Alleged Russian interference in Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections have been revealed, according to an article published by Myth Detector, a fact-checking platform in Georgia, which analyzed an audio recording released on October 29 on the Russian Telegram channel Georgian Passerby (Грузинский прохожий). In the recording a person identifying himself as Giorgi Taktakishvili, leader of ‘Vote for Europe,’ is heard speaking to OSCE/ODIHR spokesperson Katya Andrusz, saying that she shouldn’t take bribes from the corrupt Ivanishvili regime and threatening that if she does, citizens “won’t allow her to leave the country”.
In response, the OSCE/ODIHR spokesman asks for the information in writing and tells the caller her e-mail address,” writes the Myth Detector, which was launched in 2017 as part of a partnership between the Media Development Foundation and Deutsche Welle Akademie.
Katya Andrusz confirmed to Myth Detector that she received such a call before the elections. Taktakishvili denies placing such a call adding that the person impersonating him in the recording has distinctively different voice and mispronounces the name of the organization, in particular calling it “Choose Europe” instead of “Vote for Europe”.
The Facebook post by lawyer Irakli Zakareishvili, who shared the recordings, claimed that “acts of telephone terror” with similar content had also been carried out against representatives of other observer missions. MDF said it had only been able to obtain confirmation from a representative of the Latvian observer mission, who confirmed that she had received a call allegedly from the Central Election Commission of Georgia, but when the observer mission contacted the CEC, the commission denied making such a call.
In order to find out whether the audio recording showed signs of the use of artificial intelligence and whether the voice of the person speaking in the recording matched the authentic voice of Giorgi Taktakishvili, “Myth Detector” contacted four specialized organizations (Mantis Analytics, Witness, Deepfakes Analysis Unit, Validia) that deal with the verification of audio recordings and the detection of deepfake technologies.
According to the experts, unnatural pauses, gaps and a deep voice tone were detected, suggesting that the recording may have been technically edited or synthesized. Metadata analysis also revealed that the file had been created in external software, further raising suspicions of possible editing.
The publication of the video on the Russian Telegram channel, coupled with the fact that the calls were made from the area around Stepanstminda, close to the Larsi border crossing with Russia, provides a basis for Tamar Kintsurashvili, an executive director of the Media Development Fund, to claim that this is an alleged Russian special operation. According to her this incident underlines Russia’s continued efforts to interfere in Georgia’s internal affairs, particularly in the electoral process. Kintsurashvili stresses that similar operations carried out by Russia have been aimed not only at intimidating local activists, through fabrication of such acts, but also at targeting and intimidating international observers.
“Russia has not relinquished its interest in interfering in the Georgian elections. There were statements from their side that they would not allow anti-Russian forces to come to power,” says Tamar Kintsurashvili, adding that Telegram, among others, is the platform often used by Russia to manipulate the public opinion.
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- 31/10/2024 – Reports Locate Founder of Russian Propaganda Network in Tbilisi on Election Day
- 29/10/2024 – Russian Officials Accuse West of “Neocolonialism” and Meddling in Georgia
- 28/02/2024-Zurabishvili Worried about Russian Election Interference