UK reporter ‘horrified’ as Russia-backed website steals ID to fabricate report
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A Russia-backed website mimicking Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) had embezzled money for an offshore property empire.
PHOTO: EPA
Follow topic:
- A fake "London Telegraph" site used journalist Helen Brown's photo to spread false claims about Zelensky embezzling US$1.2 billion.
- NewsGuard links the hoax to Russia's Storm-1516 campaign, aiming to discredit Zelensky and undermine Western support for Ukraine.
- The fabricated report used deepfake audio and misused real documents, spreading globally and debunked by Ukrainian authorities.
AI generated
LONDON - A British journalist has said she was “horrified” to learn her photo was “hijacked” by a website imitating a UK newspaper that spread misinformation about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ms Helen Brown, a freelancer for several British media organisations, said on Sept 15 her image was used alongside a fabricated report – claiming Mr Zelensky had embezzled US$1.2 billion (S$1.5 billion) for an offshore property empire – published by a site posing as the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Misinformation watchdog NewsGuard said the hoax site was linked to the Russia-backed Storm-1516 disinformation campaign, designed to discredit Mr Zelensky and undermine Western support for Kyiv.
An investigation by AFP Fact Check found Ms Brown’s name was changed to “Charlotte Davies” on the false “London Telegraph” site, created in August.
“I’m horrified to see my byline profile hijacked by unknown parties and linked to a false name and bogus publication,” Ms Brown told AFP.
Further analysis found the video accompanying the false report – which allegedly shows an interview with “Olena K” a former employee of the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) – was created using deepfake audio technology.
The video also misused a photo of documents relating to an entirely separate investigation by the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office into alleged treason by a pro-Russian Ukrainian MP.
The fake report was spread globally in multiple languages, racking up millions of views on X, Facebook, Telegram and TikTok.
Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation said the posts were “fake”, while NABU told AFP no employee by the name “Olena K” had ever worked there.
Ms Brown emphasised she had “never reported on Zelensky or his financial affairs” and had alerted her editors to the false site.
The misinformation began to circulate around the time the Ukrainian Parliament passed a controversial law that was supposed to limit the independence of two key anti-corruption agencies, including NABU, and bring them under the control of the prosecutor-general.
But after large-scale protests and criticism from the European Union, Mr Zelensky backed down in July and promised to amend the law.
As part of Kremlin-backed misinformation campaigns, the Ukrainian leader and his family are routinely accused of misusing Western aid to buy luxury properties.
AFP has previously debunked various false claims, including that he bought Adolf Hiter’s former residence in Bavaria. AFP
