Russia spreads AI fakes claiming Jews are being paid to settle in Ukraine
A record number of Jewish pilgrims traveled to the Ukrainian city of Uman for Rosh Hashanah this year, according to local statistics.
Ukrainian officials have denounced a Russian disinformation campaign claiming that Jews are being paid to settle in Ukraine during the annual pilgrimage to Uman. According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, a Ukrainian government body, there was a record number of Jewish pilgrims traveling to Uman for Rosh Hashanah, with over 49,000 arriving by September 11.
The influx included a significant number of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, accounting for up to half of all visitors. The disinformation campaign involved Russian-controlled TikTok accounts generating AI videos depicting fake pilgrims claiming they would permanently relocate to Ukraine due to government payments and special benefits.
The campaign was traced back to a May 2019 Russian suggestion of mass resettlement from Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, which was later amplified by Russian-linked networks. These networks circulated fabricated reports and narratives about Ukraine allegedly planning to ban Israelis from attending the pilgrimage, offering state payments, and preparing to settle Jews permanently.
However, Ukrainian authorities have dismissed these claims, stating that there is no government program to encourage foreign citizens to move to Ukraine. The disinformation campaign aimed to exploit the heightened attention surrounding the event to destabilize Ukrainian society and provoke antisemitic sentiments, exploiting the real tensions surrounding the pilgrimage and relating the disinformation to the broader conflict between Ukraine and Israel over grain exports.
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