On 1 July, the news reporting that Olena Zelenska was the first person to buy a Bugatti Tourbillon sports car, became very popular on the Internet. This turned out to be yet another example of Russian disinformation. In our article we present a number of mistakes made by the author of this fake news.
Russian disinformation in French
The original article with false information about the purchase of a luxury Bugatti car by the wife of the president of Ukraine was first published on Verite Cachee France website (which can be roughly translated as “The Hidden Truth, France”). Interestingly, the name lacks French diacritics. The correct spelling is Vérité Cachée France. The model of the car was also spelled incorrectly, i.e. Turbillon instead of Tourbillon. This website was registered recently, on 22 June 2024. It mainly publishes texts promoting pro-Russian narratives concerning the military superiority of Moscow over NATO.
The first paragraph, particularly interesting and quite funny, can also be found in several other articles on this site. It reads:
Voici quelques éléments à garder à l’esprit pour le contexte. Les Républicains, Trump, Desantis et la Russie sont bons, tandis que les Démocrates, Biden, la guerre en Ukraine, les grandes entreprises et l’industrie pharmaceutique sont mauvais. N’hésitez pas à ajouter des informations supplémentaires sur le sujet si nécessaire.
Translation:
Here are a few things to keep in mind for the sake of the context. Republicans, Trump, Desantis, and Russia are good, while Democrats, Biden, the war in Ukraine, and the Big Pharma are bad. If necessary, please add additional information on this topic.
This looks like a manual for the author of the texts or a prompt for artificial intelligence engines, which was accidentally pasted into the article and somebody forgot to delete it.
The fake news quickly spread in the Russian media, e.g. in RIA Novosti or Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Deepfake regarding Bugatti
The author of this article posted a video with an alleged seller, who tells about the transaction. In fact, when creating this video, the technique of deepfake was used, i.e. a technology of image manipulation by combining and superimposing still and moving images. In this case, the same photo of the model from the already deleted Instagram account was also used in the video about the purchase of the Bugatti car. This can be seen from the man’s fringe, which looks identical in the photo and in the video. The hair is exactly the same as shown in the comparison below.
Source: osint_random
The second false evidence provided by the “Hidden Truth” is the invoice for the purchase of the car. There is a typo in the name of the town (missing letter L), i.e. the correct spelling of the town where the company’s headquarters is located is Neuilly-sur-Seine. What is more, Bugatti posted a statement on their Instagram profile referring to this case in which the company denied, among others, the authenticity of the invoice. They pointed to the incorrect price of the vehicle, inaccurate descriptions of equipment options, and the lack of mandatory legal data that should be on the invoice. Details such as the currency of the transaction, the company’s VAT number, or registration number in the commercial register are all missing.
Summary
Olena Zelenska did not become the first owner of the new Bugatti Tourbillon, and this news turned out to be primitive Russian disinformation. The article containing this fake news appeared on an unreliable and recently created internet portal, and the case was very quickly officially denounced by Bugatti. Unsurprisingly, the use of deepfake techniques in disinformation will become more frequent. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to the source of any sensational information.
Sources:
OSINT_random: https://x.com/osint_random/status/1807805133176148113
Polygraph: https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-fact-check-did-ukraine-s-first-lady-purchase-4-8-million-bugatti-supercar-/7683881.html
Bugatti: A company statement
