new secret superyacht owner

Gracious beauty

Complementing her graciously enigmatic exterior by Tim Heywood, NEW SECRET has a rich introspective interior inspired by the owner’s private collection of provocative modern art. The first impression of Winch Design’s interior creation is light, tonal and calm – a rich harmony of surfaces and materials.

NEW SECRET Interiors

An impression of Winch Design’s highly creative solution for NEW SECRET is light, tonal and calm – a rich harmony of surfaces and materials that is luxuriously relaxing and beautiful to behold.

Amels Limited Editions range

NEW SECRET yacht is an Amels 242 from our Limited Editions range. Our premium semi-custom yachts offer fast delivery with top quality proven technical platforms.

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NEW SECRET is a 74.0 m Motor Yacht, built in Netherlands by Amels and delivered in 2017. She is one of 8 LE 242 models.

Her top speed is 16.5 kn, her cruising speed is 15.0 kn, and she boasts a maximum cruising range of 5000.0 nm at 12.5 kn, with power coming from two Caterpillar diesel engines. She can accommodate up to 12 guests in 6 staterooms, with 19 crew members. She has a gross tonnage of 1790.0 GT and a 12.45 m beam.

She was designed by Tim Heywood , who has designed 60 other superyachts in the BOAT Pro database.

The naval architecture was developed by Amels , who has architected 70 other superyachts in the BOAT Pro database, and the interior of the yacht was designed by Winch Design , who has 74 other superyacht interiors designed in the BOAT Pro database - she is built with a Teak deck, a Steel hull, and Aluminium superstructure.

NEW SECRET is in the top 5% by LOA in the world. She is one of 115 motor yachts in the 70-80m size range, and, compared to similarly sized motor yachts, her cruising speed is 0.14 kn above the average, and her volume 18.52 GT above the average.

NEW SECRET is currently sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, the 5th most popular flag state for superyachts with a total of 423 yachts registered. She is currently located at the superyacht marina Grand Harbour Marina, in Malta, where she has been located for 1 day. For more information regarding NEW SECRET's movements, find out more about BOAT Pro AIS .

Specifications

• Name: NEW SECRET
• Yacht Type: Motor Yacht
• Yacht Subtype: Displacement
• Model: LE 242
• Builder: Amels
• Naval Architect: Amels
• Exterior Designer: Tim Heywood
• Interior Designer: Winch Design

Available for sale

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New Secret (yacht)

Luxurious superyacht built in 2017 / from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, dear wikiwand ai, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:.

Can you list the top facts and stats about New Secret (yacht)?

Summarize this article for a 10 year old

The 74   m (243   ft) superyacht New Secret was launched by Amels Holland B.V. at their yard in Vlissingen . She was designed by Tim Heywood, and the interior design was created by Winch Design . She has two sister ships, the 2016 built Plvs Vltra and the 2018 built Universe . [2] She was delivered to her owner, Lopes Family of São Paulo, Brazil, in June 2019.

Her length is 74   m (243   ft) , beam is 12.25   m (40.2   ft) and she has a draught of 3.85   m (12.6   ft) . The hull is built out of steel while the superstructure is made out of aluminium with teak laid decks. The yacht is classed by Lloyd's registered and flagged in the Marshall Islands .

• List of motor yachts by length
• List of yachts built by Amels BV
• [2] "Hatrick: Amels launches third 242 LE superyacht in Vlissingen" . SuperYacht Times . Retrieved 2018-06-12 .

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NOT FOR CHARTER *

This Yacht is not for Charter*

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NEW SECRET yacht NOT for charter*

74m  /  242'9 | amels | 2017.

Owner & Guests

Cabin Configuration

• Previous Yacht

Special Features:

• Elevator for easy access between floors
• Impressive 5,000nm range
• Swimming pool
• Two VIP cabins
• Lloyds Register ✠ +100A1, SSC, Yacht Mono G6 (+) LMC, UMS, SCM, Green Passport, classification

The 74m/242'9" motor yacht 'New Secret' was built by Amels in the Netherlands at their Vissingen shipyard. Her interior is styled by British designer design house Winch Design and she was completed in 2017. This luxury vessel's exterior design is the work of Tim Heywood Design.

