Russian ‘pranksters’ attempt to contact drone maker Haluk Bayraktar using deep fake image of Ukrainian PM
The Russians created a fake image of Shmyhal to contact Halyuk Bayraktar (Photo:The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine/Telegram)
Ukrainian intelligence has caught out some Russian “pranksters” who pretended to be the Ukrainian prime minister using deep fake technology.
The pranksters, probably in fact Russian intelligence service agents, contacted the CEO of military drone manufacturer Baykar Defense, Haluk Bayraktar, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, or GUR, wrote on the Telegram messenger on Oct. 9
The Baykar Defense company is the manufacturer of the famous Bayraktar drones, which Ukraine has used to great effect in battling off invading Russian forces.
The Russians held a video call while pretending to be Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, whose video image was created using deep fake technology, Ukrainian intelligence said.
However, the conversation didn’t quite go as the Russian agents had planned. Instead of the CEO, the Russians were instead put through to an equally fake secretary of the Baykar company, and were immediately asked the question, “What happened to the Crimean Bridge today?”
The agents from the GRU noted the low level of training of the Russian operatives, who exposed themselves as fakes several times during the conversation. Notably, the Russians did not know the correct pronunciation of the Ukrainian equivalent of the expression “Indian summer,” which in Ukrainian is “babyne lito.”
They used the Russian version of the phrase – “babie leto.”
Ukrainian intelligence says the purpose of the Russian’s trick was to attempt to discredit cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey.
At the end of the conversation, the Russian operatives were informed that they had been exposed and that they would be prosecuted for impersonating a Ukrainian official.
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