Deep-fake prank video call to Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida posing as Kyiv’s Vitali Klitschko

On 24 June 2022, the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, was drawn into a video call with someone posing as Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko. The approach reportedly came via a video-conference request from an email address mimicking an official Kyiv contact, and the caller appeared on screen as Klitschko using manipulated video. According to U.S. News (Associated Press) and Fortune reporting, Martínez-Almeida and his staff grew suspicious within minutes and cut the call short before it could develop. Madrid's city hall said it filed a complaint with police over an alleged crime of impersonation and alerted Kyiv authorities, and described the episode as 'absolutely intolerable' amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Madrid was one of several European capitals targeted in the same period. Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey ended a similar call after the supposed Klitschko asked to speak Russian through a translator and raised provocative points about Ukrainian refugees; Vienna mayor Michael Ludwig did not detect the ruse and publicised the call before it was exposed; Budapest's Gergely Karácsony reported being targeted too. Russian comedians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as Vovan and Lexus, later claimed responsibility, as El Español reported. They and outside experts said the footage was likely edited from an existing Klitschko interview rather than a sophisticated real-time deepfake.

The Madrid episode fits a coordinated wave of impersonation calls against European mayors during Russia's war on Ukraine and is widely assessed as a Russia-aligned information operation, with the prankster duo Vovan and Lexus, seen as serving Russian interests, claiming authorship. Madrid's quick termination limited any propaganda value, unlike Vienna. Reporting cautions against the 'deepfake' label: a German journalist matched the visuals to a prior interview, and analysts suggested edited or recycled footage rather than AI-generated real-time video. The exact technical method and any direct state direction remain unconfirmed, so attribution should be treated as reported and assessed rather than proven.