Ukraine’s Zelensky Accused of Lying in New Year’s Speech

By Staff, Agencies

Vladimir Zelensky has faced accusations from several media outlets for allegedly presenting South Korean missiles as Ukrainian-made during his New Year’s address for 2025.

In the 20-minute speech released on Tuesday, Zelensky highlighted what he described as Ukraine’s advancements in weapon development, referring to them as “arguments for a just peace” with Russia.

“Ukraine is once again building its own, its own missiles. And for the first time, it produces over a million drones in a year. Forcing the enemy to learn Ukrainian. Palianytsia, Peklo, Ruta. Making them tremble at the words Neptune and Sapsan. All these are our missiles. Ukrainian,” he declared.

As Zelensky listed the weapons, the address featured footage of drones and missiles, reportedly in testing or combat scenarios. When mentioning the Sapsan missile, the video showed a projectile launch.

However, Ukrainian outlet Strana and several Russian media platforms pointed out that the clip was strikingly similar to footage of a South Korean Hyunmoo-2A cruise missile launch from 2017.

Following these revelations, the Russian Telegram channel ‘Operation Z: War reporters of Russian Spring’ accused Zelensky of “blatant lies.” Another channel, ‘Voyenny Osvedomitel,’ labeled the incident “the first joke of 2025” and speculated that the video editor responsible might face severe punishment, such as deployment to the front line.

The Sapsan missile system has been under development since 2006 but has faced delays and funding shortages. In 2018, Ukraine displayed a mock-up of the system during a military parade. While the missile is intended to have a range of 500km—greater than the ATACMS provided by the US—there are no verified reports of its use in the ongoing conflict with Russia.