A screenshot from a bookmaker’s website that is being circulated online has been edited.
A screenshot from the bookmaker’s platform Polymarket is being circulated on pro-Russian resources. They are allegedly accepting bets that Zelensky will be killed within 72 hours. The screenshot shows that 89 percent of users consider this to be likely. «Nice trip,» the propagandists comment ironically, alluding to Zelensky’s meeting with Trump, which ended in a tense exchange.
However, this information is not true. The screenshot shows that the bet was placed by a user with the nickname zerohedge. We checked his profile and found that he had only posted three bets — and none of them were on Zelensky’s death. Instead, zerohedge placed a bet on whether Donald Trump would be able to end the war in Ukraine within the first 90 days of his presidency, and 20 percent of users bet on it. A search for «Zelenskyi» also yielded no such results, although the site does accept bets on whether Zelensky will be impeached by June and whether the Ukrainian president will apologize to Trump — only 6 percent and 2 percent of users respectively believe in these.
Polymarket also regulates the creation of some markets that may be considered ethically problematic. For example, the platform limits bets on the deaths of celebrities, political assassinations, or other events that could contribute to violence or criminal activity. In addition, markets related to natural disasters or conflicts often cause outrage, as some users consider them to be speculation on human suffering.
It is obvious that such fakes are just an attempt by Russian propaganda to sow panic in Ukrainian society. We have previously refuted a similar fake in the article Fake: An Attempt On The Life of Ukrainian Defense Ministry Made in Kyiv.
