As shared
Posted on X by @ChatByCC · Shown as an embedded post · Source
One old comedy clip is real. The belly-dancing clips are other dancers with his face put on.
Based on 2 strong and 1 supporting pieces of evidence.
What we found
Videos said to show Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy belly dancing in sparkly outfits have been shared on X, Facebook and Instagram. One version posted on X on 11 October 2026 had more than 500,000 views. Full Fact looked at a compilation of three clips and found only one is genuine: a 2014 black-and-white sketch from Zelenskyy's career as a comic actor, before he became president in 2019. The dancer in a gold outfit is an Argentinian dancer, Pablo Acosta, who posted the original in June 2023; Zelenskyy's face appears to have been put on top. The dancer in red comes from a 2022 Instagram video of someone else, and the face glitches when slowed down. Meta's AI detection tool also flagged versions of the video, including the one on X. A real old clip mixed with fakes is a common trick, so check each part separately.
Key facts
- Original source
- Pablo Acosta ↗
- First published
- June 2023, on Instagram (the original gold-outfit dance, by Pablo Acosta)
- Earlier appearances
- Not recorded
- The claim you saw
- No caption recorded
- Signs of AI
- Yes. Shown below, but not what decided it
The evidence, strongest first
Strong Decides the answer
Published fact-checkFull Fact, 15 October 2026↗Original dance videoThe dancer in gold, Pablo Acosta, posted the original video himself in June 2023, as found by Full Fact.↗Supporting Points the same way
Earlier Full Fact checksFull Fact has checked versions of this compilation before.↗Weak Shown, not relied on
Detector scores are often wrong, so they never decide a verdict here.
What we couldn’t establish
Full Fact did not say exactly which clips the 10-second X version contains, or who first made the fakes. If you know more, tell us.
Bottom line
The belly-dancing clips show other dancers with Zelenskyy's face added; only an old comedy sketch is genuine.
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