Russian propaganda fabricates ‘public outrage’ over billboards featuring Zelensky

Russian propagandists are circulating fake photos and videos to discredit Ukraine's President

Russian Telegram channels and bot accounts on X and TikTok have been spreading videos and images of citylight advertisements and billboards featuring President Volodymyr Zelensky. The displays carry the slogan: “Volodymyr Zelensky – Smile More.” The posts claim that the advertisements are part of a nationwide social campaign that has allegedly sparked public outrage over the war and battlefield losses. As supposed evidence of Ukrainians' negative attitude toward the President, the propagandists share photographs showing people making obscene gestures in front of the billboards.

This claim is false.

In reality, describing the initiative as nationwide is misleading. While the advertising materials were indeed displayed, they appeared only in the city of Cherkasy in March, not across Ukraine. The campaign was announced by Volodymyr Braim, owner of the outdoor advertising company BraimMedia.

The organizers also linked the initiative to a response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's election campaign, which featured posters bearing the slogan: “Don't let Zelensky have the last laugh.”

Particular attention should be paid to the photographs presented as proof of Ukrainians' allegedly negative reaction to the campaign. An analysis conducted using Hive Moderation, a service that verifies AI-generated video, audio, and image content, found an 87% probability that generative artificial intelligence was used to create or modify the images, indicating that they may be artificially generated.

Thus, Russian information resources distorted the context of a local initiative in Cherkasy, portraying it as evidence of nationwide dissatisfaction with Ukraine's President. The photographs circulated as supporting evidence do not substantiate such conclusions and show signs of having been created or altered using generative AI.

As a result, audiences are being presented with a false impression of public sentiment in Ukraine and citizens' attitudes toward the country's leadership.

As reported by Ukrinform, Russian propaganda previously circulated a fake AI-generated “investigation” alleging corruption in electronic procurement for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

By Andrii Olenin