In May 2025, a photograph of the Ukrainian president, taken during an allied visit to Kyiv, was widely circulated. Based on this photo, the media and Telegram channels concluded that the politician was wearing his trousers incorrectly. We have verified the accuracy of such publications.
A photo of the Ukrainian president went viral on May 10, after his meeting with European leaders in Kyiv. In it, Vladimir Zelensky and his wife Elena stand with their backs to the photographer and greet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. At the same time, Zelensky’s trousers look strange from the back - the fold resembles a fly, from which the authors of the publications concluded that the President of Ukraine was wearing his trousers incorrectly. This photo became the subject of much ridicule, it was distributed with captions like “Building relationships with Western partners is more successful when the fly is in the back.”
They wrote about the alleged embarrassment “RIA Novosti", Ura.ru, "Moskovsky Komsomolets", "Komsomolskaya Pravda", News.ru and other media. Some published several notes at once, for example, “Notepad” (1,2) and "Tsargrad" (1,2), and “Arguments and Facts”, in addition to the news about the trousers of the Ukrainian president, released two separate materials with comments from stylists (1,2,3). The photo was actively discussed in Telegram channels, including “Live broadcast • news"(874,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Pozdnyakov 3.0"(449,000), "In///d"(344,000), "Dmitry Nicotin"(314,000), "Observer" (230,000) and "The world of Mikhail Onufrienko"(228,000).
May 10 in Kyiv profits German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Before the start of the negotiations, the President of Ukraine, together with his wife and high-ranking guests, paid tribute to those killed at the front at the memorial on Independence Square in the city center.
Judging by the fact that the viral photo was taken on the street and Elena Zelenskaya is present in it, the photo was taken during this ceremony. The photo itself is blurry and of poor quality, but the crease in the back of the pants really does resemble an unzipped fly.
However, only this picture is posted as proof of Zelensky’s mistake. As a rule, such events are widely covered in the media, so if the Ukrainian leader is wearing his pants incorrectly, this should be noticeable in many photos and videos taken from different angles. Reports from that ceremony were published by major international media, including Deutsche Welle, Sky News And AFP. These videos show Zelensky walking down the street and his trousers look normal from the front. If the pants were worn backwards, there would be distinctive elements visible on the front side (such as back pockets), but there are none.
Some of the media that shared the viral photo refer to the British tabloid Daily Mail. On May 12 he published a note under the heading: “The truth about the photo of Vladimir Zelensky, in which people thought he was “wearing his trousers backwards”.” The text of the article says that Internet users who saw the zipper on the back of the president's trousers were mistaken - this is proven by dozens of photographs from other angles, which the newspaper also included in the publication. However, this did not stop other media and Telegram channels from citing the Daily Mail as the primary source of the statement about incorrectly worn pants.
Moreover, the tabloid posted a Reuters photograph taken from almost the same angle as the viral photo, but in better quality. It shows that there is no zipper or front pockets on the back of Zelensky’s pants. This is also confirmed by photographs from the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine - on one of them the politician is depicted in profile, and front pockets located in the right place are visible on his trousers.
Although many cited the Daily Mail as the primary source, the tabloid's website said that the rumors about the incorrectly worn pants were initially spread by social media users. Indeed, in X And Telegram channels a photograph with similar captions appeared two days earlier, on the day of the summit in Kyiv on May 10.
Due to the variety of wording in the photo's captions, it is difficult to determine who first posted it with misleading comments. The earliest publication that could be found is “Verified”, appeared On May 10 at 18:32 Moscow time in the “Sheikh Tamir” Telegram channel, this information soon spread across other channels and social networks - as on Russian, and on English language. "Sheikh Tamir" often meets in analyzes “Verified” as the primary source and distributor of fakes.
This is not the first time that the clothes of the Ukrainian president have become the subject of manipulation. Since the outbreak of full-scale war in 2022, Zelensky has not appeared in public in the usual suits of politicians, instead wearing military-style shirts, jackets, hoodies and T-shirts in solidarity with the Ukrainian military. Pro-Russian Media, officials And bloggers This is often emphasized. The fact that Zelensky did not wear a suit to a meeting at the White House in February 2025 became the subject of critics by American politicians and some journalists.
Thus, contrary to viral publications, at the summit with European politicians in Kyiv on May 10, Vladimir Zelensky was wearing trousers properly. This is confirmed by other photos and videos taken that day.
Cover photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
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