the independence of Ukraine.
The news appeared in Telegram channels “Live broadcast • news"(910,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Luka Ebkov"(315,000), Colonelcassad (217,000), "Russia now • news"(213,000), "Truthfulness"(207,000), etc. The media also wrote about this "RIA Novosti", "Constantinople", "Gazeta.ru", Ura.ru And "Evening Moscow"
On New Year's Eve 2025, Vladimir Zelensky traditionally addressed the citizens of Ukraine with a summary of the past year and a forecast for the next. This year President's speech lasted more than 20 minutes. He said that 2025 should be a turning point for the country - the year of ending the war and strengthening independence. Zelensky also expressed hope for Ukraine's further movement towards integration with the European Union and NATO, since, according to him, the struggle for a strong and respected Ukraine must continue both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.
Over the six years of his presidency, Zelensky used different background designs to record New Year's messages to citizens: in his office or near the Presidential Office building. This year the choice fell on the monument, as the president himself states at the beginning appeals. He explains that behind him is “Mother Ukraine” (officially the monument still bears the name “Motherland”, despite conversations about a possible renaming) and it symbolizes Ukraine, which stands firmly on its feet.
From the very beginning of the New Year's address until the 11:55 mark, the monument in the background is painted yellow and blue, symbolizing the flag of Ukraine. Next, the President devotes part of his speech to partner states. It was at this moment that the projection on the monument for the first time is changing on the American flag, and Zelensky declares: “America has been with Ukraine from the first minutes of the war and will be from the first minutes of peace.” At that moment, the president did not say anything about the independence of the state; he thanked other countries for their cooperation and support.
In addition, a projection of the US flag is shown for about 5-7 seconds, then the speech is accompanied by footage of Zelensky’s negotiations with the heads of different countries: Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Justin Trudeau, etc. At timecode 15:20, Vladimir Zelensky thanks his partners and the monument painted in the colors of other flags. These included Japan, France, Switzerland, Finland, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Canada and, at the very end, the flag of the European Union, symbolizing Ukraine’s desire to join the EU. At the mark 15:39, during the listing of partner states, the American flag was shown for the second time.
In addition to the flags of Ukraine’s partner countries, the monument also had a projection with the names of fallen military personnel.
Publications that Zelensky’s New Year’s address this year was recorded against the background of a projection of the US flag on a monumental sculpture were mainly distributed among Russian-language media and users. Neither American nor Ukrainian authoritative media wrote about this. However, there are also several large publications in the English-language segment of the social network X. For example, photo published Irish publicist Chey Bowes, cooperating with RT and often posting anti-Ukrainian posts. It is difficult to determine the original source of this news due to the variety of wording in the caption. However, the first publication, which “Verified” was able to discover, was made in the Telegram channel “Belarusian Silovik” on January 1 at 01:04 Moscow time, that is, about half an hour after the broadcast of the address itself. This channel regularly appears in analyzes “Verified” as a distributor of false information.
This is not the first time that the Kyiv “Motherland” has become the object of attention of pro-Russian Media And Telegram channels. Last time, the projection of the American flag onto the monument on July 4, 2023 caused particular excitement. However, then the sculpture is really highlighted in honor of US Independence Day, and Vladimir Zelensky congratulated the Americans on this holiday.
Thus, reports that the New Year's address of the President of Ukraine was recorded against the backdrop of the Motherland monument in the colors of the American flag are taken out of context. The US flag was indeed projected onto the monument, but for no longer than 7 seconds. from the entire 20-minute address of the President. Moreover, throughout the video, the monument was consistently painted in the colors of the flags of 13 other states, but mainly on the “Motherland” there was a projection of the Ukrainian flag.
Cover photo: social networks
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