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How Pro-Kremlin Accounts Used a False Claim About UNITED24 to Target Ed Sheeran
A false claim that UNITED24 pays influencers to support Ukraine originated on Tucker Carlson’s show. Weeks later, it was picked up by pro-Russian accounts and bloggers and eventually used in a video targeting Ed Sheeran over his support for Ukraine.
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How the false claim about UNITED24 appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show
On July 31, 2026, The Tucker Carlson Show featured Elizabeth Lane, also known as Iza Bendianishvili, a Georgian blogger and former actress. During the conversation, Lane claimed that UNITED24 was allegedly funding American influencers to spread pro-Ukrainian messages.
Specifically, she claimed that content creators were being offered $10,000 per video and up to $40,000 for advertising and promotion.
Carlson did not ask his guest to provide evidence for the claim.
Instead, the conversation shifted to the allegation that Americans were supposedly being subjected to propaganda funded with their own money. The episode description even highlighted this segment under the title “The American-Funded Ukrainian Company Propagandizing Americans.”
There is just one problem: it isn’t true.
UNITED24 does not pay public figures to support Ukraine. Its partnerships with ambassadors, celebrities, and influencers do not involve fees paid by the platform. UNITED24 ambassadors include Imagine Dragons, Barbra Streisand, Mark Hamill, Liev Schreiber, Hilary Swank, Andriy Shevchenko, Elina Svitolina, and others. Robert De Niro, Catherine Deneuve, Bono, Viggo Mortensen, Emma Thompson, and Stephen Fry have also taken part in individual initiatives.
American analyst and content creator Ryan McBeth, who was also approached about working with UNITED24, has publicly confirmed this. According to McBeth, UNITED24 “don’t pay physical cash”; instead, the platform may provide creators with access to interviews and materials that can be useful for producing content.
I've been approached by them before. I can't work with them because they are foreign media, but they don't pay physical cash. What they do provide is access to interviews and B-roll, which is really useful for creators.
— Ryan McBeth (@RyanMcbeth) July 7, 2026
UNITED24’s financial model also contradicts Lane’s description of how the platform operates. All funds raised are transferred to official accounts at the National Bank of Ukraine and directed to the relevant ministries depending on the area selected by the donor. UNITED24 does not retain a percentage of these donations to cover team salaries or operating expenses: 100% of donations go toward their designated purpose.
How the claim from Carlson’s show took on a life of its own
The supposed scheme—“Americans donate to UNITED24 → UNITED24 pays American influencers → those influencers persuade Americans to support Ukraine”—exists only in the story told by Carlson’s guest. But the narrative did not remain confined to The Tucker Carlson Show. Claims that support for Ukraine was allegedly being paid for began circulating among pro-Russian accounts and bloggers.
One of the targets was Ed Sheeran. In particular, the YouTube channel Valhalla VFT, run by American blogger and former special operations soldier Nate Cornacchia, used a photo of Sheeran holding a Ukrainian flag alongside the UNITED24 logo while repeating the claim that support for Ukraine was supposedly being paid for.
That gave a claim for which no evidence had been presented in the interview a second life: it was now being used not only to attack UNITED24, but also to cast doubt on the motives of prominent figures who support Ukraine.
Who is Elizabeth Lane?
An investigation by The Insider found that Elizabeth Lane’s real name is Iza Bendianishvili. The outlet also reported that she had a close personal relationship with Dmitry Grizdak, a Russian special operations soldier whom journalists identified as an FSB officer. Grizdak served with the Chechen Akhmat battalion and was later linked to the Wagner Group, The Insider said. Lane herself has previously publicly called the United States “the cancer of the world.”
At the beginning of the interview, Carlson himself mentioned allegations about his guest’s possible ties to Russian intelligence services. His response was brief: “I don’t care.”
This is far from Carlson’s first false claim about Ukraine.
UNITED24 Media has previously examined his claims about President Zelenskyy, the Russian language in Ukraine, and allegations that Ukrainian generals were selling US-supplied weapons to Iran and Mexican drug cartels. Carlson provided no evidence for these claims; regarding the latter, he himself acknowledged: “Can’t prove that, but I believe it.”
What the actual numbers show
UNITED24 was launched on May 5, 2022, as Ukraine’s official fundraising platform. As of August 2026, donors, partners, ambassadors, and the governments of partner countries had helped raise $3.930 billion through UNITED24. The platform has brought together people and organizations from 145 countries.
UNITED24’s own communications channels also directly contribute to its fundraising. In 2025 alone, its newsletters generated about $1.8 million in donations, excluding direct bank transfers.
The funds raised through UNITED24 go toward tangible assistance for Ukraine, including interceptor drones, medical equipment, demining machinery, vehicles, and infrastructure restoration.
The story illustrates how this kind of information chain works: an unsubstantiated claim is made before a large audience, pro-Russian accounts pick it up, and it is then used to discredit public support for Ukraine. In UNITED24’s case, it took only a few weeks for the claim to travel from Carlson’s show to an attack on Ed Sheeran.
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