A deepfake video circulated on social media of Russian President Vladimir Putin claiming his military had surrendered and the war in Ukraine was over.

The fake news appeared on social media shortly after Ukraine’s President Zelensky was targeted by a deepfake that was quickly debunked. The original owner of the video admitted it wasn’t true and also bragged about the quality of his work compared to the poorly manipulated version that wasn’t good enough to trick the Ukrainians.

The video of Putin circulated for some weeks and was labelled as manipulated media by Twitter, as well as removed by YouTube.

Nina Schick, author of the book Deepfakes, said, because the video was so crude it was easy to spot as fake.

"There are so many other forms of disinformation in this war which haven't been debunked. Even though this video was really bad and crude, that won't be the case in the near future. People start to believe that everything can be faked. It is a new weapon and a potent form of visual disinformation - and anyone can do it."

Who created the deepfake?

Unknown

Was the content disclosed as a deepfake?

No

Was the deepfake consensual?

No

How was the deepfake created?

Visual Effects
Deepfake Software
Video Editing