Old image of the former Ukraine Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on a yacht shared as recent

By: Emmi Kivi
September 18 2023

Share Article:

(Source: KP.UA/Facebook)

What's the claim?

Social media users are sharing a photo of the former Defence Minister of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, celebrating with company on a yacht, supposedly taken shortly after his resignation on September 4, 2023. The posts imply corruption of the former Defence Minister with the image caption, "apparently marks successful earnings," while other users claim that Reznikov is partying with stolen or Western money.

However, the picture of Reznikov is from 2020, predating his appointment to Defence Minister in 2021 and the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022. 

What we found

A reverse image search of the viral clip on Google Lens produced multiple results, leading to Ukrainian newspaper articles dating back to 2020. 

For example, the Ukrainian newspaper KP published an article on Reznikov and his now-wife, TV presenter Yulia Zoriy, dated February 14, 2020. The report includes a picture of the couple matching the image in the post. The article credits the image to Reznikov's Facebook page. 

Right: Post containing misattributed image. Left: Matching photo taken from KP news article published February 2020 credited to Reznikov's Facebook page. (Source: KP.UA)

Another search result, the Ukrainian news agency 24 Kanal, further disclosed that the picture was taken in the winter of 2020 when Reznikov announced his engagement to TV presenter Yulia Zoriy. According to the article, the photo was taken in Turkey.

This engagement announcement is available on Reznikov's Facebook page; the picture is the same as the post in question, which erroneously claimed it to be from 2023—the post caption states, "Valentine's Day. Heartfelt cards dominate all feeds today. I once made a post at the time of my dismissal from public service about my plans to finish my studies and fall in love. Plans are always realized if you consciously send a request to Universal Space. She said yes! Yulia Zoriy, it's time to confess to the world," said Reznikov.

Photos from Reznikov's Facebook post, published February 14, 2020.
 (Source: Facebook)

Reznikov served as Ukraine's Defense Minister from 2021 to September 2023 and resigned amid controversy around state procurement for the military and corruption accusations within the defense ministry. Reznikov was not personally implicated in these corruption allegations. Rustem Umerov has taken over as the new Defense Minister of Ukraine.

Logically Facts has previously covered and disproved multiple erroneous claims about Reznikov, other Ukrainian government representatives, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The verdict

The photo of the former Defence Minister Reznikov was not taken after his resignation in September. It was initially posted on February 14, 2020, on Reznikov's Facebook page. It preceded his appointment as the Defense Minister in 2021 and the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.