Florida
Does Volodymyr Zelenskyy live in Florida? What to know about social media claim
President Trump pauses federal aid to Ukraine
World leaders are reacting to President Donald Trump’s decision to pause federal aid to Ukraine.
There is no proof Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lives in Florida, much less Vero Beach, despite such rumors circulating since 2023 and many people searching for that information online this week.
A right-wing activist and failed U.S. Senate candidate started the rumor with a social media post, which has been debunked by media outlets such as USA Today and Reuters.
Here’s what to know about the social media claims that Zelenskyy owns a Florida home.
Does Zelenskyy live in Florida?
Lauren Witzke, a Delaware Republican who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2020, claimed Zelenskyy is a U.S. citizen and had bought a $20 million mansion in Vero Beach, according to her post on the social media platform X on Dec. 13, 2023.
Since then, the post has received a community note on X saying the naturalized citizenship document was photoshopped and the photo of the home is not in Vero Beach.
The post includes photos of a mansion in Ponte Vedra Beach, which is in St. Johns County, Florida. Property records for Indian River and St. Johns counties do not list Zelenskyy as a property owner in either location.
The Ponte Vedra Beach home was being auctioned on Feb. 23, 2024, and sold on March 25 for $7.5 million, according to St. Johns County property records. See the home here.
Is Zelenskyy a U.S. citizen?
An aspect of the viral tweet was a naturalized citizenship document for Zelenskyy, which claimed his residence in Vero Beach.
Zelenskyy’s photo in the document is an edited version of an image distributed to media outlets by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, USA Today reported. In both images, Zelenskyy is wearing the same jacket and shirt, and the garments are oriented identically, with the left collar slightly opened.
An authentic certificate of naturalization includes the person’s full name and signature, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The document shown in the post is missing Zelenskyy’s middle name of Oleksandrovych and missing his signature.
Who is Volodymyr Zelenskyy?
Zelenskyy is Ukraine’s sixth president and was elected in April 2019. The 47-year-old unseated incumbent Petro Poroshenko, who had been in office since 2014, with 73% of the vote.
Since Russia invaded in February 2022, Zelenskyy has been the face of Ukrainian resistance, notably for his visibility online and his pleas to other countries for support.
Former U.S. President Joe Biden provided Zelenskyy with billions of dollars in arms, cash and loans for Ukraine to fight the war against Russia. However, President Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine has been a complete change, with him pausing aid to Ukraine on Monday, March 3.
The pause followed the clash between Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Feb. 28 in the Oval Office after Zelenskyy complained about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The clash between the world leaders ended with Zelenskyy being asked to leave the White House, and a planned news conference with both presidents was canceled.
The meeting came after Trump opened negotiations in February with Putin to end the war in Ukraine in a dramatic break from longstanding U.S. policy and the Biden administration’s complete support for Ukraine.
USA Today writers Francesca Chambers and Joey Garrison contributed to this report.
Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on X @gonthescene.
The Vero Beach Police Department took a man into custody May 8 in connection with a threatening phone call directed toward a business.
The agency received information at 5:21 p.m. May 7 about a threatening call to Thrive IRC Inc. at 2300 5th Ave. in Vero Beach, according to a news release. The call included someone threatening to come to the business with an AK rifle and “light the building up.”
Detectives began investigating the threat and identified Michael Sean O’Brien, 27, of Vero Beach, as the person associated with the phone number used during the call.
O’Brien was taken into custody at about 3:30 p.m. May 8 without incident. He was charged with the false report concerning the use of firearms in a violent manner, which is a second degree felony, according to the news release.
O’Brien was booked in the Indian River County Jail at 6:13 p.m. May 8 but was released at 1:36 p.m. May 9 after posting the $5,000 bond, according to the jail website.
No additional information was available the afternoon of May 9.
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
Charmaine Hickey, of Lang Realty in Port St. Lucie, was named in KNOW Women’s “100 Women to KNOW in America” list.
A Treasure Coast woman was named in a “100 Women to know in America” list for 2026.
KNOW Women is a global media company dedicated to giving women leaders connections and visibility. The company released a list of “100 Women to know in America” for 2026 to highlight the most influential women in business and leadership.
Charmaine Hickey, who works for Lang Realty in Port St. Lucie, was on the list.
“Charmaine’s recognition on a national stage like this comes as no surprise,” said Scott Agran, president of Lang Realty in a news release. “Her leadership, integrity, and commitment to both her profession and her community exemplify what this award stands for. She represents the very best of our industry.”
Hickey holds many industry designations and is known for her expertise in complex real estate transactions, as well as her client-first approach defined by honesty, patience and attention to detail, according to the news release.
Her community involvement includes serving on nonprofit boards, mentoring emerging leaders and supporting initiatives focused on education, women, families and youth.
“I am truly honored to be recognized among such an inspiring group of women,” said Hickey in the news release. “This award reflects not just individual achievement, but the power of community, mentorship, and lifting others as we grow. I’m grateful to be part of a network of women who are building meaningful impact every day.”
To see the full list go to theknowwomen.com.
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death.
In a deposition from November that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply”.
Bryan died after the botched surgery; and in April, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter.
“I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during difficult circumstances”.
The deposition provided Shaknovksy’s first detailed account of the operation that killed Bryan and eventually garnered national news headlines.
According to Shaknovksy’s deposition, after removing Bryan’s liver, the surgeon instructed a nurse to label the organ as a “spleen” – and he also identified it as a spleen in Bryan’s postoperative notes. Shaknovsky later said he had been “mentally compromised” at the time of Bryan’s death, explaining that he was “devastated, demoralized, crying over his passing, felt that I failed him”.
A lawsuit filed by Bryan’s widow, Beverly Bryan, accuses Shaknovsky of medical malpractice. The suit alleges that he “wrongfully omitted any reference to Mr Bryan’s liver being removed in order to ‘cover up’ his gross negligence/recklessness and to hopefully avoid the embarrassment due to such derelict care”, as NBC reported.
In April, the Walton county sheriff’s office said in a statement that Shaknovsky’s actions inflicted on Bryan “catastrophic blood loss and the patient’s death on the operating table”.
Shaknovsky’s deposition testimony described the chaos in the operating room after Bryan began bleeding extensively, causing his heart to stop. Medical staff performed chest compressions, and Shaknovsky attempted to find where the bleeding was coming from.
“I couldn’t tell the difference because I was so upset,” he said, referring to the organ he mistakenly identified.
“It was like a overflown sink that’s clogged up, and I am looking for a fork at the bottom, trying to feel and find the bleed, and I was not able to do so,” Shaknovsky said. He added: “After 20 minutes of struggling – desperately trying – to save his life, that’s when the wrong-site event took place.
“It’s a devastating thing, which I will have to live with the rest of my life,” Shaknovsky said in the eight-hour deposition reviewed by NBC. “I think about it every single day.”
After the medical team was unable to resuscitate Bryan, Shaknovsky said he went to the hospital’s medical library. “I went there to cry because I was devastated,” he said. “I didn’t want the staff to see me like that.”
Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, Shaknovsky said he believed Bryan’s spleen was “double the size of what is normal” because of a mass on it. Beverly Bryan’s lawsuit, however, states that a medical examiner told her that her husband’s spleen was anatomically “nearly normal”, according to NBC.
Shaknovsky would face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if eventually convicted as charged.
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