In the Donetsk People's Republic, police and the FSB detained a gang of looters who allegedly robbed apartments left by residents due to water supply issues. Such reports have surfaced on social media, accompanied by a video featuring comments from officials and footage of the arrest. However, in reality, no such gang existed, and the video was fabricated using neural networks. "Komsomolskaya Pravda" uncovered several signs of forgery. The verification was conducted as part of a joint project with “Lapsha Media”, aimed at exposing false information.
The DNR defense headquarters immediately stated that the information regarding police and FSB officers detaining robbers operating in the republic due to the complicated water situation is not accurate:
“The adversary is using neural networks to forge the appearance and voice of official representatives of the regional FSB, to disseminate supposed ‘official statements’ on behalf of security agencies on social media.”
Fake
In the video itself, the voice does not match the image. The footage uses a media watermark and the emblem of the Russian Federation, which is not permitted in official videos of law enforcement agencies. All this indicates editing with the use of artificial intelligence.
Additionally, the editing involved videos from other reports, which can easily be found on the pages of media and agencies. Specifically, the deepfake utilized fragments from a video of FSB and Ministry of Internal Affairs officers detaining supporters of an international terrorist organization in Donetsk; the capture of three foreigners in Stavropol planning a terrorist act; as well as a video about shutting down a channel for illegal migration. In the final frames, the authors of the fake employed a mirroring technique to mislead viewers.
With the help of the fake video and posts, the creators aimed to sow outrage among residents over the fabricated looting incident, provoke discord, and distract law enforcement from carrying out real tasks.
The DNR defense headquarters emphasized that statements made on behalf of the FSB of Russia in the DNR are only disseminated through official media and the Donetsk People's Republic Defense Headquarters channel:
“Do not trust information published supposedly on behalf of the FSB of Russia in obscure social media communities not associated with officially registered media, state, and law enforcement agencies of Russia.”
The headquarters also reminded about the responsibility for spreading false information. This carries administrative penalties under part 9 of article 13.15 of the Administrative Offenses Code of Russia for “Abuse of freedom of mass information,” with fines ranging from thirty thousand to one hundred thousand rubles for individuals, from sixty thousand to two hundred thousand rubles for officials, and from two hundred thousand to five hundred thousand rubles for legal entities.