Ukrainian Minister: Russia Uses Generative AI To Improve Disinformation Campaign

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Anton Demokhin (photo: x @KaterynaZelenko)

JAKARTA - Russia is using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to step up a disinformation campaign against Ukraine, a top Ukrainian official told Reuters on Wednesday on the sidelines of a cyber conference, calling it a global threat.

"This year, we see the intensity of cyberattacks from Russia continuing, but focusing more on disinformation," said Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Anton Demokhin, quoted by VOI from Reuters.

"AI generatively allows disinformation narratives to be mass produced and disseminated in a more complex way," he added.

This new disinformation campaign is difficult to detect, with widespread false activities on social media to increase its credibility. Ukrainian officials in August also revealed that many Ukrainians were targeted by online disinformation originating from the Russian FSB intelligence service and the Russian military intelligence agency.

In response, Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of carrying out a war of advanced information on Russia.

On Monday, October 14, US intelligence officials revealed that Russia is among countries using AI tools to try to influence American voters ahead of the upcoming November presidential election.

Demokhin, speaking on the sidelines of the Singapore International Cyber Week event, said Ukraine had been tracking Russia's disinformation campaigns in various countries and suggested that countries needed to work together to address the disinformation.

Demokhin also mentioned that Ukraine is using a generative AI to track a disinformation campaign, but declined to comment on whether Ukraine carried out an offensive cyberattack.

Meanwhile, OpenAI, a US research organization, revealed in May that it had identified two covert influence operations from Russia that used their tools to defend Russia's invasion of Ukraine on social media platforms such as Telegram and X, despite its limited range.

More than three-quarters of Ukrainians got their news from social media, according to a study USAid ordered in 2023.

Other Russian cyberattacks, according to Demokhin, are increasingly targeting Ukraine's critical supply chain and infrastructure, by attacking companies providing key components such as sensors or electric meters.

Reuters, citing sources, reported in June that the International Criminal Court (ICC) was investigating Russia's alleged cyberattack on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure as a war crime. Demokhin said Ukraine was working closely with the ICC in the investigation and had reached several breakthroughs.