Hackers create a deepfake Putin and send a chilling message to Russia

A deepfake of Russian president Vladimir Putin was played on Russian television and radio stations after they were hacked on Monday (5 June).

The deepfake was labelled “emergency appeal of the President”, and declared martial law as well as announcing that Ukraine’s army had invaded Russia.

The deepfake Russian President can be heard saying: “We need to pull all efforts of Russians together to defeat the dangerous and insidious enemy.”

It was later confirmed by authorities that some TV channels and radio stations had been hacked, which was how the deepfake was able to reach national broadcasters.

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Before too much panic could occur, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the address was fake.

“Definitely there was no address. It is true that there were hacks in some regions,” he said.

“Now all this has been eliminated and taken under control,” Peskov added.

No suspects have been identified as of yet, according to local media reports.

Russia’s International Television and Radio Company MTRK, or “Mir”, issued a statement saying: “Today, from 12.41pm to 13.18pm, unidentified persons made an illegal tie-in with the substitution of the content of the information programs of the Mir TV channel and Mir radio.

All information posted from 12.41 to 13.18pm has nothing to do with the Mir MTRK and is an absolute fake and provocation.”

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