The documents allegedly confirming the purchase are a low-quality forgery. The story, which spread online in several languages simultaneously, bears all the hallmarks of a targeted disinformation campaign.
A story is circulating online claiming that Anastasiia Fedorova, the wife of Defense Minister and former Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, has allegedly become the owner of a superyacht worth €26 million. The story was rapidly picked up from Russian propaganda outlets by Kremlin-friendly Ukrainian bloggers — among them conspiracy theorist Anton Gura, whom we have referenced in our debunks on multiple occasions — as well as by various media outlets and social media users. Notably, a significant share of posts on the subject are being spread in multiple languages, including English, French, and Italian, and are more consistent with bot-generated content than organic sharing.
However, as the Defense Ministry stated in a comment to the Center for Strategic Communications, the story does not reflect reality. It is easily disproven, first and foremost by the fact that the documents being circulated online as supposed evidence of Anastasiia Fedorova’s expensive “purchase” are a low-quality forgery. In France, all documents relating to maritime matters carry unique numbers that allow their authenticity to be verified in a registry on the Ministry of Ecology website. Upon entering the certificate number indicated on the document being circulated online, we confirmed that no such deed of purchase actually exists.
Furthermore, the fake document contains several errors: the Ukrainian name Anastasiia is spelled “Anastasia” rather than “Anastasiia,” as required under current transliteration rules for English, and instead of Anastasiia Fedorova’s address, the relevant field contains only her nationality — apparently to emphasize the so-called “corruption” of the Ukrainian government.
The superyacht Vertige S501, manufactured by Italian shipbuilder Tankoa and referenced in the fake, does indeed exist: it is currently managed entirely by the company Superlease, which in the forged document is listed only as a co-owner of the vessel. Based on information available from open sources, the yacht is in fact listed for sale at €26 million but has yet to find a buyer. We contacted Tankoa to verify who owns the yacht but had not received a response by the time of publication. It is also worth noting that, since yachts of this kind are one-of-a-kind luxury items, the company announces the sale of each one on its website. For instance, at the end of March the company reported the sale of another vessel, the T720 Fenice, to an American client — while any announcement regarding the purchase of the Vertige S501, let alone by a Ukrainian citizen, is entirely absent.
The fake story seems like yet another coordinated disinformation campaign that Russia has run against Ukrainian leadership on multiple occasions. In one of the videos about Anastasiia Fedorova’s alleged yacht “purchase,” a Ukrainian social media user even acknowledges having received the information via an anonymous email — a clear indication that the fabricated story was distributed deliberately and with malicious intent.
For a debunking of a similar disinformation narrative, see the article Fake: Zelensky Buys €18 Million Mansion, Builds Underground Bunker.