Guest Accommodation

New Secret has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 12 guests in 6 suites comprising two VIP cabins. She is also capable of carrying up to 19 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience.

Onboard Comfort & Entertainment

Her features include beauty salon, elevator, underwater lights, beach club, gym, deck jacuzzi, WiFi and air conditioning.

Range & Performance

New Secret is built with a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, with teak decks. Powered by twin diesel Caterpillar (3516C) 2,667hp engines, she comfortably cruises at 15 knots, reaches a maximum speed of 16 knots with a range of up to 5,000 nautical miles from her 175,000 litre fuel tanks at 12 knots. New Secret features at-anchor stabilizers providing exceptional comfort levels. Her water tanks store around 39,200 Litres of fresh water. She was built to Lloyds Register ✠ +100A1, SSC, Yacht Mono G6 (+) LMC, UMS, SCM, Green Passport, classification society rules.

*Charter New Secret Motor Yacht

Motor yacht New Secret is currently not believed to be available for private Charter. To view similar yachts for charter , or contact your Yacht Charter Broker for information about renting a luxury charter yacht.

New Secret Yacht Owner, Captain or marketing company

'Yacht Charter Fleet' is a free information service, if your yacht is available for charter please contact us with details and photos and we will update our records.

New Secret Photos

New Secret Awards & Nominations

• International Superyacht Society Awards 2018 Best Power 65m+ Nomination
• Asia Boating Award 2018 Best Semi Custom Built Yacht (above 120ft) Finalist

NOTE to U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Specification

M/Y New Secret

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Motor Yacht

New Secret is a semi-custom motor yacht launched in 2017 by Amels.

AMELS are masters in the art of modern Dutch high-value yacht building. The yard is the largest superyacht facility in the Netherlands and one of the top superyacht builders in the world. In 2005 AMELS launched the successful LIMITED EDITIONS and delivered the first yacht of the series in 2007. The shipyard also specialises in the build of full-custom superyachts, with the in-construction Project Signature due to become the largest superyacht ever built in the Netherlands upon her scheduled launch in 2025.

New Secret measures 74.00 metres in length, with a max draft of 3.85 feet and a beam of 12.45 feet.

Tim Heywood, the multi award-winning yacht designer, has produced some of the finest and largest yachts on the water. Among his exceptional designs is the stunning 133m Al Mirqab, which was awarded the coveted ‘Motor Yacht of the Year’ at the 2009 World Superyacht Awards.

Her interior design is by Winch Design.

New Secret also features naval architecture by Amels.

New Secret is a semi-custom Amels 242 model.

Performance and Capabilities

New Secret has a top speed of 16.00 knots and a cruising speed of 15.00 knots. She is powered by 2 3508b diesel engines .

Accommodation

New Secret accommodates up to 12 guests in 6 cabins. She also houses room for up to 19 crew members.

Other Specifications

New Secret has a hull NB of 2.

• Yacht Builder Amels View profile
• Naval Architect Amels View profile
• Exterior Designer Tim Heywood Design View profile
• Interior Designer Winch Design View profile

Yacht Specs

Other amels yachts, related news.

NEW SECRET Motor yacht for sale

The 74m (242.7ft) NEW SECRET has a Lloyd’s-classed steel hull and aluminium superstructure. Delivered in 2017 by Amels as the second hull of its 242 LE series, she has exteriors by Tim Heywood and interiors by Winch Design, giving her full northern European provenance. Only ever used privately by her original owner, she presents in immaculate condition.

The 74m (242.7ft) NEW SECRET has a Lloyd’s-classed steel hull and aluminium superstructure. Delivered in 2017 by Amels as the second hull of its 242 LE series, she has exteriors by Tim Heywood and interiors by Winch Design, giving her full northern European provenance. Only ever used privately by her original owner, she presents in immaculate condition.

This 1,790GT yacht has many sought-after features. These include an elevator serving lower to bridge decks, an 8m-long (26.2ft) pool on a 180sqm (1,937.5sqft) main deck aft, a lower deck wellness centre with a sea terrace, a 240sqm (2,583sqft) private owner’s deck, two VIP suites forward on the main deck and a touch-and-go helipad.

