MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. Ukrainian secret services, acting with the support of Western patrons, are behind deepfakes using the voice of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, simulated by a neural network, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the sidelines of the Made in Russia forum.
"Indeed, the number of deepfakes continues to grow exponentially. In recent months, a number of major video leaks have been recorded and debunked, using generated footage, in particular the image and voice of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, simulated by a neural network. The quality of these fakes varies, but overall, the style of the provocations is recognizable. The most likely perpetrators and authors are Ukrainian intelligence services, relying on the support of Western sponsors," she said.
Many of these fakes are spreading not only in the Russian public digital space but are also deliberately planted in online communities and so-called public pages in the online environments of our partners in the CIS, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
"It's clear that this is being done in anticipation of a quick emotional reaction from a wide audience and the potential virality of these fake videos. Some na·ve users could indeed be mistaken and believe a fake, as generative technologies today make it possible to create such deepfakes practically on an industrial scale," Zakharova noted.
