The 49-second faked video shows Mr Miller saying that the Russian city of Belgorod is “basically empty of civilians”, and therefore a legitimate target for Ukraine. The video also cuts to Mr Miller telling reporters that “other countries have authorized the use of weapons deep into Russian territory”.
The New York Times reported on May 31 that the video’s claims were completely false and that it used deepfake technology to impersonate US diplomatic officials. Despite the fact that Belgorod is a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks, its 340,000 residents have not been evacuated and classes are being held online.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller at a press conference on May 29.
The city of Belgorod is about 40 km from the border of Kharkiv region (Ukraine). On May 31, US officials confirmed that Washington allowed Ukraine to use US weapons to launch a limited attack on Russian territory near Kharkiv.
Matthew Miller condemned the video, saying it was the work of Russian actors. US officials said they had no information about the origin of the deepfake video, but called it a concern about the risk of fake news manipulating public opinion about the war in Ukraine and US political discourse.
The West has allowed Ukraine to use weapons to attack Russian soil, Moscow has issued a stern warning.
Miller’s fake video was used by Valery Fadeyev, chairman of the Russian Human Rights Council (HRC), an advisory body to the Russian president, to criticize Washington. Writing on the HRC’s Telegram channel, Fadeyev countered that some 175 civilians had been killed and 800 wounded in Belgorod since the fighting began in 2022.
TASS news agency reported that Mr. Fadeyev later admitted that the US official's statement was taken from a fake video, but said that "the statement is not too different from the actual position and actions of the US State Department".
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tuyen-bo-cua-nguoi-phat-ngon-bo-ngoai-giao-my-bi-deepfake-lam-gia-185240601215301993.htm
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