Zelensky's office welcomes pro-Trump influencer Laura Loomer's visit to Ukraine

Ukraine's Presidential Office on July 21 welcomed U.S. social media influencer Laura Loomer's visit to the country, saying firsthand experience is the best antidote to Russian propaganda.

"It is really important that Laura Loomer is in Ukraine and sees things with her own eyes as they are," Zelensky's office said on X a day after Loomer confirmed her visit.

In her post on X, Loomer, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, acknowledged that her earlier views on Ukraine were influenced by Russian propaganda, explaining her visit as a chance to verify facts on the ground.

The visit underscores a growing rift in the MAGA movement regarding the war in Ukraine.

Trump has often been critical of President Volodymyr Zelensky, ending nearly all U.S. military aid while restarting diplomatic outreach to Moscow.

In recent weeks, however, he adopted a more pro-Ukraine posture, most notably by agreeing that Kyiv could produce Patriot missiles to defend itself against Russian attacks.

His shifting stance is mirrored by Loomer, who posted on July 20 that she "was living in a media echo chamber."

Previously, Loomer promoted a conspiracy theory that the CIA was trying to stage a coup to oust Russian President Vladimir Putin, compared Ukraine to Nazis, and railed against Republican politicians for taking positions more sympathetic to Ukraine.

Since then, her position on Ukraine has flipped, and she has been increasingly sparring online with U.S. far-right personalities who echo Kremlin talking points, such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.

"I did say these things about Ukraine and Zelensky, and I am not deleting my posts because I've realized I was wrong," Loomer said.

Loomer said she is "going to try to find evidence for the propaganda I've been fed, and if I don't find it, I will let everyone know so they too can come to see the light."

She mentioned that she has seen evidence of several atrocities, including "dead priests in Bucha murdered by Russia" and a mass grave of murdered Christians "after Russia sent forces from Chechnya to massacre innocent people."

In a later post on July 21, Loomer published photos of herself at a McDonald's restaurant in Kyiv, which was damaged in repeated Russian attacks. She framed these strikes as "the deliberate targeting of a society trying to live normally and free from communism."

"By striking symbols of Western presence and normal civilian life, and by firing at American businesses, Moscow demonstrates contempt for the very idea of a prosperous, Western-oriented Ukraine," Loomer said.