RUSSIAN state TV has broadcast a deepfake of Ukraine's top security official appearing to brag about Kyiv's role in the terrorist massacre at a concert hall in Moscow.
The AI-generated video of Oleksiy Danilov is doing the rounds online in an apparent disinformation campaign to sow fury and confusion over who was behind the shooting attack last night.
The deepfake that appears to show Ukraine's security chief admitting to being involved in the Moscow terror attackCredit: X
The sham video cut out parts of this interview with Ukraine's spy chief, Kyrylo Budanov, from last weekCredit: X
The false clip then used Oleksiy Danilov's face from this interview and added AI-generated audio ontopCredit: X
Russia is reeling after the horrific terror attack last night - the worst to hit the country in 20 years.
At least 133 were killed, including children, and over 120 wounded when four gunmen stormed Crocus City Hall and opened fire on the crowd before setting the venue ablaze.
As bodies continue to be pulled from the rubble, furious claims are being spewed by Russian officials, linking Ukraine to the massacre - despite an ISIS splinter cell taking responsibility.
A new clip, broadcast by Russian channel NTV, shows what appears to be Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, confirming Kyiv's involvement in the attack.
However, the interview has been dismissed as a complete fake as the actual Ukrainian broadcast took place on March 16 and didn't even feature Danilvov at all.
In the video, the fuzzy-looking face of Danilvov appears to say: "Is it fun in Moscow today? I think it's a lot of fun. I would like to believe that we will arrange such fun for them more often."
Yet, BBC Verify journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh stated that an AI-generated audio was dubbed over a mismatch of two recent Ukrainian TV interviews.
Exposing the sham, he wrote on X: "The deepfake video has in fact been created as a composite of two recent interviews published in the last few days with Danilov and Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov.
"An AI-generated audio of Danilov has also been dubbed over the fake video."
The twisted use of the deepfake follows furious Vladimir Putin's national address in which he hinted that Russia was seeking to blame Ukraine for last night's slaughter.
In a fury-filled speech, the snarling tyrant, 71, attempted to suggest the gunmen tried to escape to Ukraine after the "barbaric terrorist attack".
Unblinking and tight-lipped, he said: "I am speaking to you today in connection with the bloody, barbaric terrorist act, the victims of which were dozens of innocent, peaceful people."
He continued: "All four perpetrators of the terrorist act who shot and killed people have been detained.
"They were travelling towards Ukraine ... We will identify and punish everybody who stood behind the terrorists, who prepared the attack."
He also declared March 24 a day of national mourning for the victims.
Ukraine has denied any involvement in the rampage, with an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky calling the claims “absolutely untenable and absurd”.
They hit back specially at the allegation that the gunmen were "headed to Ukraine", blasting it as rubbish.
Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, said "you don't need to be a security expert" to understand Putin's claims were nonsense.
He pointed to the fact the border between Ukraine and Russia is an active warzone, under intense surveillance from both sides and laced with landmines.
"Understandably, this version does not withstand criticism understood by everyone in the world except perhaps the Russian population, which may be indoctrinated," he said.
US officials claim they have intelligence to confirm the plot was masterminded by the barbaric ISIS faction operating in Afghanistan, known as ISIS -K.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the massacre and even released a picture purporting to show the four suspects posing next to the death cult's flag before they stormed the concert hall.
Yet, the FSB has continued to allege that the suspects in the terror attack "had ties to Ukraine".
Russia claims it has already arrested the suspected shooters and at least seven others in connection with the attack.
Two were apprehended after a car chase and two others fled into a forest before being detained - all four have been named and pictured by the FSB.
Russia has been releasing gruesome footage of their interrogations throughout today, including a grisly video of one suspect appearing to be fed his own sliced off ear.
It has also emerged that the Russian leader rubbished warnings from the US and UK about an "imminent" terror attack just three days before.
British and US intelligence services alerted Russia earlier this month of the threat of a terror attack on Moscow - something the Kremlin sought to downplay, describing it as "provocative".
THE ATTACK
The gunmen began shooting civilians at point-blank range - through glass doors, turnstiles and then the concert hall itself, traumatised witnesses said.
Devastating footage showed piles of bodies outside the blackened concert venue on the western edge of Moscow today.
Firefighters and emergency workers are facing the grim task of going through the smouldering ruins to potentially find even more victims.
The bodies of whole families were found, dead mothers embracing their dead children, Russian media reported.
The death toll continues to rise as more bodies are dragged from the rubble in an operation that could last "at least a few more days," Moscow's governor said.
Horrifying accounts have emerged in the wake of the shooting attack.
Witnesses described how four armed men walked calmly towards the metal detectors at Crocus City Hall, firing their automatic weapons point-blank in short bursts and terrified civilians fell screaming in a hail of bullets.
Footage showed dozens of bodies, some in pools of blood, lay motionless on the marble floors and at the main entrance.
One survivor, Natalya, said: "The shots came from behind us.
"It was loud, like a firecracker blast, fireworks, but like an automatic burst. I could hear it right behind me, not far away."
Then Natalya ran for her life. "Everyone was screaming; everyone was running."
Another witness said: "We huddled in a corner at the entrance. He [gunman] came up and started shooting directly at people.
"They had black hair. They were shouting at each other and it was not Russian speech."
Another woman told how she feigned being shot - which saved her life.
She said: "They [the terrorists] were standing at the exit, we didn't go there, but they saw us."
"One of them came running back and started shooting at us.
"I fell on the floor, and pretended to die. A girl next to me was killed."
Witnesses told of leaping over fire, some with their clothes melting, to escape the blaze which swiftly spread over an area of 12,900sqm, sending flames and a plume of black smoke billowing into the night sky.
Over 120 people are still in hospital with the conditions of 44 survivors described as "serious".
Over 600 people have turned out to give blood at donation centres across Moscow so far this morning to help the wounded, Russia's health ministry has said.