Her sun deck has a raised jacuzzi surrounded by sunpads and intimate lounge seating forward. The bridge deck has sofa seating forward of the bridge with step access from the owner’s deck below. The aft deck has a helipad and inside is an en suite pilot’s cabin with a single berth and a guest lounge.

The owner’s deck, which features full-height glazing throughout, has a bedroom forward overlooking a private foredeck lounge, to which there is direct access. Aft there are his-and-hers bathrooms, one with a bath, the other a shower, and walk-in wardrobes. Off the owner’s lobby there is a private office and dayhead.

A media lounge faces a large bulkhead-mounted TV and a more convivial lounge looks aft through an arc of sliding glass doors onto a private aft terrace. Outside there is a fully equipped bar and dining for up to 14 guests beneath the overhang, sheltered by sliding glass screens either side, and sun lounge seating.

The focus of the main deck aft is the huge pool flanked by sun lounging space. Forward of the pool is a daybed shaded by the overhang and a semi-circular bar. There is access to a dayhead on the starboard sidedeck and steps either side lead down to a large swim platform.

Inside sliding glass doors is a lounge with sofas and armchairs. Forward is a formal dining area with a gloss-finished circular walnut table on a polished stone floor. The forward bulkhead features radiating rings of stainless steel around pearlescent crystal tiles, doors that conceal a crockery locker.

The lower deck’s full-beam spa has a dedicated gym, massage room, sauna, steam shower and lounge with juice bar radiating off a central large spa pool. To starboard there is a large folding sea terrace.

In addition to the owner’s suite and main deck VIP suites, three further guest suites on the lower deck and two additional berths complete accommodation for up to 14 guests in six cabins. She also sleeps 19 crew.

Twin 2,667hp Caterpillar diesel engines give her a top speed of 16.5 knots, and a range of 5,000nm at her passage speed of 12.5 knots, with stabilisers to reduce roll underway and at anchor. Lower deck shell doors conceal two large tenders and a selection of watertoys.

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Key features

• Hull #2 of successful Amels 242 series designed by Tim Heywood
• Privately owned, built for current owner, in pristine condition
• Interiors by acclaimed Winch Design
• Owner’s deck with Master cabin, His and Hers bathroom, office and lounge
• 2 VIP suites on main deck and 3 large guest cabins on lower deck
• 8m-long pool on main deck, jacuzzi on sun deck
• Elevator from lower to bridge decks
• Wellness spa on lower deck with gym and side sea terrace
• Functional helipad with pilot cabin on bridge deck

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Exhilarating 25 knot performance, huge sunpad and open-air lounge plus stunning beach club

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HVAC | MY NEW SECRET

NEW SECRET is a gracious beauty, very good-looking but with a sophisticated discretion. The yacht was built in 2017 in the Netherlands at Amels shipyard and joins PLVS VLTRA in the Amels 242 fleet. As with her sister, the exterior lines come from the drawing board of renowned British designer Tim Heywood, but NEW SECRET differs from her sister ship in having a completely white superstructure. Her interior styling was created by Winch Design on the owner’s request.

The layout includes a master suite, two VIP staterooms, two double cabins, and one twin. The yacht also has an extended spa area and large swimming pool. It has accommodations for up to 19 crew.

A perfect indoor climate

Few onboard systems are more crucial to the comfort and well-being of yacht owners and their guests than the climate control system. Heinen & Hopman has supplied three types of air conditioning systems; one serving the owner- and guest spaces, one serving the crew area and one serving the service spaces.

Design Conditions

The following design conditions were requested:

Summer conditions

• Outside: 35˚C/75% R.H.
• Inside: 22˚C/55% R.H.

Winter conditions

• Outside: 0˚C/80% R.H.
• Inside: 22˚C/35% R.H.

Reduced energy-consumption & emissions

In order to save energy, the AC system serving the luxury and owner-related spaces has been equipped variable air volume control (VAV). Furthermore, a custom-built Turbocor chiller  produces the chilled water for the AC system. Turbocor compressors consume up to 50% less energy than traditional compressors.

