Pictures are Worth One Thousand Words

But are the words fact or fake?

Photo attribution: Free Stock photos by Vecteezy

I received an email today asking me about the photograph of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with US President Joe Biden and Zelensky’s “double.” This photo was first published two days ago (February 25, 2023) and is from a video posted by the Polish tabloid Fakt from when Biden visited Kyiv.

I asked the writer to give me their opinion before I answered them, as I wanted to exercise their critical thinking a bit. I then did a quick search, and this is what I found.

A mere 12 hours ago (February 27, 2023, @ 06:00 am), propaganda and speculation prospered. Though factual information was available, it was hard to find.

Дня/День = Day, Часа = Hours

I even found Russians discussing it on VK.com, with one “expert” claiming she reviewed the original video, and the photo had the “double” added into the frame.

And the Twitter universe was alive and propagating this story as well:

Of course, the correct answer was easier to find as morning broke in the United States. VK also has the answer in the photo I show above.

The “double” is the head of Zelensky’s GUR Presidential Security Service, Maksym Donets (Yes, Newsweek is correct, according to my research). He was appointed in 2019 and was the former bodyguard of Igor Kolomoisky.

I does not look much like Zelensky up close, but from 10 meters (11 yards) or more away, the resemblance is close enough to fool people.

The lesson to take from this comes from Scott Ritter, where Scott was talking about deep fake videos.

“The video is a frame of reference. As proof, going to court, it doesn’t prove anything.” – Scott Ritter on Deepfake Videos, Scott Ritter Extra Episode 44: Ask the Inspector, February 10, 2023

Follow Scott’s advice – start with the video and forensically investigate from there.

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