Суспільство

The Trump administration has begun mass deportations with raids in cities such as Denver, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Buffalo and Newark, among others. The administration announced that it would expand expedited deportations without appearances before a judge. The first flight with deportees has already arrived in Guatemala.

Click here for the full report in Spanish.
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На Покровському напрямку російські війська 32 рази атакували позиції Сил оборони, 9 боєзіткнень тривають на момент зведення
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LOS ANGELES — U.S. President Donald Trump surveyed disaster zones in California and North Carolina on Friday and said he was considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency, offering the latest sign of how he is weighing sweeping changes to the nation’s central organization for responding to disasters.

In fire-ravaged California, the state’s Democratic leaders pressed Trump for federal assistance that he’s threatened to hold up, some setting aside their past differences to shower him with praise. Trump, in turn, pressured local officials to waive permitting requirements so people can immediately rebuild, pledging that federal permits would be granted promptly.

Instead of having federal financial assistance flow through FEMA, the Republican president said Washington could provide money directly to the states. He made the comments while visiting North Carolina, which is still recovering months after Hurricane Helene, on the first trip of his second term.

“FEMA has been a very big disappointment,” the Republican president said. “It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow.”

Trump was greeted in California by Governor Gavin Newsom, a Trump critic whom the president frequently disparages. The duo chatted amiably and gestured toward cooperation despite their history.

“We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help,” Newsom told Trump. “You were there for us during COVID. I don’t forget that, and I have all the expectations we’ll be able to work together to get a speedy recovery.”

Newsom has praised Trump before when looking for help from the federal government. In the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, he called Trump “thoughtful” and “collaborative.”

Trump flew over several devastated neighborhoods in Marine One, the presidential helicopter, before landing in Pacific Palisades, a hard-hit community that’s home to some of Southern California’s rich and famous. Accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, he walked a street where all the houses have burned, chatting with residents and police officers.

It takes seeing the damage firsthand to grasp its enormity, Trump said after. The fires, which continue to burn, could end up being the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.

“It is devastation. It really is an incineration,” Trump said.

Trump’s brief but friendly interaction with Newsom belied the confrontational stance he signaled toward California earlier in the day. Even on the plane en route to Los Angeles, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was using Trump’s disparaging nickname for the governor, “Newscum,” and telling reporters, “He has wronged the people of his state” and saying Trump was visiting to pressure Newsom and other officials “to do right by their citizens.”

Trump said Los Angeles residents who lost their homes should be able to get back onto their properties immediately to clear them, adding several told him it will be months before they can rebuild.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said residents should be able to return home within the week, but keeping people safe from hazardous materials is a top priority. She said the city was easing the process to get permits, but she was repeatedly interrupted by Trump as she tried to explain the city’s efforts. He downplayed the concerns about toxins, saying: “What’s hazardous waste? We’re going to have to define that.”

Trump has a long history of minimizing the risks of asbestos. In his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback, Trump called asbestos “the greatest fireproofing material ever used” and “100% safe, once applied,” and claimed the movement against the insulator was led by the mob, “because it was often mob-related companies that would do the asbestos removal.”

Before flying to California, Trump reiterated that he wants to extract concessions from the Democratic-led state in return for disaster assistance, including changes to water policies and requirements that voters need to show identification when casting ballots.

Beyond Trump’s criticism of FEMA, he’s suggested limiting the federal government’s role in responding to disasters, echoing comments from conservative allies who have proposed reducing funding and responsibility.

“I’d like to see the states take care of disasters,” he said in North Carolina. “Let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen.”

Trump said Michael Whatley, a North Carolina native and chair of the Republican National Committee, would help coordinate recovery efforts in the state, where frustrations over the federal response have lingered. Although Whatley does not hold an official government position, Trump said he would be “very much in charge.”

FEMA helps respond to disasters when local leaders request a presidential emergency declaration, a signal that the damage is beyond the state’s ability to handle on its own. FEMA can reimburse governments for recovery efforts such as debris removal, and it gives stopgap financial assistance to individual residents.

