"A reverse image search using screenshots reveals that the video has been posted hundreds of times on social media, racking up millions of views and pushing the message that Ukraine is drafting young men against their will to replace losses on the battlefield amid the continuing Russian invasion. DW has found the video shared across various social media platforms in a dozen different languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Spanishand Russian."
"Claim: "Ukrainian men as young as 23 are being conscripted and sent to the front" DW Fact check: False However, not only is the video factually incorrect (the minimum conscription age in Ukraine was lowered from 27 to 25 in April 2024, but never to 23), but it is also fake, to be precise: it is generated by artificial intelligence."
"This is clear from visual inaccuracies in the video, such as the poorly-fitting helmet, which doesn't match standard Ukrainian military equipment. Not only that, a basic facial recognition searchreveals that the face is actually that of Vladimir Yuryevich Ivanov, a young Russian streamer from St. Petersburg who uses the online pseudonym Kussia88Image: FacecheckID Who is Kussia88? On its own, "kussia" (pronounced "kasha") means "porridge" in Russian ()."
A viral video shows a young man pleading he was mobilized and sent to Chasiv Yar, claiming he is only 23. The clip circulated widely across multiple languages and platforms, accumulating millions of views and suggesting Ukraine is conscripting 23-year-olds. The claim is false: the minimum conscription age was lowered from 27 to 25 in April 2024 and never to 23. The footage is AI-generated and contains visual errors such as a poorly fitting helmet. Facial recognition identifies the face as Vladimir Yuryevich Ivanov, a Russian streamer using the pseudonym Kussia88. The pseudonym includes neo-Nazi signifiers like "88" and a double "SS" transcription.
Read at www.dw.com
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