A group of Russian anti-war activists orchestrated an elaborate prank by creating an online persona of a 'patriotic poet' named Gennady Rakitin. Using an AI-generated image as an avatar, they posted translations of Nazi German poetry on VKontakte, a popular Russian social media platform. These posts garnered a significant following, including dozens of Russian lawmakers, senators, and Z-bloggers. The fake poet's work was celebrated by the Russian elite, who even awarded the non-existent man. This incident highlights the susceptibility of pro-war factions in Russia to manipulation and the lengths to which activists will go to protest the war.
Anti-war activists published Russian translations of Nazi poetry over the name of an invented Russian writer. The Russian elite celebrated the Nazi poetry and gave the non-existent man an award. https://t.co/9VvceD3998
RU Mobilization, June 27-28: Sri Lanka seeks compensation for citizens killed or injured in the Russian Army; anti-war activists translated Nazi-authored poems under the alias Gennady Rakitin, garnering followers among lawmakers and Z-bloggers on VKontakte https://t.co/CVnkJ5HvpY https://t.co/FzGt1WqgZV
Meanwhile in Russia. Anti-war internet activists created a fake personality of a Russian "patriotic" poet, Gennadiy Rakitin, who posted his "war poetry" about "Russian blood & Russian soil" on social media. And the newly discovered Z-talent became quite popular and widely…
A group of anti-war activists managed to become “friends” with dozens of Russian lawmakers and senators by posing as a pro-war poet on VKontakte. The poems they shared were actually translations of poetry from Nazi Germany. https://t.co/yEGmlTQQIL
World-classing trolling of pro-war Russians https://t.co/MYoOsCvGqC
А hilarious prank. A group of Russian anti-war activists created an online profile of a "patriotic poet" Gennady Rakitin, with AI-generated image as an avatar. All of his posts were translations of the German Nazi poetry. His subscribers included more than a hundred of… https://t.co/FHgMYqaGaY