More information about this project?

If you would like to get more information about our HVAC solutions for superyachts, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

*Photo courtesy: AMELS

Do you want to know how our HVAC can benefit your vessel?

Yacht, IMO 1012907

• VesselFinder
• Miscellaneous

The current position of NEW SECRET is at East Mediterranean reported 2 hours ago by AIS. The vessel NEW SECRET (IMO 1012907, MMSI 538071225) is a Yacht built in 2017 (7 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands .

Position & Voyage Data

Map position & weather, recent port calls, vessel particulars.

NEW SECRET current position and history of port calls are received by AIS. Technical specifications, tonnages and management details are derived from VesselFinder database. The data is for informational purposes only and VesselFinder is not responsible for the accuracy and reliability of NEW SECRET data.

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Mark Zuckerberg's $300M Megayacht 'Launchpad' Arrives in the U.S., Joins Its Shadow Vessel

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile

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• This New 150-Foot Superyacht Can Cruise Through Shallow Waters in Florida and the Bahamas With Ease

The sleek Palm Beach Vitruvius was designed with stateside seafarers in mind.

Rachel cormack.

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After establishing a presence in the U.K. and France, Vitruvius Yachts has now set its sights on the U.S.

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Palm Beach Vitruvius is capable of more than coastal cruising, though. The vessel can also carry out transoceanic voyages, with a range of more than 4,000 nautical miles.

On top of that, Palm Beach Vitruvius will look plenty elegant on the high seas. The cruiser showcases the streamlined hull that has become synonymous with Vitruvius. Briand, both a naval architect and yacht designer, has previously penned sailing yachts and thus knows a thing or two about creating a sleek silhouette.

The studio didn’t share any details regarding layout or amenities but acknowledges that comfort is paramount for a truly exceptional yachting experience. As per the renders, Palm Beach Vitruvius is packed with plush features, such as an expandable beach club with an infinity pool and a scenic sundeck with a Jacuzzi and bar. She also is equipped with a large sun pad and lounge on the foredeck and multiple alfresco lounge and dining areas on the aft decks.

It shouldn’t be too long before we see Palm Beach Vitruvius cruising the seas, either. “Designed by one of the world’s most well-known naval architects, it is more than a concept,” Kevin Ralph, a broker with Worth Avenue Yachts, said in a statement. “This fully engineered project is currently out to bid by three world-renowned yacht yards and will be ready to commence building shortly.”

Click here to see all the photos of Palm Beach Vitruvius.

Rachel Cormack is a digital editor at Robb Report. She cut her teeth writing for HuffPost, Concrete Playground, and several other online publications in Australia, before moving to New York at the…

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The superyacht world is speculating that Mark Zuckerberg just bought this 118-meter boat

• The 118-meter superyacht Launchpad made her maiden voyage last week.
• The yacht world is speculating that her owner is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
• Here's what we know about the luxury vessel.

In the world of superyachts , privacy is the most valuable asset. It can be next to impossible to discern the details of a superyacht transaction — and that's particularly true if the vessel in question is worth nine figures.

Yet some in the boat blogging world are speculating that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the new owner of Launchpad, a megayacht currently moored in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after she made her maiden voyage from Gibraltar to St Maarten last week. Launchpad clocks in at 118 meters long, about nine meters shorter than Jeff Bezos' superyacht Koru .

The transaction could not be confirmed, with yacht world insiders declining to share what they know and representatives for Zuckerberg not responding to a request for comment from Business Insider. In the past, reports about Zuckerberg owning superyacht Ulysses have proven false.

Related stories

"It is Feadship's standard policy to never divulge any information about our yachts with reference to ownership, costs, or delivery, etc," Feadship, the ship's builder, wrote to BI. "Whether it is an 18-meter Feadship from the 1960s or a 118-meter Feadship from the 21st century, we do not share private information."

But Zuckerberg's name has been connected to Launchpad for a few months now, beginning in December when reports swirled that he visited Feadship's shipyard in the Netherlands.

Then, earlier in March, yachting bloggers like eSysman SuperYachts and Autoevolution started speculating that he officially snagged the boat, originally built for a sanctioned Russian businessman, at a $300 million price tag. (While that's a seemingly huge amount, it's still less than 0.2% of Zuckerberg's $177 billion net worth.)