Trump has criticized former President Joe Biden for his administration’s response to Helene in North Carolina. As he left the White House on Friday morning, he told reporters that “it’s been a horrible thing the way that’s been allowed to fester” since the storm hit in September, and “we’re going to get it fixed up.

In a small town in western North Carolina, residents told Trump about wading through waist-deep water to escape from their homes while fearing for their lives. Some have battled with insurance companies to get their losses covered.

“We’ve come to North Carolina with a simple message,” Trump said. “You are not forgotten any longer. You were treated very badly by the previous administration.”

FEMA has distributed $319 million in financial assistance to residents, but that hasn’t alleviated the feeling of abandonment among residents who are struggling to rebuild their lives.

Michael A. Coen Jr., who served as chief of staff at FEMA during the Biden administration, said Trump was “misinformed” about an agency that provides critical help to states when they are overwhelmed by catastrophe.

In addition, Coen criticized the idea of attaching strings to assistance. “I think the American people expect the federal government will be there for them on their worst day, no matter where they live,” he said.

Trump tapped Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL with limited experience managing natural disasters, as FEMA’s acting director.
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WASHINGTON — As U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term gets underway, the contours of his administration’s South Asia policy are taking shape: India stands front and center, while other regional countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan prepare to be sidelined.

“With the exception of India, which is a large but special case, the other countries in South Asia, I think, are positioning themselves for somewhat less attention from Washington, somewhat less predictability, and somewhat more bilateral engagement operating through multilateral organizations or multilateral channels,” said Joshua White, a former director for South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council who is now a professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS.

India

While the Biden administration worked closely with India on a range of issues, including defense and technology, Indian officials see Trump’s return to office as an opportunity for expanded cooperation. Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s warm relationship, forged during Trump’s first term, promises a deeper relationship, officials and experts say.

In October, Trump called Modi “a great friend” and “the nicest human being.” Modi reciprocated in his congratulatory message, calling Trump a “dear friend” and pledging to work “closely together once again.”

Beyond the rapport the two leaders share, India, South Asia’s largest country, is a strategic U.S. ally and a counterweight to China’s expanding influence in Asia.  The U.S. is also India’s second-largest trading partner, after China.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz, both China hawks and staunch India proponents, are expected to push for deeper bilateral engagement with New Delhi.

Underlying India’s importance, Rubio had his first bilateral meeting with S. Jaishankar, India’s minister of external affairs.

“There was a very visible appetite to get this relationship moving, to do more, to raise the bar, to set bigger goals,” Jaishankar said.

An early focus in the U.S.-India relationship is mass deportation of undocumented Indian immigrants.

India has identified 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants for repatriation to India, Bloomberg news reported this week, showing support for a Trump administration priority.

There are nearly 800,000 undocumented Indians living in the U.S., including tens of thousands who illegally entered the country under the Biden administration.

Jaishankar said India is opposed to illegal migration and open to the return of migrants in the U.S. illegally.

Yet challenges remain in the relationship. Visa delays experienced by Indian citizens “constrain the people-to-people interactions,” he said.

Moreover, the Trump administration’s pivot to other geopolitical issues, from the war in Ukraine to the relationship with China, could overshadow relations with India, experts say.

“If they have anything significant to be anxious about, apart from the immigration questions, it will be that this administration will not be as attentive to South Asia as the last administration was,” White said.

Pakistan

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif used an optimistic tone on Trump’s inauguration day, pledging to work with the new president to strengthen the U.S.-Pakistan relationship.

“Over the years, our two great countries have worked together closely to pursue peace and prosperity in the region and beyond for our peoples & we shall continue to do so in the future. My best wishes to President Trump for a successful second term in office,” Sharif wrote on X Monday.

To engage with the new administration, Islamabad dispatched Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to Washington to meet with members of Trump’s foreign policy team as well as congressional leaders, Dawn, a leading Pakistani newspaper, reported Friday.

