DISINFO: Reporter who found Zelenskyy’s Mother-in-Law's villa found dead
SUMMARY
The journalist Mohamed Al Alawi, investigating the purchase of a $5 million villa on the Egyptian Red Sea coast by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s mother-in-law, was found dead in Hurghada under mysterious circumstances. After publishing his scoop, Al Alawi began receiving threats, apparently from Ukrainian intelligence services who, in the same manner as the West, eliminate anyone daring to expose the uncomfortable truths about the criminal schemes of top officials to the public.
RESPONSE
There is no evidence backing any of these allegations. While it is accurate that in August 2023, Egyptian videoblogger Mohammed Al Alawi posted a video with unsubstantiated claims about a luxury villa allegedly purchased by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s mother-in-law at a Red Sea resort, these allegations were quickly debunked. There is no evidence suggesting that Al Alawi received threats following his claims, nor is there any indication of Ukrainian authorities being involved in any aspect of this story.
As of December 2023, no reputable news outlet, whether in English or Arabic, has reported on the violent death of any Egyptian journalist. The news about this alleged incident has only surfaced in pro-Kremlin or sensationalistic media sources. The outlet Middle East Monitor referred to one article initially published by Egyptian outlet El Mostaqbal, which was later removed from its website. Egypt's Ministry of Interior denied “entirely and in detail the veracity of the allegations that were circulated on a number of social media pages" about this incident, and said the security services did not receive “any reports that the person shown in the video has been subjected to abuse.”
The disinformation story aims to perpetuate the debunked claim about President Zelenskyy’s mother-in-law owning a luxury villa, despite it being refuted by fact-checkers and denied by the actual owner, Orascom Development. The underlying intent is to further a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about corruption in Ukraine, aiming to undermine its leadership with baseless stories.
The same outlets and Telegram channels promoting this disinformation story have spread similar fabricated stories in the past, such as the claims that a totally fictitious US auditor investigating Ukrainian corruption was found dead in Kyiv, that a French investigative journalist had denounced the involvement of the Zelenskaya Foundation in child trafficking, or that Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel asked Spain to grant citizenship to Zelenskyy’s sons.