Another clue that might point to US ownership is that the yacht bears the flag of the Marshall Islands, a US territory and commonplace for American buyers to register their ships, according to public marine tracking.

If Zuckerberg were to have bought Launchpad, he would join a cohort of superyacht-owning tech billionaires . Along with Bezos, the likes of Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison and Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have purchased impressive boats with even more impressive amenities.

SuperYacht Times , an industry publication and intelligence platform, has some of the best images of the yacht. Photos show a swimming pool on her main deck and a large helipad.

While less is known of the interior, a vessel of her size can likely sleep dozens of guests and crew and may have amenities like an expansive gym where Zuckerberg could practice his jiu-jitsu or a spa with a massage area. We suspect there's also space for plenty of toys — which could include his viral hydrofoil foil .

Do you have any details about Launchpad or any other superyachts? Email reporter Madeline Berg at [email protected].

Watch: Walmart heiress' superyacht vandalized by activists in Ibiza

• Main content

Putin taunts the West with 'first ever' visit to remote ice-covered 'frontier region' just 55 miles from the US - as Zelensky tries to drum up war support in Lithuania

• Chukotka is Russia's easternmost region, sharing a maritime border with Alaska

President Vladimir Putin  has arrived for his first-ever presidential visit to Chukotka in Russia 's Far East - just 55 miles from the US state of Alaska . 

Putin arrived in Anadyr, the local capital of the Chukotka region this morning after flying from Moscow some nine time zones away. 

Chukotka is the easternmost region of Russia, with a maritime border on the Bering Strait with Alaska.

The Russian president was met in Anadyr by a motorcade and was whisked away in a limousine amid frigid temperatures of -28C. 

It's the closest he has come to US soil since he met with President  Barack Obama in New York City in 2015.

Chukotka is so close to Alaska that Roman Abramovich - the ex-Chelsea FC owner - was reported to fly to Anchorage in Alaska for lunch when he was the governor of the region from 2001 - 2008.

Putin's visit comes at a time when US-Russian relations are at their lowest ebb in decades amid the war in Ukraine and a growing East-West divide. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today landed in Lithuania as part of an unannounced trip to the Baltic states to drum up more support for the conflict. 

Global war for control of the ARCTIC: Climate change is unlocking untapped natural resources, new trade routes... and a new international conflict that RUSSIA is already winning  

The three Baltic states - all former Soviet republics which are now EU and NATO members - are among Ukraine's staunchest allies.

'Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are our reliable friends and principled partners. Today, I arrived in Vilnius before going to Tallinn and Riga,' Zelensky said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

'Security, EU and NATO integration, cooperation on electronic warfare and drones, and further coordination of European support are all on the agenda,' he said.

The Baltic tour marks Zelensky's first official trip abroad this year.

In Lithuania, a key donor to Ukraine, Zelensky said he will hold talks with the president, prime minister and the speaker of parliament, and meet with the Ukrainian community.

The visit comes as other Kyiv allies waver on fresh aid, nearly two years into Russia's invasion.

Ukraine has come under intense Russian shelling in recent weeks, retaliating with strikes on Russia's border city of Belgorod.

Zelensky has urged allies to keep military support flowing and held in-person talks with officials from the United States, Germany and Norway last month.

But an EU aid package worth 50 billion euros ($55 billion) has been stuck in Brussels following a veto by Hungary, while the US Congress remains divided on sending additional aid to Ukraine.

Following his trip to Chukotka, Putin is expected to visit several regions in the Russian Far East to boost his re-election campaign amid the war with Ukraine, which has seen more than 300,000 Russians killed or maimed.

He is due to stand in March, seeking another six years in the Kremlin.

The only Kremlin leader ever to travel to Chukotka previously was Dmitry Medvedev in 2008.

Putin's trip sees him escape a wave of ugly protests in western Russia over hundreds of thousands of people scraping by in freezing conditions due to breakdowns in communal heating supplies.

In Elektrostal, Moscow region, desperate residents say they have had no communal heating - which Russians routinely expect the state to supply usually through piped hot water - for the entire winter so far.

