In 2025, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, incumbent Ukrainian President, trod on American soil leaving the reputed White House on February 28th. A speculative cloud hovered over the public domain, questioning Zelenskyy’s excursion to Pennsylvania, labelling it as a potential ‘election interference.’ On September 22, 2024, Zelenskyy had set foot in a Scranton, Pennsylvania, ammunition factory to recognize and appreciate the labor of its employees. This event was graced by Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, who was acting on behalf of then-Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Not many legal commentators saw this as a case of ‘foreign election interference,’ which characteristically involves ‘covert, fraudulent, or deceptive tactics.’ The meet between Shapiro and the Ukrainian President was a far cry from a lobbying effort for Harris or the governor. One striking assertion emerged from Scotty Moore, a Republican and unsuccessful candidate for the Florida House race in 2023 and a Congressional race in 2022. The statement read, ‘Zelenskyy is an ungrateful foreigner who engaged in election interference by campaigning for Kamala (Harris) in (Pennsylvania),’ posted as a Facebook Reel on March 1.
The main intent of Zelenskyy’s visit to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant was to thank the laboring individuals furnishing munitions for Ukraine. Harris had not graced the visit with her presence, and neither was the occasion a campaigning event. Besides Shapiro, Democrats like then-Sen. Bob Casey and then-Rep. Matt Cartwright showed up at the occasion, both of whom were amidst a tight re-election campaign. Not one Republican representative was seen or featured at the event, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
The footage from the ammunition plant visit showed Zelenskyy’s personable interaction with the workers. The Ukrainian President was seen shaking hands with workers, posing for photo-ops, and appending personalized messages on ammunition shells. In his concise address to the employees, Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude, saying, ‘I wanted very much to come here and to thank you, 400 people, saved millions of Ukrainians.’
During the course of the same week, Zelenskyy separately interacted with Kamala Harris as well as Donald Trump, the then potential Republican nominee for Presidency. However, Shapiro was not the only American governor in Zelenskyy’s contact list for the year 2024. In July, Utah’s Republican Governor, Spencer J. Cox, played host to the Ukrainian President at the National Governors Association.
In this gathering, an official memorandum of understanding was signed between Utah and a Ukrainian province, signaling mutual cooperation in various domains. The term ‘election interference’ can imply interfering with voter actions during polls. However, some Republicans have exploited this term to ambush opponents without proven criminal convictions linked to election interference.
Foreign election interference may involve cyber attacks on election systems or misleading information campaigns that often hide foreign participation, according to Ari Mittleman, executive director of Keep Our Republic, a nonpartisan civic education organization. Mittleman lamented the continuous endeavour to undermine public trust in elections, perpetuating discord among Americans.
‘Foreign election interference,’ as defined in U.S. Code 2708, encompasses actions by foreign entities involving ‘covert, fraudulent, or deceptive acts,’ intended to influence voters or shatter public trust in election procedures. According to election interference experts, Zelenskyy’s actions do not fit the mould of foreign election interference.
Zelenskyy’s Scranton visit did not exemplify any features of subterfuge; besides, the media had knowledge of the event before its execution and also reported its aftermath. Michael Morley, an election law professor from Florida State University, commented that the term ‘foreign election interference’ tends to be applied loosely and vaguely. It doesn’t constitute a distinct crime for which a person could be prosecuted, he added.
In 2024, U.S. officials had put charges of fraud and identity theft on Iranian intelligence agents, accusing them of a ‘hack-and-leak’ operation against the Trump campaign, terming these actions as election interference. Yet, in Zelenskyy’s case, experts agree that his Scranton visit did not classify as foreign interference.
Dov H. Levin, Associate Professor of International Politics at the University of Hong Kong who specializes in foreign election interference, has extensively recorded examples of such interference over a 69-year period, accounting for the actions of the U.S. and Russia. Levin opines that Zelenskyy’s visit to the Pennsylvania factory doesn’t qualify as foreign election interference.
Levin further concluded that there wasn’t any plausible act by Zelenskyy during his Pennsylvania visit that could be branded as ‘covert, fraudulent, deceptive, or unlawful.’ Visits from foreign heads of state to the U.S. are routine affairs, typically not garnering any considerable reaction, even in the middle of the election seasons.
Bret Schafer, a Senior Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund, classified the incident as an unwise or undiplomatic move by Zelenskyy to partake in an event in a swing state without bipartisan participation. He was clear, however, in stating that it did not constitute foreign interference by any definition recognized by the U.S. or other democracies.
He further referred to the definition prescribed by the Department of Homeland Security for foreign interference: disruptive activities by foreign governments or entities aiming to incite discord, control public discourse, discredit the electoral system, bias policy development, or destabilize markets to undermine U.S. interests and those of its allies. Zelenskyy’s visit didn’t tick any of these boxes, as per Schafer’s analysis.
In conclusion, a claim was made on a Facebook post alleging that Zelenskyy interfered in the election by campaigning for Harris in Pennsylvania. However, a video of his Scranton visit shows him appreciating the workers who were producing munitions for Ukraine. Shortly after, Zelenskyy met with both Harris and Trump separately. His visit to the Scranton factory was not covert, and experts reached the consensus that it didn’t meet any definition of foreign election interference.