| schema:text
| - WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has blocked access to Trump's Truth Social across Ukraine.
OUR VERDICT
False. Truth Social has never been available in Ukraine.
AAP FACTCHECK - Volodymyr Zelenskiy has not blocked the use of Donald Trump's Truth Social in Ukraine, despite claims being spread by Russian media.
The service has never been available for Ukrainian users.
The claim has been promoted online by US right-wing commentators and Russian-owned media sites following recent tension between the leaders of the two countries.
It has also been shared on Facebook, where accounts have posted an apparent screen grab from the Truth Social app displaying the message: "Truth Social is currently unavailable in your area."
One post says: "BREAKING: Zelensky blocks access to President Trump's social media platform Truth Social across Ukraine."
Another Facebook post blames the "Zelensky government" for blocking Truth Social.
It adds: "The best way to prove you're not a dictator? Block social media you don't like in your country."
The reference to Zelenskiy being a "dictator" echoes a post on Truth Social by Donald Trump on February 19, in which he said of the Ukrainian president that he "admits that half of the money we sent him is 'MISSING.'
"He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden 'like a fiddle.' A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left."
Right wing commentator Alex Jones was among those sharing the claim.
He tweeted on February 21 that "An increasingly desperate Zelensky, blocks Trump's Truth Social network across Ukraine."
The same claim was also pushed on X by pro-Russia and state-funded news accounts, such as RT (formerly Russia Today), Sputnik and RIA Novosti.
The Ukrainian government responded on X to suggestions that access to the network has been blocked in Ukraine, describing them as "false".
"Ukraine did not and could not block access because, unfortunately, the social network Truth Social has never made itself available to users in Ukraine," foreign affairs ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said.
He said according to publicly available information Truth Social was only available in a number of countries including US, Canada, Brazil and Australia.
A spokeswoman for Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, confirmed that the claims are untrue.
"Reports that Truth Social was blocked in Ukraine are false - Truth Social has never been available in Ukraine," she told AAP FactCheck.
An expert on social media in and about Ukraine, Kateryna Kasianenko, a PhD candidate in the Digital Media Research Centre at the Queensland University of Technology, also told AAP FactCheck that Truth Social has not been available for Ukrainian users.
She said as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on X, the claim had been previously debunked by the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation on its Telegram channel.
AAP FactCheck confirmed Truth Social could not be accessed via a Ukrainian IP address with the use of VPN software.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
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