'We have been without heating since [9 October],' one resident said in a video circulating on Telegram.

'It is impossible to be in our homes… We are freezing! We are freezing! We are freezing!' they said. 

From Russia, Elaborate Tales of Fake Journalists

As the Ukraine war grinds on, the Kremlin has created increasingly complex fabrications online to discredit Ukraine’s leader and undercut aid. Some have a Hollywood-style plot twist.

Credit... Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times

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By Steven Lee Myers

• Published March 18, 2024 Updated March 20, 2024, 2:33 p.m. ET

A young man calling himself Mohamed al-Alawi appeared in a YouTube video in August. He described himself as an investigative journalist in Egypt with a big scoop: The mother-in-law of Ukraine’s president had purchased a villa near Angelina Jolie’s in El Gouna, a resort town on the Red Sea.

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The story, it turned out, was not true. Ukraine denied it, and the owner of the villa refuted it. Also disconnected from reality: Alawi’s claim to being a journalist.

Still, his story caromed through social media and news outlets from Egypt to Nigeria and ultimately to Russia — which, according to researchers, is where the story all began.

The story seemed to fade, but not for long. Four months later, two new videos appeared on YouTube. They said Mohamed al-Alawi had been beaten to death in Hurghada, a town about 20 miles south of El Gouna. The suspected killers, according to the videos: Ukraine’s secret service agents.

These claims were no more factual than the first, but they gave new life to the old lie. Another round of posts and news reports ultimately reached millions of internet users around the world, elevating the narrative so much that it was even echoed by members of the U.S. Congress while debating continued military assistance to Ukraine.

Ever since its forces invaded two years ago , Russia has unleashed a torrent of disinformation to try to discredit Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, and undermine the country’s support in the West.

This saga, though, introduced a new gambit: a protracted and elaborately constructed narrative built online around a fictitious character and embellished with seemingly realistic detail and a plot twist worthy of Netflix.

“They never brought back a character before,” said Darren Linvill, a professor and director of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, who has extensively studied Russian disinformation.

The campaign shows how deftly Russia’s information warriors have shifted to new tactics and targets as the war in Ukraine has dragged on, just as Russian forces on the ground in Ukraine have adjusted tactics after devastating battlefield losses.

Groups with ties to the Kremlin continue to float new narratives when old ones fail to stick or grow stale, using fake or altered videos or recordings and finding or creating new outlets to spread disinformation, including ones purporting to be American news sites .

A video appeared on TikTok last month claiming to show a Ukrainian doctor working for Pfizer accusing the company of conducting unlawful tests on children. On the social network X, a man claiming to be an associate producer for Paramount Pictures spun a tale about a Hollywood biopic on Mr. Zelensky’s life.

The tale attributed to Mohamed al-Alawi is not even the only baseless allegation that Mr. Zelensky had secretly purchased properties abroad using Western financial assistance. Other versions — each seemingly tailored for a specific geographic audience — have detailed a mansion in Vero Beach, Fla., and a retreat in Germany once used by Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda.

The Russians have “demonstrated adaptability through the war on Ukraine,” Microsoft wrote in a recent report that disclosed Russia’s fraudulent use of recorded messages by famous actors and celebrities on the Cameo app to try to smear Mr. Zelensky as a drug addict.

Even when debunked, fabrications like these have proved exceedingly difficult to extinguish entirely.

YouTube took down the initial video of the character Mohamed al-Alawi, linking it to two other accounts that had previously violated the company’s policies. The accusation still circulates, however, especially on platforms, like X and Telegram, that experts say do little to block accounts generating inauthentic or automated activity. Some of the posts about the video appear to have used text or audio created with artificial intelligence tools; many are amplified by networks of bots intended to create the impression that the content is popular.

What links the narratives to Russia is not only the content disparaging Ukraine but also the networks that circulate them. They include news outlets and social media accounts that private and government researchers have linked to previous Kremlin campaigns.

“They’re trolling for a susceptible (and seemingly abundant) slice of citizens who amplify their garbage enough to muddy the waters of our discourse, and from there our policies,” said Rita Katz, the director of the SITE Intelligence Group, an American company that tracks extremist activity online and investigated the false claims about the villa.

