Did Zelenksyy call JD Vance ‘suka?’ The rumor, explained

Donald Trump’s heated meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last week spawned countless headlines. From Trump’s demand that Ukraine express more gratitude for its efforts around the Ukraine-Russia war, to interjections from JD Vance and a verbal spat about Zelenskyy’s attire, the meeting had no shortage of talked-about moments, including one about Zelenskyy’s choice of words.  

The word in question was muttered when Zelenskyy was being lectured about the state of Ukraine by Vance. “I’ve watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens,” Vance replied when asked if he’d ever visited Ukraine. As he was saying that, Zelenskyy was heard muttering what many believed to be the word “suka,” a Ukrainian expletive that — like the English word “b****” — translates to “female dog.”

Zelenksyy’s supposed use of the word “suka” took off on social media.

Zelenskyy called JD Vance a "Bitch" in Ukrainian (Cука)

(via @Kaizerrev) pic.twitter.com/7x8BIoMSRi

— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) February 28, 2025

Footage of Zelenksyy muttering the phrase spread quickly on social media, with many users believing he had called Vance the Ukrainian equivalent of the b-word. “ZELENSKY CALLED JD VANCE A B****!,” one X post read, adding that the “mic caught it.” Elsewhere, numerous Reddit threads saw users share in this belief, including one post that declared Zelenksyy had “called JD Vance a ‘b****’ in Ukrainian.” So widespread was the commentary that it even got picked up by some news outlets, like France 24, who discussed the legitimacy of the claim. 

We can’t know for sure whether Zelenksyy actually called Vance a “suka.”

The poor audio quality of the meeting makes it difficult to discern whether or not Zelenskyy actually used the Ukrainian word for “b****” in reference to Vance. Fact-checking resource Snopes said the indiscernible audio means it can not be proven without a doubt what the Ukrainian President said. The audio is clear enough, however, to hear that Zelenksyy did use a word that began with an “s” sound. In other words, it’s possible that Zelenksyy said the word “suka,” but it’s equally plausible that he said something else entirely. 

Zelenksyy may have been expressing his frustration more generally.

While it can’t be confirmed for certain whether Zelenksyy called Vance “suka,” it might be the case that he used the word in a general sense that was not necessarily directed at the vice president. Indeed, multiple Ukrainian language experts contacted by Snopes confirmed that while “suka” is sometimes used in a pejorative sense, it is mostly an all-purpose expletive to express frustration, anger, irritation, or exasperation with a situation, not an individual. 

In that context, Zelenksyy may have muttered the word in a way “equivalent to the English, ‘Oh, not again!'”, Yuri Shevchuk, a senior lecturer in Ukrainian at Columbia University, told Snopes. So, in the event that Zelenksyy did use the word, it’s possible he was simply reacting to the heated situation rather than explicitly calling Vance the b-word. Despite the inconclusiveness of what Zelenksyy said, many observers had already made up their minds, with a Daily Mail survey finding that 49% of respondents thought the Ukrainian President swore at JD Vance.