Wired has never published such claims, and the video itself was probably created using AI. The fake is noticeably different from the outlet’s official style: it lacks the characteristic title, and the footage used is of poor quality. StopFake’s journalists found no evidence of such a bot campaign; instead, they discovered that after Zelensky’s meeting with Trump, Russian propaganda stepped up the spread of deepfakes, doctored screenshots, and fake videos bearing the logos of well-known media outlets to sow dissension among Ukraine’s allies and demoralise Ukrainian society.
A video bearing the logo of Wired, a well-known American publication specialising in IT and innovation, is circulating online. The video claims that Ukraine has allegedly organised a large-scale information campaign on YouTube: more than 800,000 Ukrainian bot accounts left over 10 million comments in just one day under the video of the meeting between the leaders of Ukraine and the US on 28 February 2025.
“The bots praised Zelensky and harshly criticised Trump. The cost of such a spam attack is at least $16 million,” the video claims.
In reality, this information is false and the video has most likely been fabricated using AI tools.
Wired never published such information on its website or social media platforms. StopFake journalists checked wired.com and wired.co.uk for recent publications mentioning Ukraine, and none contained information about an alleged mass bot attack. In addition, Wired has published numerous articles about Russian disinformation and phishing campaigns targeting Ukraine. For example, articles such as A Signal Update Fends Off a Phishing Technique Used in Russian Espionage and A Hacker Group Within Russia’s Notorious Sandworm Unit Is Breaching Western Networks detail cyberattacks associated with Russian hacker groups.
The fake video differs from Wired’s style. Wired’s real video content follows a specific format. All official videos begin with a title on a black background in the outlet’s signature font-this element is missing from the fake video. In addition, the propagandists used low-quality video footage from open sources, which is never the case in Wired’s authentic material.
There is no evidence to confirm the existence of this alleged information campaign. StopFake found no mentions in open sources or analytical reports of online activity. However, there are clear signs of a coordinated Russian disinformation attack that began after the Zelensky-Trump meeting on February 28. During this period, propagandists aggressively spread deepfakes, fake screenshots, and videos with logos of well-known media outlets, with the aim of dividing Ukraine’s allies and demoralizing Ukrainian society.
For example, StopFake previously debunked a deepfake in which Donald Trump allegedly criticized Zelensky for wearing clothes from Chinese retailer TEMU.