The Making of a Fake Journalist

The video first appeared on Aug. 20 on a newly created YouTube account that had no previous activity and almost no followers, according to the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, a global nonprofit research organization in London, which traced the video’s spread.

The man appeared in a poorly lit room reading from his computer screen, which was reflected in his thick glasses. He appeared to be a real person, but it has not been possible to verify his actual identity. No one by the name of Mohamed al-Alawi appears to have produced any previous articles or videos, as would be expected of a journalist. According to ActiveFence, an internet security company, the character has no educational or work history, and no network of friends or social connections online.

The video, though, showed what purported to be photographs of a purchase contract and of the villa itself, creating a veneer of authenticity for credulous viewers. The property is, in fact, part of a resort owned by Orascom Development, whose website highlights El Gouna’s “year-round sunshine, shimmering lagoons, sandy beaches and azure waters.”

An article about the video’s claim appeared two days later as a paid advertisement, or branded content, on Punch, a news outlet in Nigeria, as well as three other Nigerian websites that aggregate news and entertainment content.

The article had the byline of Arthur Nkono, who according to internet searches does not appear to have written any other articles. The article quoted a political scientist, Abdrulrahman Alabassy, who likewise appears not to exist except in accounts linking the villa to the corrupt use of Western financial aid to Ukraine. (Punch, which later removed the post, did not respond to requests for comment.)

A day later, the claim made its first appearance on X in a post by Sonja van den Ende, an activist in the Netherlands, whose articles have previously appeared on propaganda outlets linked to the Russian government, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. (She also served as an election observer in an occupied territory of Ukraine during Russian parliamentary elections in September.)

Within days, reports about the villa appeared on X in French and Romanian, and in English on three different Reddit forums.

According to Roberta Duffield, director of intelligence for Blackbird.AI, an internet security company, nearly 29 percent of the accounts amplifying the reports appeared to be inauthentic bots, an unusually high number that would normally indicate a coordinated campaign.

Eight days after the video appeared, Russia state television networks like Channel One, Rossiya 24 and RT (in Arabic and German) reported it as a major revelation uncovered by a renowned Egyptian investigative journalist.

The story seemed to stall there. Naguib Sawiris, the scion of the Egyptian family that owned the development, curtly denied the sale in a reply on X.

And no more was heard from or about the character called Mohamed al-Alawi — until late December.

That was when two new videos emerged on a YouTube channel called “Egypt News,” claiming that he was dead.

The channel had been created the day before. One video showed a man identified as Alawi’s brother, Ahmed, answering questions from another man.

The police, he said, told him that they suspected his brother had been beaten to death by “Ukrainian special forces who acted on behalf of President Zelensky or another high-ranking official.”

He spoke with his hand cupped over his face to obscure his identity. The other video showed what was said to be the site of an attack, though the images were indistinct. “I can’t tell you anything else,” he said in the video, which YouTube later removed. “I’m afraid for my family.”

The video also tried to explain away some of the obvious holes in the initial story, including why there was no evidence online of Alawi’s previous work. “It was his first big assignment,” the man said.

The new episode spread as the first video had. A day later, an article about the death appeared on an obscure website created last year called El Mostaqbal, a name similar to but unrelated to the actual news organization in Lebanon.

“A reporter who announced that Zelensky’s mother-in-law brought a luxury villa has died under mysterious circumstances,” the headline read. Other reports that followed dropped any uncertainty and began referring to his “murder.”

In fact, Egypt’s Ministry of the Interior said there were no reports or evidence that anyone resembling the man in the video had been “subjected to harm.” The statement went on to note that the property itself had not been sold.

Still, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, posts about the supposed killing were viewed a million times on X on Dec. 25.

It also appeared on the website of the Middle East Monitor, or MEMO, operated by a well-known nonprofit organization in London and financed by the government of Qatar. A journalist who once reported from Moscow for The Telegraph of London, Ben Aris, cited it at length on the platform, though, when challenged, he said he had just made note of the rumor. “I don’t have time to check all this stuff myself,” he wrote.

