Fact Check: Video of anti-Zelensky hoarding on Fifth Avenue in New York is doctored

Hyderabad: A video clip showing an anti-Zelensky hoarding on Fifth Avenue in New York with text saying “No Zelensky, No War” is going viral on social media.

A Twitter user shared the video with the caption, “So apparently some Americans are fed up with the bullshit warmongering rhetoric coming from Washington. “No Zelensky, No War” (Advertising Banner in New York). (sic)”

A Facebook user shared the same clip claiming that the video is from Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the current Ukrainian president. The context behind the claim is the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video is digitally altered. The unedited version does not show anti-Zelensky hoarding.

On carefully observing the video, we could spot an under-construction Tiffany & Co. store in the same building in which the hoarding is erected.

Taking this as a cue, we searched for the store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. According to New York Post, Tiffany & Co.’s Fifth Avenue store was closed for renovations for the first time in its 70-year history. Another report by Reuters said that the store reopened in April this year.

We searched for videos showcased on Fifth Avenue between January 2020 and April 2023 and found a video uploaded by CoolVision on July 15, 2021, titled “Walking in New York City 4K. 5th Avenue. People, Cars and Street Sounds.”

At around 1.06 minutes, the viral clip appears, showing the same visuals. However, this video does not show anti-Zelensky hoarding.

Here is the frame-by-frame comparison of the viral video and the YouTube video.

Hence, we conclude that viral video is doctored. The claim of an anti-Zelensky hoarding at Fifth Avenue in New York is false.