The key to seeing the "fake video" of the invasion of Ukraine was in this place (Peace Expo) --Individual --Yahoo! News

Here is the point to see the "fake video" that is flooding over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In the "hybrid warfare" that led to the Ukrainian military invasion, various "fake videos" that seemed to be an excuse were spread.

On February 26, the Dutch investigative journalism media "Bellingcat" and the US news media "Newsie" released the verification results of the main "fake videos" spread prior to the military invasion as a YouTube video of less than 7 minutes. bottom.

"Ukrainian operatives destroying sewage treatment facilities" "Ukrainian troops invading the Russian border" "Ukrainian troops injured civilians with amputated legs" -all spread through social and Russian media "fake" Video ".

What they have in common is the allegation of the scenario that the Ukrainian government led the armed attack. However, verification has revealed that both videos are fictitious.

The European Union (EU), which saw the impact of fake news on Russia's "hybrid warfare" seriously, announced restrictions on the Russian media on February 27. Major platforms are also taking measures such as strengthening verification.

And the eyes of each user to identify information are also being questioned.

On February 18, the "Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) People's Army Public Relations Official Channel" of the Russian message app "Telegram" made a video of less than a minute and a half with such an explanation as "an urgent statement of a DNR publicist". Is posted.

In the video, a battle scene and a situation that seems to be a battle scene are projected from the woods, and the number of views on "Telegram" has reached more than 30,000 times.

Horlivka is a city in the "Donetsk People's Republic", a pro-Russian-controlled area in eastern Ukraine, and is located on the border with the Ukrainian government-controlled area. Here, this video is released as a video taken by the action camera of a Ukrainian combatant who died due to a battle between the Ukrainian side and the pro-Russian side.

The post states that Polish mercenaries are involved in the Ukrainian army, alleging that they were able to intercept communications in Polish before the war.

The allegation that the mercenaries of neighboring Poland, which is a member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), has joined the Ukrainian government army has been made by pro-Russian factions for some time, and the Ukrainian government has denied this.

Furthermore, when the net user who downloaded this video file examined the attached data "metadata", it was said that there was a battle in the post around 4 am on February 18, but the video file It is discovered that the creation date is February 8th, 10 days before that, and the folder creation date of the computer where the file was saved is February 4th, 4 days before that.

"Bellingcat" founder Elliott Higgins introduces this. Furthermore, from this metadata, it is pointed out that the gunshot sound is synthesized from another video file with the original video file.

The original video was found to have been taken from a military exercise in Finland in 2010, based on the file name search results that remained in the metadata.

Internet users have also pointed out that the video is being broadcast as news footage by the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK). This pattern is also reported by TASS.

February 18th is the day when the leaders of the "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Lugansk People's Republic" released a video of "evacuation instructions" to residents due to the tension of the situation. The "fake video" had been prepared at the latest two weeks before.

And the "evacuation order" video on the 18th was also shot two days before that, according to the metadata verification by Internet users.

* Reference: What was the key to elucidating the mechanism of "suspicious video" by Internet users? ( 02/21/2022 Newsprint )

A 40-second video posted on Telegram on February 21 shows a helmet-mounted wearable camera of two Ukrainian armored vehicles heading from the front of the Donetsk People's Republic to the Russian border. It is explained that it was taken in. The video has been watched more than 360,000 times on "Telegram".

Also on the same day, Russian media "RBC" posted a 37-second video on Twitter that the border crossing was destroyed by a projectile from Ukraine, saying it was a video by the Federal Security Service (FSB). The video has been watched more than 54,000 times on Twitter.

This day is the day when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree to approve the "People's Republic of Donetsk" and "People's Republic of Lugansk" as nations.

Shortly after the release of each video, experts from the open source intelligence (OSINT) research method, which uses public information, used the scenery in the image as a clue to shoot at the Russian border in the southern part of the Donetsk People's Republic. Identify that they are almost at the same point.

According to the Dutch open source intelligence blog "ORYX", the Russian armored car shown in the video is not operated by the Ukrainian army.

Also, according to the verification videos of "Bellingcat" and "Newsie", it is necessary to pass 25 miles (about 40 km) through the pro-Russian controlled area to reach the shooting location from the Ukrainian government controlled area.

In addition, the border crossing was wrecked with a single blow, and it was not considered to be due to a normal shell, and it was certified as a video created for "false flag operation" as an excuse for a military invasion of Ukraine. There is.

Mr. Higgins commented that the verification from the release of the video to the discovery of "False Flag Operation" was completed in about an hour.

The "Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) People's Army Official Channel" also posted such a post on "Telegram" on February 21, and a video of a little less than a minute and a half showing the state of the local residents who had their left leg amputated by the bombardment. Was released. The video has been watched more than 6,800 times on "Telegram".

Oliver Alexander, an expert on "open source intelligence," points out that part of the prosthesis is reflected in the part of the left leg that is said to be "amputated" when the inhabitants are carried out. do.

He had already shot a video called "leg amputation" using a person with his prosthesis.

"Propaganda is already at a decent level," Alexander said.

On February 27, EU administration and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shut out Russian aircraft from the region and stationed Russian troops as a pillar of sanctions against Russia against the invasion of Ukraine. Along with sanctions on Belarus's Lucashenko administration, it has put forth restrictions on the Russian media.

We will show the impact of the spread of fake news in this Russian "hybrid warfare".

The "Digital Forensics Research Lab (DFR Lab)", a research institute of the US think tank "Atlantic Council", describes Russia's main "false flag operation" prior to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian media such as RT and Sputnik. It summarizes whether it was spread to.

The battle between platform companies such as social media and the Russian government has also begun.

On February 25, the Federal Service for Supervision in Communications, Information Technology and the Media of the Russian Federation (Roskomnadzor) released such a document entitled "Protective Measures for the Russian Media".

In response, Meta Vice President and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Nick Clegg made the following statement:

On the 26th, Meta's official blog revealed safety measures for users, such as strengthening the fact check system regarding the situation in Ukraine and locking the profile.

Russia's "hybrid warfare" has been struck by platforms such as social media, and it seems that exchanges are taking place here as well.

British research firm Netblocks has revealed that several providers in Russia have restricted access to Twitter from the morning of February 26th. Twitter is also aware of this situation.

Twitter also announced on the 25th that it will detect platform operations, fraudulent activities, fake news, etc. and strengthen user safety measures over the situation in Ukraine.

In addition to measures against fake news, Google has also announced on the 25th that it will prevent monetization of Russian state media and strengthen user protection.

While there are verifications for fake videos, many verified realistic videos and images that convey the reality of Russia's armed invasion are also shared on social media.

There is a "Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map" by the British NPO "Information Resilience Center (CIR)".

With the cooperation of "Bellingcat" and others on the "Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map", more than 570 posts such as verified videos and images are displayed on the map.

Higgins summed up the verification of "fake videos" and said so.

It is helpful for each user to keep an eye on them.

(* Reprinted after being revised and revised from "Newspaper Science" dated February 28, 2022 )