It appeared in English on a site, Clear Story News, that Mr. Linvill of Clemson’s Media Forensics Hub had previously linked to Russia’s disinformation efforts. (The site lists no contact information)

Mr. Linvill described the process as a form of “narrative laundering” — moving false claims from unknown or not credible sources to ones that, to the unwitting at least, seem more legitimate.

More Elaborate Narratives

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue studied three other complex narratives about Ukraine, as well.

One featured a French journalist who claimed that the son of George Soros — a regular target of Russian and far-right political attacks — had secretly acquired land for a toxic waste dump in Ukraine. An unnamed doctor in Africa said in another that an American medical charity, the Global Surgical and Medical Support Group, was harvesting the organs of wounded Ukrainian soldiers for transplants for NATO officers.

Then there was the case of a man calling himself Shahzad Nasir, whose profile on X identifies him as a journalist with Emirates 24/7, an English-language news outlet in Dubai, though he has no apparent bylines on the site.

In November, he claimed that cronies of Mr. Zelensky bought two yachts — Lucky Me and My Legacy — for $75 million. His evidence, like Mohamed al-Alawi’s, includes photographs of the vessels and purported purchase agreements.

In fact, as the BBC documented in December, the yachts had not been purchased and remained for sale. Despite numerous efforts by fact checkers to dispel it as rumor, the claim circulated extensively.

Last month, the character Nasir reappeared in another video. This time he had a new version of the tale, claiming that the purchases had been scuttled after he exposed the secret deal.

The ramifications of these campaigns are difficult to measure precisely. There are signs, though, that they resonate even when proved false.

Senator J.D. Vance, a Republican of Ohio and an outspoken critic of Ukraine aid, seemed to embrace the claim in December during an interview on “War Room,” the podcast hosted by Stephen K. Bannon, the onetime adviser to former President Donald J. Trump.

“There are people who would cut Social Security — throw our grandparents into poverty — why?” Mr. Vance said. “So that one of Zelensky’s ministers can buy a bigger yacht?”

That prompted a public rebuke this month from a Republican colleague, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who ridiculed those who repeat unproven allegations.

“They’ve heard somebody say that if we pass this bill, that we’re all going to go ride to Kyiv with buckets full of money and let oligarchs buy yachts!” he said of critics of the assistance to Ukraine, in what he later called a reference to Mr. Vance’s comments. “I wonder how the spouses of the estimated 25,000 soldiers in Ukraine who have died feel about that? I mean, really, guys?”

Karoun Demirjian contributed reporting.

Audio produced by Parin Behrooz .

An earlier version of this article misstated, in one reference, the name of a group at Clemson University that studies disinformation. It is the Media Forensics Hub, not the Digital Media Hub.

How we handle corrections

Steven Lee Myers covers misinformation for The Times. He has worked in Washington, Moscow, Baghdad and Beijing, where he contributed to the articles that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2021. He is also the author of “The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin.” More about Steven Lee Myers

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

News and Analysis

A day after securing a new term in a rubber-stamp presidential election, President Vladimir Putin of Russia said he would not back down in Russia’s war against Ukraine .

With additional American aid still in doubt, Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense secretary, called for “creative, adaptable and sustainable ways” to continue arming Ukraine  and praised European allies who were trying to bolster Kyiv’s military.

Ukraine fired a volley of exploding drones  at Moscow and other targets on the final day of Russia’s presidential vote, the local authorities said, continuing a flurry of attacks timed for the election .

Symbolism or Strategy?: Ukrainians say that defending places with little strategic value is worth the cost in casualties and weapons , because the attacking Russians pay an even higher price. American officials aren’t so sure.

Elaborate Tales: As the Ukraine war grinds on, the Kremlin has created increasingly complex fabrications online  to discredit Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, and undermine the country’s support in the West.

Targeting Russia’s Oil Industry: With its army short of ammunition and troops to break the deadlock on the battlefield, Kyiv has increasingly taken the fight beyond the Ukrainian border, attacking oil infrastructure deep in Russian territory .

How We Verify Our Reporting

Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs , videos and radio transmissions  to independently confirm troop movements and other details.

We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts .

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