Edited video falsely shared with claim Ukraine's Zelensky welcomed 'robot warrior'

"Robot warriors have arrived in Ukraine, Zelensky welcomed it personally!" reads the simplified-Chinese caption of a clip shared on Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X", on July 23, 2023.

The accompanying video appears to show Zelensky walking alongside a humanoid robot surrounded by soldiers and posing in front of a tank.

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Artificial intelligence and weapons experts have said autonomous fighting robots could be deployed in the war in Ukraine, ongoing since Russia's invasion in February 2022 (archived link).

Drones have been used in several attacks during the war, with Russia saying it downed Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and the Crimea peninsula on July 30, 2023 (archived link).

The edited video was shared more than 200 times on X, Facebook, and YouTube, as well as Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Douyin.

Edited footage

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found the video was first shared on TikTok here by a user with the handle "animatronic3D" on July 15, 2023 (archived link).

The user's bio reads: "Showing the world how AI+ Robots will change our world."

The user has shared several other videos of robots alongside Zelensky, as well as a clip of a robot playing table tennis and a "robot news reporter" in Ukraine.

Keyword searches on Google found the edited video corresponds to AFP footage published on February 8, 2023 (archived link).

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visit Ukrainian troops receiving military training at a camp in Dorset, southern England," the video's description reads.

The Ukrainian leader visited London on February 8, 2023, where he gave a landmark speech to parliament and inspected Ukrainian soldiers undergoing training in southwest England to operate tanks alongside his British counterpart (archived link).

The clip shared in the false posts has been mirrored and doctored to replace Sunak with a humanoid robot.

At the video's 10-second mark, Zelensky can be seen walking alongside Sunak in front of a helicopter.

The scene of Zelensky and the purported robot in front of a tank can be seen in the AFP video's 40-second mark. The original shows Zelensky next to the British leader.

Below are screenshot comparisons of the edited footage (left) and the original AFP video (right):

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Screenshot comparisons of the edited footage (left) and the original AFP video (right)

AFP shared the same video on its official YouTube channel on February 9, 2023 (archived link).

Similar videos and photos showing the two leaders meeting were published by other media outlets in February 2023, including by Sky News, BBC News and Voice of America (archived links here, here and here).

The official website for the President of Ukraine also published similar photos from the event here (archived link).