Pro-Russian social media users have been claiming that jewellery stolen from the Louvre in October was discovered at the home of a friend of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They claim to have proof of the discovery: a video they say was produced by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). But the government agency has denied the claim, and the jewels shown in the shared video were generated by AI.
Issued on: 24/11/2025 -
The FRANCE 24 Observers/Quang Pham
No, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine didn’t find the jewels stolen from the Louvre at the home of an oligarch with close ties to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as this video published on November 18, 2025, claims. © X
People across Ukraine were shocked when a report published on November 12 revealed the details of a high-level corruption scandal within the country’s energy sector. The report, by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), revealed that nearly 100 million dollars had been paid out as kickbacks.
In the wake of these revelations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his minister of energy and his minister of justice, both of whom appeared to be embroiled in the scandal. But the mastermind behind the scheme is said to be a man named Timur Mindich, a film producer and, as it turns out, Zelensky’s old friend and former business partner.
On November 18, pro-Russia social media users began to post about what they claimed were further revelations concerning the corruption scandal. This time, they linked it to another shocking current event: the bold, broad daylight theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris.
During the heist in October, thieves stole eight pieces of jewellery. A video falsely attributed to NABU claims that some of the jewellery stolen from the Louvre was discovered at Mindich’s home during a search, including an emerald necklace that once belonged to French Empress Marie-Louise. One shot in the video shows this necklace next to a stack of bills that are supposedly Mindich's. The video garnered at least 1.2 million views on X.
People across Ukraine were shocked when a report published on November 12 revealed the details of a high-level corruption scandal within the country’s energy sector. The report, by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), revealed that nearly 100 million dollars had been paid out as kickbacks.
In the wake of these revelations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his minister of energy and his minister of justice, both of whom appeared to be embroiled in the scandal. But the mastermind behind the scheme is said to be a man named Timur Mindich, a film producer and, as it turns out, Zelensky’s old friend and former business partner.
On November 18, pro-Russia social media users began to post about what they claimed were further revelations concerning the corruption scandal. This time, they linked it to another shocking current event: the bold, broad daylight theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris.
During the heist in October, thieves stole eight pieces of jewellery. A video falsely attributed to NABU claims that some of the jewellery stolen from the Louvre was discovered at Mindich’s home during a search, including an emerald necklace that once belonged to French Empress Marie-Louise. One shot in the video shows this necklace next to a stack of bills that are supposedly Mindich's. The video garnered at least 1.2 million views on X.
Contrary to the claims made by this social media user on November 18, 2025, NABU did not discover the jewels stolen from the Louvre at Mindich’s home. © X
The errors that point to a fake necklace recreated with AI
While the corruption scandal involving Mindich is real, NABU didn’t find any jewels from the Louvre heist at his home. Moreover, the image of the necklace that appears in the video shared by pro-Russian social media users was almost certainly generated by artificial
The errors that point to a fake necklace recreated with AI
While the corruption scandal involving Mindich is real, NABU didn’t find any jewels from the Louvre heist at his home. Moreover, the image of the necklace that appears in the video shared by pro-Russian social media users was almost certainly generated by artificial
intelligence.
At left is the necklace that appears in the fake video. At right is the real necklace that belonged to Empress Marie-Louise, which was stolen from the Louvre. © 2004 GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Jean-Gilles Berizzi
If you look closely, you can see that the necklace in the video is very different from the necklace that once belonged to Empress Marie-Louise.
In the real necklace, there is a pattern of square and round emeralds, while the fake necklace only has round emeralds. The real necklace also has teardrop-shaped emeralds that hang down, but they are missing from the fake necklace. The real necklace also has emeralds ringed with five diamond petals, while in the fake video, there are only four petals. AI still has trouble reproducing the specific details of an object.
Our team contacted NABU, who confirmed that its investigators did not locate the Empress Marie-Louise’s jewels stolen from the Louvre during the investigation into Mindich.
Impersonating NABU
And yet, at first glance, the fake video does look as if it were made by NABU. The agency’s logo appears throughout the fake report.
Again, NABU denied any links to the video when they spoke with our team.
While it is difficult to establish with certainty the origins of the video, it was shared by the site Pravda FR. French government agency Viginum, which is tasked with combating so-called “digital interference”, reported that Pravda FR is a member of the Russian disinformation network Portal Kombat. Impersonating a media outlet or official organisation is also a hallmark of Operation Matryoshka, a disinformation campaign run by the Kremlin.
This article has been translated from the original in French.
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