Yet U.S.-Pakistan ties remain strained. Early in his first term, Trump suspended most security aid to Pakistan, accusing it of harboring terrorism, before gradually resuming cooperation as his administration began to negotiate an agreement with Afghanistan’s Taliban.

Complicating the prospects for improved ties between Washington and Islamabad, former Prime Minister Imran Khan remains in prison, with many members of Congress and some Trump advisers calling for his release.

Alluding to those calls, a Pakistani foreign office spokesperson cautioned Thursday against interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs, even as he reiterated hopes for expanded bilateral ties.

“This is part of the principles on which interstate relations are shaped,” the spokesperson, Shafqat Ali Khan, said, according to Dawn.

Zamir Akram, a former Pakistan ambassador, noted that Washington tends to view Islamabad through its strategic alliance with China and tensions with India.

“So, this is a difficult environment that we’ll face,” Akram said on a podcast hosted by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh presents another complex case in the Trump administration’s South Asia policy formulation.

Following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster last August, the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, received a wide range of support from the Biden administration.

That support is now on the chopping block. Yunus, who has been critical of Trump in the past, nonetheless voiced cautious optimism about bilateral cooperation with the new U.S. administration.

In his congratulatory message to Trump, Yunus “expressed firm belief that both nations would work together to explore new avenues of cooperation,” according to the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry.

The country’s two leading parties — the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League — urged continued U.S. support for Bangladeshi democracy and development.

“As a democratic country, I expect America and other democratic nations to support and cooperate in favor of democracy,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told VOA. “I believe the United States will assist in fostering democracy and development in our country.”

But Mohammad A. Arafat, a member of the Awami League’s central executive committee and a former state minister, criticized the Biden administration’s policy and urged a change in course.

“Unlike the Biden administration, which showed unwavering support for individuals like Dr. Yunus despite allegations of corruption, the Trump administration adopts a noninterventionist approach, refraining from interfering in other countries’ internal affairs,” Arafat told VOA.

VOA’s Bangla Service contributed to this report.
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«Анонсування нібито нового керівника Агенції є прямим проявом тиску на Наглядову раду», вважають у АОЗ
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OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — From his home in northern California, Nick Russell, a former farm manager, is monitoring the Los Angeles-area fires.

He knows that about 600 kilometers south, people in Los Angeles are relying on his team’s live neighborhood-by-neighborhood updates on fire outbreaks, smoke direction, surface wind predictions and evacuation routes.

Russell is vice president of operations at Watch Duty, a free app that tracks fires and other natural disasters. It relies on a variety of data sources such as cameras and sensors throughout the state, government agencies, first responders, a core of volunteers, and its own team of reporters.

An emergency at his house, for example, would be “much different” from one at his neighbor’s house .4 kilometers away, Russell said. “That is true for communities everywhere, and that’s where technology really comes in.”

Watch Duty’s delivery of detailed localized information is one reason for its success with its 7 million users, many of whom downloaded the app in recent weeks.

It acts as a virtual emergency operations center, culling and verifying data points.

Watch Duty’s success points to the promise that technologies such as artificial intelligence and sensors will give residents and first responders the real-time information they need to survive and fight natural disasters.

Google and other firms have invested in technology to track fires. Several startup firms are also looking for ways to use AI, sensors and other technologies in natural disasters.

Utility firms work with Gridware, a company that places AI-enhanced sensors on power lines to detect a tree branch touching the line or any other vibrations that could indicate a problem.

Among Watch Duty’s technology partners is ALERTCalifornia, run by the University of San Diego, which has a network of more than 1,000 AI-enhanced cameras throughout the state looking for smoke. The cameras often detect fires before people call emergency lines, Russell said.

Together with ALERTCalifornia’s information, Russell said, “we have become the eyes and ears” of fires.

Another Watch Duty partner is N-5 Sensors, a Maryland-based firm. Its sensors, which are placed in the ground, detect smoke, heat and other signs of fire.

“They’re like a nose, if you will, so they detect smoke anomalies and different chemical patterns in the air,” Russell said.

Watch Duty is available in 22 states, mostly in the western U.S., and plans to expand to all states.

