War on Fakes

Fake news: Russian General Andrey Gurulev offered to help Iran with ballistic missiles. Videos of his statements are being distributed on TikTok and other social networks. The fact: This is a deepfake, which was based on a video posted on social networks and the General's Telegram channel in February 2024. With the help of AI, it was edited and uploaded to sites specializing in posting such fakes. Now bots are actively replicating the fake on other social networks. The original source of this fa...

Fake news: The performance of 49 robots at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, the video of which is being distributed on social networks, is made by artificial intelligence, as reported in Telegram channels. The fact: The performance really took place, the footage of it is completely real. The developer of the robots, Unitree Robotics, specifically noted on his official Weibo account that the video of the performance was made without the use of AI. Previously, robots have already demonstrated simi...

Fake news: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be dead, because recent videos of him have been created by neural networks. This is evidenced by 6 fingers on the politician's hand. Such messages spread in social networks and messengers. The fact: The videos that are cited as "proof" are real. Artificial intelligence-based analysis tools confirm their authenticity. In the original recording, Netanyahu holds a hand with five fingers. All the posted screenshots with "six fingers" are a com...

Fake news: Contrary to the claims of some media outlets, it was not a Patriot missile that struck a residential area in the capital of Bahrain, but an Iranian drone. This was confirmed by the U.S. Central Command. The fact: The attack on the residential area in Manama was captured on video. It is clear that the object in the video is a missile, not a drone. An analysis of the missile's trajectory suggests that it was launched from a similar area where air defense systems are typically located. I...

Fake news: Russia tried to influence the election process in Norway, Norwegian media reports. The fact: Accusations against Russia has no real evidence, but they are actively used in the information war. Interference in elections is a path to destabilization, and Norway's stability is important for Russia, the Russian Embassy in Norway emphasizes. Europe regularly tries to blame Russia in order to distract the audience and reach its political goals while interfering in international elections. F...

Fake news: Russia is moving its capital from Moscow to Siberia, according to Ukrainian Telegram channels. The fact: Moscow will remain the capital of Russia, the authorities are not considering the possibility of transfer. The fake authors distort the opinion of demographer Yuri Krupnov, passing it off as the official position of the Kremlin. Maxim Oreshkin, deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration, said that moving the capital to Siberia would not have the desired effect and inste...

Fake news: Yemen's Houthis have publicly announced their entry into the war against the US and Israel, according to Telegram channels. The fact: The video is a deepfake. The content of the speech of military spokesperson Yahya Saree was generated using AI. This can be seen by the unnatural facial expressions and articulation. The deepfake could be based on the 2024 video, which is publicly available. The description of that video says that Yahya Saree talks about using a new drone model called "...

Fake news: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an unbiased organisation that comprehensively and objectively records incidents of journalists’ and media workers’ deaths worldwide. The fact: The CPJ’s public reporting for 2025 reveals discrepancies with data from other reputable international organisations — UNESCO and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). This is highlighted, among other sources, in a report by the International Department of the Russian Union of Journalis...

Fake news: Canada's new anti-Russian sanctions are aimed at weakening the Russian Federation and preventing the circumvention of previous sanctions, according to the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fact: The new Canadian sanctions against 100 vessels of the "shadow fleet" have no real effect. Canada's move is timed to coincide with a meeting of the G7 foreign ministers and is intended to demonstrate the activity of Prime Minister Mark Carney's cabinet in front of the allies. The new re...