Mayors of 3 European capitals probing fake Klitschko calls

The law enforcement is investigating video calls by an imposter pretending to be Vitaly Klitschko.

Mayors of three European capitals, Vienna, Madrid and Berlin, have been engaged in video calls with an imposter claiming to be their Kiev counterpart, Vitaly Klitschko.

Berlin s mayor Franziska Giffey, wrapped up the conversation after its course and the setting made her suspect that the person she was speaking to was not Klitschko, something that was later confirmed by Ukrainian ambassador Andrey Melnyk, the mayor's office revealed on Friday.

The police are investigating the incident, which is apparently a deepfake video, according to the office.

Deepfakes use artificial intelligence to create animations of politicians, amongst other things.

The war is being waged online, with use of digital methods to undermine trust and discredit Ukraine's partners and allies, as part of the reality, Mayor Giffey said in a statement.

The conversation between Jos Luis Mart nez-Almeida and a fake Klitschko went along a similar scenario: Madrid s mayor interrupted the suspicious call, according to his spokesperson Daniel Bardavio Colebrook.

The mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig, was the only one to complete the conversation. He announced on Wednesday that he had talked to Klitschko. The post was removed on Saturday. The Austrian capital's account instead published a statement saying that Ludwig had become a victim of a serious case of cybercrime and stressing that he was not the only victim.

The mayor's office claimed that the intention of cybercriminals is to shake trust in politics and discredit Ukraine and its supporters, and there was no evidence that the conversation was not conducted with a real person. The matter is being investigated, the city authorities said.

Vitaly Klitschko, who used to be a professional boxer before becoming a politician, has responded to the news of his fake twin, saying that the enemy is not calm and is waging war on all fronts to discredit Ukrainian politicians. He called for law enforcement agencies to investigate the incidents.

The hybrid war, the misinformation from Russia, is one of the topics of the panel discussion in which my brother and I are to take part in the NATO summit in Madrid next week, according to Klitschko, whose brother Vladimir is a former world boxing champion.