While fire has been its focus, Watch Duty also plans to track other natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis, Russell said.

“Fire is not in the name,” he said. “We want to be that one-stop shop where people can go in those times of duress, to have a source that makes it clear and concise what’s happening.” 
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TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN/WASHINGTON — Uzbekistan is expected to push to deepen relations with the United States in the coming year, a position that is broadly popular among Uzbeks across the country, VOA found during a recent reporting trip.

With more than 37 million people, Uzbekistan, Washington’s strategic partner in Central Asia, accounts for more than half of the population of the region, which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

“I understand that the U.S. prefers dealing with us in the C5+1 format — five republics plus Uncle Sam — but we want more bilateral attention, at least for now,” said Sherbek Artikov, a young Uzbek hoping to study political science in America.

Artikov is aware that many of his fellow Uzbeks are often denied U.S. visas and that hundreds of them have been deported since 2019 as undocumented immigrants. Yet, he remains optimistic: “I believe over time, Washington will see that Uzbeks are not only reliable strategic partners but also hardworking, compassionate people — both as migrants and visitors.”

In recent conversations with a VOA reporter traveling across Tashkent, Ferghana, Bukhara, Samarkand, and Surkhandarya, most Uzbeks expressed enthusiasm about U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. They hoped his administration would foster stronger connections with the people of Uzbekistan, not just its government.

From journalists and activists to entrepreneurs and educators, they want Trump to fulfill his promises to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“We are a peaceful region, despite the continuous turmoil in neighboring Afghanistan, but these conflicts deeply trouble us,” said Zuhra Amonova, an English teacher in Bukhara.

Calls for new approach

As relations between Washington and Central Asian nations have evolved, there have been some calls by American experts for creating a new diplomatic approach, shifting the U.S. government away from grouping the countries with South Asian nations and instead aligning them more with the Caucasus.

Veteran bureaucrats who have worked with these regions at the State Department and the Pentagon told VOA that Washington’s view of this part of the world has increasingly been seen through a Russian lens since the U.S. exit from Afghanistan.

Ikboljon Qoraboyev, a professor at Maqsut Narikbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, says the Central Asia-Caucasus proposal reflects the region’s crucial role between China and Russia and the growing significance of the Middle Corridor, a transit route across the Caspian Sea that carries goods westward to European markets.

“Central Asian policymakers may welcome the change, as their previous alignment with South Asia felt misaligned with their identity,” Qoraboyev told VOA. “But U.S. policymakers must recognize each country’s distinct interests, rather than relying solely on regional frameworks.”

Like many experts VOA spoke to, he points out that Central Asian governments are eager for closer ties with the U.S., seeking investment, political support, development aid, and expanded educational and technological exchanges.

These are among the key factors in the policy recommendations by Eric Rudenshiold, a former White House, Congress, and USAID official, now a senior fellow at the Caspian Policy Center.

“Successful U.S. engagement in the Trans-Caspian region will preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Caucasus and Central Asia,” Rudenshiold said at a forum in Washington ahead of the inauguration.

He emphasized that such an approach would benefit the U.S. while creating opportunities in energy development, trade, and connectivity.

Rudenshiold believes that promoting American values in this way could spur economic and political reforms in the region and shape democratic institutions.

“The Trans-Caspian region is becoming a vital geopolitical and economic crossroads, important to U.S. interests as it counters Russia’s restrictions on the region’s gas, oil, and uranium supplies and China’s efforts to control next-generation energy,” he wrote in a strategic brief.

Washington needs security agreements and closer partnerships in the region, Rudenshiold argued, “due to shared concerns over renewed terrorist threats and its geostrategic location bordering Russia, China, Afghanistan, and Iran.”

Leaders encourage Trump visit

In congratulatory messages to Trump, regional leaders have invited him to visit. No U.S. president has ever toured Central Asia and the Caucasus.

In a letter to Trump, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev wrote that his country “deeply values and appreciates the U.S. policy of consistently supporting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of our nation.”

