The team of the news website NV (Nastoyashchee Vremya) says that unknown individuals have created a fake “mirror” of their website to promote an AI-generated video containing disinformation about “Defence Procurement Agency ex-chief being searched”, as per the two statements by NV and National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).
Statement by NV team
The teams says the attackers copied the NV.ua website onto a third-party domain, nvukraine.com. On 23 September, the forged website posted a fake news piece in several languages (including Ukrainian and English), mimicking NV’s design, name, and branding.
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NV’s owner, Media-DK, has stressed that they had no ties whatsoever to the domain in question. The company added that they were taking legal and technical action to stop the unlawful use of the brand and the promotion of fake news under the outlet’s name.
Statement by NABU
An AI-generated video showing boxes of cash accompanied by provocative captions claiming that “NABU has searched the former chief of the Defence Procurement Agency” has gained some traction online in the meantime.
NABU has officially denied these reports and confirmed that the footage is was a fake created using AI tools.
The anti-graft agency stressed that content like this suggested that Russia was using cutting edge technology in the information war.
NABU believes that the attack primarily aimed to discredit independent anti-corruption bodies, undermine trust in state institutions, and damage Ukraine’s international image.
Ukrainian news organisations impersonated
As previously reported, multiple Ukrainian news websites have been forged before.
In March 2023, RBC Ukraine contacted the cyber police over a fake website impersonating them to promote an article criticising Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, then-Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In September 2022, unknown individuals created a copy of the Ternopil-based online outlet Pohliad and its Facebook page. In Snihurivka (Mykolaiv oblast), which was under Russian occupation at the time, the Russian forces distributed copies of a newspaper mimicking the style, typeface, and name of the regional outlet Ridne Prybuzhzhia (translated into Russian as “Rodnoye Pribuzhye”).
In June 2022, RBC Ukraine reported that malicious actors were impersonating the team on social media to promote a public opinion survey that the team had no connection to.