Like the mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) and other European colleagues, the mayor of Warsaw also videotaped an alleged Vitali Klitschko, which was later revealed to be fake. Rafal Trzaskowski’s conversation with the alleged mayor of Kiev took place in early June, Polish media reported on Tuesday.
After several such fake calls from a fake Klitschko had become public in recent days, Trzaskowski confirmed his conversation to Radio Zet on Monday evening.
Warsaw City Hall called in the police
Suspicious of the course of the conversation, Trzaskowski’s employees immediately contacted the real Klitschko’s office in Kiev, according to PAP news agency. From there it was assured that the mayor of Kiev had not conducted a video call at the time. Warsaw City Hall therefore called in the police. Investigations are also underway in Austria or Germany, where the ruling mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey, was the victim of a fake Klitschko. The city leaders of Madrid and Budapest were also deceived.
Trzaskowski took the obvious fraud calmly. No sensitive topics were discussed, the liberal politician Radio Zet assured.
Warsaw plans joint press conference
According to PAP information, Warsaw City Hall is now planning to host a joint video conference of the affected mayors of Warsaw, Berlin, Vienna, Budapest and Madrid. This then real video conference should send a signal of solidarity with Kiev.
The fraud probably involved so-called deepfakes, i.e. video circuits that were manipulated with particular care. Realistic media content is generated using artificial intelligence. Exactly how that happened in Klitschko’s case and who was behind it — such as Russia, which has been at war in Ukraine for months — is as yet unclear.
Giffey now wants to speak to her real colleague from Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, in time – and moreover, arm herself against renewed manipulation. The SPD politician announced on Tuesday that a video call was planned, after which some sort of test would take place to make sure the person she spoke to was real. “We will coordinate this very closely with the (Ukrainian) embassy.” The meeting is scheduled for “the next few days” until mid-July. It was agreed that it would be in German.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
