In April 2025, a congratulatory video dedicated to Easter, in which the Ukrainian president speaks English, spread across the Internet. Some Internet users saw this as a demonstration of Zelensky’s “true” priorities, who allegedly ignored the Ukrainians to please Western partners. We have checked the correctness of such publications.

The video was widely distributed on April 20 in two versions: full (about 2.5 minutes) and short (35 seconds). In the video, the voiceover of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky congratulates Christians of different faiths on Easter. The politician speaks English, Ukrainian subtitles are presented at the bottom of the screen, and in the video itself, in addition to Ukrainian churches, temples in other countries are also shown, for example, St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In Telegram channels, the video was accompanied by captions like: “People have questions: who did Zelensky actually congratulate?”

Telegram channels reported that the President of Ukraine congratulated his compatriots in EnglishNe.Sugar"(228,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Uncle Slava" (172,000), "Ukraine.ru" (148,000), "Emergency / Crimea"(105,000), "Kirill Fedorov / war history weapons"(101,000), "Bloodseeker 2.0"(84,000), etc.

In 2025, Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants celebrated Easter on the same day, April 20, and politicians involved in resolving the war in Ukraine took advantage of this symbolic coincidence. It was reportedthat the White House planned to achieve a full ceasefire by Easter. On April 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin unilaterally announced about a 30-hour truce. Zelensky actually agreed to this proposal, warning that Ukraine is ready to respond to attacks during the ceasefire. Soon Kyiv and Moscow accused each other in numerous violations. At the same time, noted Ukrainian president, the Russian side ignored his proposal to extend the truce for 30 days.

The full version of the video distributed on Telegram channels is authentic, April 19 Zelensky published her on your social networks. In the video, the President of Ukraine talks about the fact that this year Easter is celebrated on the same day by representatives of different faiths, which is why it has united millions of Christians around the world. Next, Zelensky talks about the importance of this holiday for the Ukrainian people and the danger of Russian aggression, about the churches destroyed during a full-scale invasion (they are shown on video at this moment) and about the dead priests, and ends his congratulations with words of gratitude for the help and support.

Source: Telegram

It is a mistake to believe that the Ukrainian leader congratulated his compatriots on Easter with this video, if only because he posted it the day before, and in the video he directly addressed sympathizers and helping foreigners - that is why Zelensky speaks English. Politician's appeal to Ukrainians published directly on Easter Sunday, April 20. The video lasts 8.5 minutes, was filmed near the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, and Zelensky is in the frame and speaks Ukrainian. He begins his congratulations with the words “Dear Ukrainians and dear Ukrainians...”, and then addresses the audience using the words “we” or “our”. In his speech, Zelensky says that Easter is a symbol of the victory of life over evil, and faith and unity help the people overcome the trials of war.

In addition, the English-language video is posted only on Zelensky’s personal pages on social networks (Telegram, X, Instagram), whereas on the official website and verified YouTube channel There is no office of the President of Ukraine. At the same time, the Easter address in Ukrainian was published on all these resources.

This is not the first time Zelensky has recorded congratulations addressed to foreigners. For example, in July 2023 he published English-language video in which he congratulated Americans on Independence Day. In other videos recorded by Zelensky in Ukrainian and addressed primarily to Ukrainians, often are used English subtitles. Previously, the President of Ukraine addressed the Russians in Russian: in February 2022, before the start of a full-scale war, and in September of the same year, shortly after the announcement of partial mobilization in the Russian Federation.

Bloggers who said that Zelensky congratulated his compatriots on Easter in English, in addition to the video itself, also post screenshots of Ukrainians’ reaction to the congratulations in the comments to a post in a certain Telegram channel that posted this video. Users express dissatisfaction precisely because of the language in which the appeal is recorded.

These screenshots are real, they show comments under fasting channel “All-Seeing Eye: Ukraine | Novini." However, similar reactions meet and under other publications of this video in Ukrainian Telegram channels that published Zelensky’s English-language address on the eve of Easter with an incorrect signature.

It is noteworthy that the pre-Easter video is in English, unlike Easter greetings in Ukrainian, almost did not come to the attention of the Ukrainian media, although it was distributed on Telegram. The same channel “All-Seeing Eye: Ukraine | Noviny" posted video April 19 at 23:39 Moscow time, 5 minutes later. after Zelensky’s publication. Similar posts coming soon released and Russian-language channels, which also decided that the video of the President of Ukraine in English is an appeal to his compatriots. However, such publications also appeared after promulgation of Ukrainian-language greetings directly on Easter Sunday.

Pro-Russian media and Telegram channels often accuse the Ukrainian president of acting in the interests of Kyiv’s Western partners, and not his own citizens. The same rhetoric is also used in relation to his video congratulations, supposedly recorded primarily for a Western audience. For example, in his New Year’s address, Zelensky thanked his allies for their help over the past year, and at this time the Kiev “Motherland” monument behind him was alternately painted in the colors of the flags of countries supporting Ukraine. However, pro-Kremlin channels accused Zelensky reading an address to the nation against the backdrop of the American flag.

Thus, Zelensky’s Easter address to Ukrainians was recorded in Ukrainian. The viral video in English was published on the eve of the holiday and, apparently, was addressed to Kyiv’s foreign partners, whom the Ukrainian president thanked for their help.

Cover photo: Wikimedia Commons