"General Mobilization Order" Putin's Speech That Shook Russia... It Was an AI Deepfake Video

Emergency Speech Broadcast on Russian TV and Radio
Kremlin Palace: "No Such Speech Was Made... False"

A speech by President Vladimir Putin declaring martial law, broadcast in the Russian border region, has been confirmed to be a fake video using 'deepfake' technology.

According to foreign media reports including Bloomberg on the 5th (local time), an emergency speech by President Putin was aired on Russian TV and radio that day.

Fake speech video of President Putin using deepfake technology
[Photo by Twitter]

In the speech, President Putin said, "The Ukrainian army, supported by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has invaded Russia," and declared martial law in the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions.

He also urged residents to "evacuate deep into Russian territory" and said, "A general mobilization order will be issued soon." In some areas, videos of President Putin delivering the speech were also circulated.

However, the speech was revealed to be a false broadcast resulting from a hacking attack.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, stated, "President Putin has never made such a public speech," and added, "All hacked broadcasts from various networks have been deleted."

However, details about the identity of the hacker or how the video was manipulated using deepfake technology were not disclosed.

The reports pointed out that this broadcasted speech appears to imitate the situation of Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

At that time, the Soviet Foreign Minister said in a radio speech, "The enemy will be defeated, and victory will be ours," and this fake speech also ended with the same phrase.

The reports added that the speech also borrowed from a July 3 speech by Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, who referred to the Russian people as "brothers and sisters."