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Moscow attack: the drama does not escape false information
Three days after the attack at Crocus City Hall in the suburbs of Moscow, the Kremlin still refuses to comment on the claim of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). On the contrary, the Russian security services point, without proof, to the involvement of Ukraine. At the same time, a lot of false information is circulating on social networks around the responsibility and human toll of this attack.
A few hours after the attack, a deepfake of the secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, went viral on the networks. Its goal is to accredit the narrative of Ukrainian involvement. © Screenshots/RFI montage
By: Olivier Fourt Follow | Grégory Genevrier Follow
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This is the worst attack Russia has seen in twenty years. While searches in the rubble of the Crocus City Hall concert hall continue, the human toll from this attack rose this Monday, March 25 to 137 dead. If the attack was claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State, the Kremlin is so far busy
pointing the finger at the involvement of Ukraine
.
A narrative without proof, supported by several misleading contents shared and amplified by pro-Russian propaganda on social networks. One of the most widely shared misinformation is a doctored video featuring an interview with a senior Ukrainian security official appearing to welcome the attack.
Please note, this video shared a few hours after the attack has been manipulated.
🇺🇦Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Alexey Danilov:
“Is it fun in Moscow today? I think it’s a lot of fun”
👀
pic.twitter.com/M2PSWCogRm
— Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis (@DrLoupis) March 22, 2024
In the image, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov appears during a television interview. On the soundtrack side, we seem to hear him say in Ukrainian: “
Isn't it funny what happened in Moscow today? I think it's fun (…) I would like to believe that we will organize such entertainment for them more often.
»
“
The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine indirectly announced Ukraine's involvement in the Crocus terrorist attack
,” comments one Internet user. This video was relayed by Russian media and Russian-speaking Telegram channels before being found in different languages on social networks.
This deepfake was relayed by Russian media and by the traditional relays of pro-Russian propaganda. © Screenshots/RFI montage
A complex “deepfake”
In reality, this Ukrainian security official never said these words. This is a
deepfake
: the use of an artificial intelligence tool which allows a speech to be faked, by making someone say words that they have never said. The manipulation is based on a composite image created using several interviews.
The background of the image, including the two presenting journalists, comes from an interview with the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, published on March 16, 2024 on the Ukrainian television channel Ми - Україна.
This video was then manipulated by affixing a filmed interview with Oleksiy Danilov, published on the online media Українська правда, on March 19, 2024. Intervention in which this Ukrainian security official never utters the words that he are assigned.
In total, this
deepfake
disguised as a television interview has today accumulated several hundred thousand views on social networks and continues to circulate actively.
The narrative of the staging
Another popular narrative on social media claims that the victims of the attack were actors pretending to be corpses, also called crisis actors. These fallacious allegations of staging are based on a video lasting around ten seconds. We see several motionless people wrapped in garbage bags. One of them, whose head protrudes slightly from the bag, is smoking a cigarette. “
A ‘victim’ in Moscow needed a break
,” comments a pro-Ukrainian internet user who shared this excerpt. Unlike the Russian narrative of Ukrainian involvement, this staged story did not find its place in official Ukrainian discourse.
Please note, this video is taken out of context.
❗️One "victim" in Moscow needed an FSB break 🙂 pic.twitter.com/X4J12HusSz
— * (@V141NG) March 23, 2024
This video, shared by pro-Ukrainian accounts, has hundreds of thousands of views on networks. © Screenshots/RFI montage
Verified, this video has nothing to do with the attack on Crocus City Hall. A reverse image search shows that this excerpt has been circulating online since 2020. The video notably appeared on the TikTok account of a certain Vasya Ivanov, describing himself as an artistic director. The description indicates that this is actually a filming clip for a music video by Russian rapper Хаски (“husky” in Russian) filmed in 2020.
@vasyaivanovdesign Съемки клипа Хаски - Никогда-нибудь #Хаски #рэперхаски #бекстейдж #как снимали #съемки #backstage #рекомендации #хочуврек #рек #хаски ♬ Никогда-нибудь - Хас ки
This video has already been diverted in other contexts such as
the Covid-19 pandemic
or the war between Israel and Hamas.
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