This was stated by cybersecurity researchers at Microsoft Corporation’s Threat Analysis Center, CNN’s Ukrinform reports.

Since July, pro-Russian social media channels have shared videos with American celebrities that were “deceptively edited to promote anti-Ukrainian propaganda,” the report said.

Cameo is a popular website where people can pay public figures for personalized video messages.

Apparently the celebrities used for Russian propaganda did not know that these videos were later edited to look like an attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

“Short video calls, in which celebrities frequently ask “Vladimir” for help with drug addiction, have been edited by unknown writers with emojis and links added,” the report said. The statement was included.

The report notes that the video was widely distributed by pro-Russian pages on social networks and was subsequently positioned by state-sponsored Russian mass media as a direct appeal to President Zelensky.

Microsoft researchers said they have observed at least seven such manipulations in celebrity video messages since late July 2023. The videos featured actor Elijah Wood and boxer Mike Tyson, as well as other American celebrities such as Priscilla Presley, actors Dean Norris, Kate Flannery and John McGinley.

In some cases, the videos were edited to appear as if they were interviews for news agencies or taken from the celebrities’ own social media accounts, and were part of broader appeals to Zelenskyi for help with a fictional substance abuse problem.

A Cameo representative told CNN that the company has no public comment on “the details of Trust and Safety investigations.” But it added that such videos “violate Cameo’s Community Guidelines, and where such violations are confirmed, Cameo generally takes steps to remove problematic content and suspend the recipient’s account to prevent further problems.”

According to Ukrinform, Rosprop imitated a fake video shot of Zelenskyi by an American movie actor.

Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images