Pro-Kremlin deepfakes put surrender rhetoric in the…

Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have circulated AI-generated deepfake videos featuring Ukrainian lawmakers Andriy Levus and Ivan Yunakov promoting surrender rhetoric. These fabricated clips, which garnered 130,000 views in two weeks, were identified as propaganda by NewsGuard.

What happened

The deepfake videos depict Andriy Levus, the former deputy head of the Ukrainian Security Service, appearing to call for peace talks, and Ivan Yunakov, a member of Zelenskyy’s party, lamenting the loss of territory. Technical analysis of the videos revealed several common AI artifacts, including unnatural blinking, flat voice synthesis, and stiff facial expressions.

This incident follows a 2022 deepfake of President Zelenskyy, which also attempted to simulate a call for surrender, though that earlier iteration was considered technically cruder than current examples. The dissemination of these videos underscores the ongoing challenge of AI-driven propaganda. Regardless of whether these clips are debunked, they serve to erode public trust and poison democratic discourse by creating confusion and spreading unchallenged misinformation.