He credited Trump’s first term for renewing the strategic partnership, adding: “We are committed to further developing our long-term cooperation within bilateral and multilateral frameworks.”

The Trump administration has yet to outline its priorities both in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Rudenshiold and his center are pressing to appoint a special representative for these regions.

Javlon Vakhabov, Uzbekistan’s former ambassador to the U.S. and Canada who now heads the International Institute for Central Asia in Tashkent, also advocates for deeper political dialogue.

“In an era of global uncertainty, Central Asia seeks to collectively champion its interests on the international stage and coordinate efforts to address shared challenges,” Vakhabov told VOA. “A high-level U.S. visit to Uzbekistan would underscore the region’s importance.”

Vakhabov sees great potential in the Middle Corridor, where secondary routes via Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan could strengthen supply chains and diversify transportation lines.

He highlights the Uzbekistan–Afghanistan—Pakistan railway, “which will reduce delivery times from 35 days to just three and cut shipping costs by two-thirds.”

Vakhabov agrees with Rudenshiold that U.S. support for such initiatives would enhance regional stability and attract more American businesses. Touting Uzbekistan’s natural resources, he underlines that collaboration on essential minerals and rare earth elements could help the U.S. strengthen “defense, manufacturing, and technological competitiveness.”

Some yearn to learn 

The U.S. has a long history of cooperation with Central Asian countries on counterterrorism and border security. Vakhabov recommends expanding that cooperation “since they serve common interests.”

The Human Rights Watch 2025 annual report describes Central Asia as a region where autocratic regimes systematically violate freedoms, reforms are stalled or superficial, and security forces hold significant power, undermining the rule of law.

Uzbeks interviewed by VOA this winter expressed mixed views on the U.S. role in promoting justice and freedom, but most admired its democratic system.

“We need to grasp how democracy works in practice,” said Dilrabo Zaripova, a small business owner in Samarkand. “From what we saw in this U.S. presidential election, it requires a strong will and commitment. I don’t think we’re there yet. But having close ties with America would help us learn from its resilience and complex experience.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump said the federal government is standing behind California 100% in the aftermath of devastating wildfires and said during a visit to the state on Friday that he would come back as much as needed.

“The first lady and I are in California to express a great love for the people of California,” Trump told a gathering of local leaders at a fire station in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

The neighborhood was one of the worst hit by the recent fires, with rows of homes left in ashes. Trump participated in a walking tour of the area earlier in the day and also surveyed recovery efforts from a helicopter as firefighters in the Los Angeles area continued to confront multiple blazes amid high winds and dry conditions.

“I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating it is, until you see it,” Trump said after the tour.

The Palisades Fire is about 77% contained and has burned through nearly 9,500 hectares of land, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Trump has criticized California leaders for water policies that he says have exacerbated the recent wildfires. He said before traveling to California that he would “take a look at a fire that could have been put out if they let the water flow, but they didn’t let the water flow.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom has rejected the president’s assertion, and other state legislators have said the fierce wildfires placed extreme demand on a municipal system not designed to battle such blazes.

Newsom greeted Trump as he arrived on the tarmac in Los Angeles on Friday. The two were cordial and shook hands.

“I have all the expectations we’re going to be able to work together,” Newsom said.

Trump responded: “We’re going to get it fixed.”

During the gathering with community leaders, Trump said that Los Angeles residents who lost homes should be allowed back onto their properties immediately, challenging Mayor Karen Bass to speed up the cleanup process.

“People are willing to get a dumpster and do it themselves and clean it up. There is not that much left, it is all incinerated,” Trump said.

Bass said, “the most important thing is for people to be safe,” but promised residents should be able to return home within the week.

Trump promised that federal permits to rebuild would be granted promptly and urged local officials to do the same.

Before visiting California, Trump first visited North Carolina, where he was briefed on monthslong recovery efforts of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.

Speaking to reporters at Asheville Regional Airport, Trump said FEMA “has been a very big disappointment” and said he is considering “getting rid” of the agency.

FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency that has been responding to disasters in both California and North Carolina.

“It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow,” Trump said of the agency.

Trump continued to express dissatisfaction with FEMA while in California, calling it a “big disappointment.”

Trump, a Republican, has broached using federal disaster assistance as a bargaining chip during unrelated legislative negotiations over government borrowing, or as leverage to push California to alter its water policies.

“Playing politics with people’s livelihoods is unacceptable and a slap in the face to the southern California wildfire victims and to our brave first responders,” Representative Young Kim, a Republican from Orange County, south of Los Angeles, said in a recent statement.

Trump has also suggested putting more responsibility on individual states to respond to disasters.

“I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” he said in a Wednesday interview with Fox News. “FEMA is getting in the way of everything.”

Michael A. Coen Jr., who served as chief of staff at FEMA during the Biden administration, said Trump has been “misinformed” about the agency, and he took exception to what he characterized as Trump’s inclination to play politics with disaster relief.

Ahead of Trump’s visit to southern California, firefighters continued to fight multiple fires in the Los Angeles region.

The second-largest fire, known as the Eaton Fire, is now 95% contained after burning through more than 5,600 hectares of land, according to Cal Fire.

The Hughes Fire in the mountains northwest of Los Angeles near Castaic Lake started Wednesday, prompting evacuation orders for more than 50,000 people. Health advisories for smoke and windblown dust and ash have been issued for surrounding areas.

“Smoke and ash can harm everyone, even those who are healthy,” Dr. Muntu Davis, Los Angeles County’s health officer, said in a statement.

Firefighters received help fighting the Hughes Fire overnight with aerial water drops from helicopters. The fire is now 56% contained and has burned more than 4,200 hectares of land, according to the Cal Fire.

The Laguna Fire in Ventura County initially prompted evacuation orders for California State University Channel Islands and University Glen, but the orders were downgraded to warnings Thursday afternoon.

That fire is 70% contained after charring nearly 40 hectares of land, according to Cal Fire.

The U.S. Storm Prediction Center said high winds, low humidity and dry conditions continued to cause “elevated” fire weather conditions on Friday.

There is a chance for some relief in the coming days. The National Weather Service said rain is expected in the area beginning Saturday.

Forecasters expect up to a centimeter of rain across much of the Los Angeles area, while localized thunderstorms could bring even more rain in limited locations. The potential for those storms has prompted concerns about the possibility of mudslides, with debris flowing down hilly areas that have been scorched by several weeks of wildfires.

The fires that broke out in southern California on Jan. 7 have killed at least 28 people and destroyed an estimated 16,000 buildings. The death toll is expected to climb as emergency workers comb through the ashes.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.  
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New online videos recently investigated by VOA’s Russian and Ukrainian services show how artificial intelligence is likely being used to try to create provocative deepfakes that target Ukrainian refugees. 

In one example, a video appears to be a TV news report about a teenage Ukrainian refugee and her experience studying at a private school in the United States.

But the video then flips to footage of crowded school corridors and packets of crack cocaine, while a voiceover that sounds like the girl calls American public schools dangerous and invokes offensive stereotypes about African Americans. 

“I realize it’s quite expensive [at private school],” she says. “But it wouldn’t be fair if my family was made to pay for my safety. Let Americans do it.” 

Those statements are total fabrications. Only the first section — footage of the teenager — is real. 

The offensive voiceover was likely created using artificial intelligence (AI) to realistically copy her voice, resulting in something known as a deepfake. 

And it appears to be part of the online Russian information operation called Matryoshka —‚ named for the Russian nesting doll — that is now targeting Ukrainian refugees. 

VOA found that the campaign pushed two deepfake videos that aimed to make Ukrainian refugees look greedy and ungrateful, while also spreading deepfakes that appeared to show authoritative Western journalists claiming that Ukraine — and not Russia — was the country spreading falsehoods. 

The videos reflect the most recent strategy among Russia’s online disinformation campaign, according to Antibot4Navalny, an X account that researches Russian information operations and has been widely cited by leading Western news outlets. 

