Chinese vlogger poses as Chechen soldier in Ukraine to sell vodka

A content creator on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, decided the hilarious cat-face filters weren’t nearly hilarious enough, opting instead for a more extreme internet makeover. The vlogger, calling himself ‘Baoer Kechatie,’ spent months presenting himself as a special forces soldier from Chechnya, providing real time updates from the frontlines in Ukraine. Like most things on the internet, this turned out to be BS. Baoer Kechatie was actually a Chinese man using AI and deepfake technology to alter his appearance, in order to sell Russian products on his e-commerce shop. An investigation revealed him to be operating from Henan Province, China, and that possibly the vodka he was trying to shill was the closest he’d ever been to Russia. His account has since been indefinitely suspended by Douyin for spreading misinformation and banned from making money. However, we suspect a glittering career as an OnlyFans ‘model’ may beckon...