EDITORIAL ⟩ The tale of a soldier who never was

"Who is it?" "Never mind the details! Just put down that Ukrainians are filthy bastards!" Cartoon of the day. Illustration: Urmas Nemvalts Photo: Urmas Nemvalts

• An attempt to spread Russian disinformation through Postimees has failed.
• Newsrooms must always verify background.
• Artificial intelligence is making it easier to produce fake news.

​​Journalism today must be especially cautious not to fall victim to deepfakes, hybrid operations, or impostor authors. For example, the Russian-language editorial team of Postimees recently received a letter from a woman named Maria. She claimed that her husband, Mihhail Savenko, had volunteered to fight on Ukraine’s side and was killed in April. She said that the Ukrainian army was now demanding 2,000 dollars to recover the body from the battlefield.

The woman allegedly paid the requested amount, but never received her husband's remains. She then turned to the Russian-language newsroom of Postimees to share her story. Although she submitted messages with the alleged extortionist and the supposed scam seemed somewhat plausible, the newsroom had its doubts.

Postimees contacted the 2nd Company of Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade, where the man had supposedly been serving. The brigade replied that no soldier named Mihhail Savenko had ever served in their unit.

That was not all, however. When the newsroom asked Maria for photos of her husband, the screenshots she sent of this «Mihhail Savenko» resembled a well-known Russian neo-Nazi, Alexey Milchakov, only slimmer and without a distinctive scar on his forehead. When a journalist asked for more photos, Maria sent an image allegedly showing her and her husband posing with weapons in the warehouse of an entrepreneur in Tartu. That story turned out to be false as well: the image was originally a photo by Associated Press photographer Mikhail Palinchak, showing Ukrainians learning to handle weapons.

The whole thing was a hoax from the very start. The purpose behind it? To discredit the Ukrainian army, which is fighting for the freedom of its country and people. Similar hybrid operations are happening in many countries around the world, with the goal of swaying public opinion and convincing people to stop supporting Ukraine by portraying them as crooks and fraudsters. Imagine: demanding money from a widow to return the body of a volunteer who died fighting in the International Legion!

Journalists today must be cautious and thoroughly fact-check stories, as fabricated reports are being used to manipulate public opinion.

Such attempts have been made in Estonian journalism before, usually without success. Still, in January 2025, Eesti Päevaleht published an article by a Siimo Kaasik titled «Russenfrei? Estonian-language education is alienation that offers nothing in return.» A later investigation revealed that the author was fictitious, and the newsroom removed the article.

Postimees reiterates that journalists today must be cautious and thoroughly fact-check stories like this one, especially those critical of Ukraine. Mistakes happen, of course, but when even the slightest doubt arises, everything must be reviewed again.

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, and it is already possible to generate fake images and make people appear to say things they never actually said. This is a serious test for newsrooms, which must work as a team to contact original sources (just as Postimees' Russian-language team did) and uncover the truth.