Russia’s willingness to target refugees, including a teenager, shows just how far the Kremlin, which regularly denies having a role in disinformation, is prepared to go in attempting to undermine Western support for Ukraine. 

Targeting the victims  

A second video targeting Ukrainian refugees begins with real footage from a news report in which a Ukrainian woman expresses gratitude for clothing donations and support that Denmark has provided to refugees. 

The video then switches to generic footage and a probable deepfake as the woman’s voice begins to complain that Ukrainian refugees are forced to live in small apartments and wear used clothing. 

VOA is not sharing either video to protect the identities of the refugees depicted in the deepfakes, but both used stolen footage from reputable international media outlets.  

That technique — altering the individual’s statements while replicating their voice — is new for Matryoshka, Antibot4Navalny told VOA.  

“In the last few weeks, almost all the clips have been built according to this scheme,” the research group wrote. 

But experts say the underlying strategy of spoofing real media reports and targeting refugees is nothing new. 

After Russia’s deadly April 2022 missile strike on Ukraine’s Kramatorsk railway station, for example, the Kremlin created a phony BBC news report blaming Ukrainians for the strike, according to Roman Osadchuk, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. 

During that same period, he noted, Russia also spread disinformation in Moldova aimed at turning the local population against Ukrainian refugees.

“Unfortunately, refugees are a very popular target for Russian disinformation campaigns, not only for attacks on the host community … but also in Ukraine,” Osadchuk told VOA. 

When such disinformation operations are geared toward a Ukrainian audience, he added, the goal is often to create a clash between those who left Ukraine and those who stayed behind. 

Deepfakes of journalists, however, appear designed to influence public opinion in a different way. One video that purports to contain audio of Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins, for example, claims that Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region is just a bluff. 

“The whole world is watching Ukraine’s death spasms,” Higgins appears to say. “There’s nothing further to discuss.” 

In another video, Shayan Sardarizadeh, a senior journalist at BBC Verify, appears to say that “Ukraine creates fakes so that fact-checking organizations blame Russia,” something he then describes as part of a “global hoax.” 

In fact, both videos appear to be deepfakes created according to the same formula as the ones targeting refugees. 

Higgins tells VOA that the entirety of the audio impersonation of his own voice appears to be a deepfake. He suggests the goal of the video was to engage factcheckers and get them to accidentally boost its viewership. 

“I think it’s more about boosting their stats so [the disinformation actors] can keep milking the Russian state for money to keep doing it,” he told VOA by email. 

Sardarizadeh did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.  

Fake video, real harm  

The rapid expansion of AI over the past few years has drawn increased attention to the problem of deepfake videos and AI images, particularly when these technologies are used to create non-consensual, sexually explicit imagery. 

Researchers have estimated that over 90% of deepfakes online are sexually explicit. They have been used both against ordinary women and girls and celebrities. 

Deepfakes also have been used to target politicians and candidates for public office. It remains unclear, however, whether they have actually influenced public opinion or election outcomes. 

Researchers from Microsoft’s Theat Analysis Center have found that “fully synthetic” videos of world leaders are often not convincing and are easily debunked. But they also concluded that deepfake audio is often more effective.

The four videos pushed by Matryoshka — which primarily uses deepfake audio — show that the danger of deepfakes isn’t restricted to explicit images or impersonations of politicians. And if your image is available online, there isn’t much you can do to fully protect yourself. 

Today, there’s always a risk in “sharing any information publicly, including your voice, appearance, or pictures,” Osadchuk said. 

The damage to individuals can be serious.   

Belle Torek, an attorney who specializes in tech policy and civil rights, said that people whose likenesses are used without consent often experience feelings of violation, humiliation, helplessness and fear. 

“They tend to report feeling that their trust has been violated. Knowing that their image is being manipulated to spread lies or hate can exacerbate existing trauma,” she said. “And in this case here, I think that those effects are going to be amplified for these [refugee] communities, who are already enduring displacement and violence.” 

How effective are deepfakes? 

