Russian propaganda spreading deepfake videos about Zelensky to German- and English-speaking audiences

Propagandists used deepfake technology for fake videos from Berlin streets

A German-language Russian media outlet, English-language bots on social media platforms X, TikTok, pro-war Russian Telegram channels, as well as Russian-language resources that pretend to be "Ukrainian," are distributing videos from the streets of Berlin and photos taken from them. In the videos, allegedly glued posters can be seen with a caricature of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the word "give" in different languages.

These are deepfake videos. Russian propagandists recorded real videos in Berlin and then added a fake picture to them (using deepfake technology).

The communications department at Germany's Medium-Sized Business and Economic Union (MIT), the building of which was seen in one photo, confirmed this to an Ukrinform correspondent. "The photo you sent is fake," Juliane Berndt said in response to the agency's information inquiry. She said that as the business wing of the conservative bloc CDU/CSU (Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union), MIT "is in full solidarity with Ukraine and condemns Russia's war of aggression."

The real poster in the window of the MIT building, according to Berndt, is "an unlimited expression of solidarity with Ukraine; there is no parody of President Zelensky on it." MIT assumed that the poster had been added, using post-editing tools, to spread fake news.

Photos: Olga Tanasiychuk

Other shots, allegedly taken near the Brandenburg Gate and the Bundestag, also turned out to be fake.

Photos: Olga Tanasiychuk

Andriy Olenin, Olga Tanasiychuk