Skip to content
No, Zelensky’s Wife Did Not Buy a Bugatti With American Tax Dollars
Go to my account

No, Zelensky’s Wife Did Not Buy a Bugatti With American Tax Dollars

The luxury car company confirms she has not purchased one of its vehicles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, at Elysee Palace on June 7, 2024 in Paris. (Photo by Christian Liewig/Corbis/Getty Images)

A viral social media post by Jackson Hinkle, a prominent pro-Russian commentator with 2.6 million followers on X, claims that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife used American taxpayer money to purchase a multimillion-dollar luxury sports car.

Hinkle’s claim is false: Olena Zelenska did not purchase a Bugatti. Hinckle deleted his post on Wednesday afternoon, minutes before this fact check was published, but not before it had been viewed more than 7.2 million times. 

A follow-up post has also been deleted. 

In June, Bugatti announced the Tourbillion—its first sports car designed to use a new engine in more than 20 years. Bugatti will build 250 of the vehicles at a starting price of 3.8 million euros—or around $4.1 million. The vehicle is currently in its testing phase and will be delivered to customers beginning in 2026. Olena Zelenska, however, will not be one of those customers.

“BUGATTI Automobiles S.A.S. respects the privacy of its customers and does not normally disclose any information about its customers. In this case, BUGATTI Automobiles S.A.S. makes an exception because it is a false report and does not correspond to the truth,” Nicole Auger, head of marketing and communications for Bugatti, told The Dispatch Fact Check in an emailed statement. “According to an internal check, Mrs. Zelenska is not a BUGATTI customer.”

The claims against Zelenska follow a pattern of false financial stories about Zelensky that have become increasingly common in anti-Ukrainian propaganda. Last year, The Dispatch Fact Check debunked claims that Zelensky had purchased a mansion in Florida, and the Ukrainian President has similarly been accused of purchasing yachts, private jets, and a British royal residence

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.

Alex Demas is a fact checker at The Dispatch and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he worked in England as a financial journalist and earned his MA in Political Economy at King's College London. When not heroically combating misinformation online, Alex can be found mixing cocktails, watching his beloved soccer team Aston Villa lose a match, or attempting to pet stray cats.

Please note that we at The Dispatch hold ourselves, our work, and our commenters to a higher standard than other places on the internet. We welcome comments that foster genuine debate or discussion—including comments critical of us or our work—but responses that include ad hominem attacks on fellow Dispatch members or are intended to stoke fear and anger may be moderated.

You are currently using a limited time guest pass and do not have access to commenting. Consider subscribing to join the conversation.