While it is not difficult to understand the potential harm of deepfakes, it is more challenging to assess their broader reach and impact. 

An X post featur phony videos of refugees received over 55,000 views. That represents significant spread, according to Olga Tokariuk, a senior analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. 

“It is not yet viral content, but it is no longer marginal content,” she said. 

Antibot4Navalny, on the other hand, believes that Russian disinformation actors are largely amplifying the X posts using other controlled accounts and very few real people are seeing them. 

But even if large numbers of real people did view the deepfakes, that doesn’t necessarily mean the videos achieved the Kremlin’s goals. 

“It is always difficult … to prove with 100% correlation the impact of these disinformation campaigns on politics,” Tokariuk said. 

 Mariia Ulianovska contributed to this report.
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У 13 областях материкової України триває повітряна тривога.
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Олексій Чернишов зазначив, що міністерство працює над тим, «щоб кожен громадянин, де б він не перебував, почувався частиною сильної та єдиної України»
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The U.S. government consists of three branches designed to keep each other in check, with Congress responsible for passing legislation. But presidents have some power to unilaterally direct government policy by using executive orders. 
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washington — Giant pandas have returned to the National Zoo in Washington, drawing joyful crowds.

Two pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, made their public debut Friday in front of hundreds of excited fans, the first pandas at the zoo in more than a year.

Lisa Barham came all the way from Cleveland, Ohio, with her son to see them.

“It’s just fantastic to be able to experience this as a family,” she told VOA’s Mandarin Service.

Bao Li is the son of Bao Bao, a giant panda who was born at the National Zoo in 2013 and was returned to China.

“I brought my little boy to see Bao Bao’s little boy,” Barham said.

The pair of pandas, who are both 3 years old, rolled in Washington’s newly fallen snow and munched on bamboo. Crowds lined up for hours before the zoo opened at 8 a.m. to catch a glimpse of the bears.

The pandas arrived from China in October but have been in quarantine while their enclosure was renovated.

National Zoo director Brandie Smith told VOA that the pandas are “a symbol of happiness and joy.”

“The pandas to me are such a success story … a story of panda friendship between our cultures,” she said.

Because of conservation efforts, the giant panda is no longer on the endangered species list. However, it is still listed as “vulnerable.”

Smith said that at the start of the zoo’s program with pandas, which began in the 1970s, the focus was on producing more pandas to create an “insurance population” for the planet.

“We accomplished that, and now the focus is really on habitat,” she said.

About 1,864 giant pandas live in their native habitat in Asia while another 600 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world, according to the National Zoo’s website.

Any cubs born to the new pandas are returned to China to join that country’s breeding program.

The pandas are in Washington on a 10-year lease from China. The National Zoo says it is paying the China Wildlife and Conservation Association $1 million per year for the animals.

At an opening ceremony at the zoo Friday morning, students from Yu Ying Public Charter School, a dual Chinese and English school in Washington, wore panda ears and sang a song about friendship.

The school’s executive director, Carlie Fisher, told VOA that the “pandas represent peace and goodwill.”

The zoo relaunched its popular Panda Cam on Friday, with 40 cameras streaming images of the furry bears throughout the day. The site had 75,000 views by 11:30 a.m. on Friday, according to zoo officials.

VOA Mandarin Service reporter Calla Yu contributed to this report. Some information came from Agence France-Presse.
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Підкотрольний РФ голова Севастополя стверджує, що в місті «ситуація зараз стабільна, нові значні викиди мазуту не фіксуються»
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У 2024 році було приєднано 233 генераційні установки встановленою потужністю понад 830 МВт
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WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington without the court’s approval after U.S. President Donald Trump commuted the far-right extremist group leader’s 18-year prison sentence for orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Capitol four years ago.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta issued the order two days after Rhodes visited the Capitol, where he met with at least one lawmaker, chatted with others and defended his actions during a mob’s attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes was released from a Maryland prison a day earlier.

Mehta’s order also applies to other Oath Keepers members who were convicted of charges that they participated in a violent plot to attack the Capitol.
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