On September 28-29, 2025, Georgian- and Russian-language Facebook accounts, as well as Russian propaganda media, spread false information claiming that Moldovan President Maia Sandu had called Georgia a “Russian colony” during one of her speeches in the course of Moldova’s election process. Some posts were accompanied by a video in which Sandu allegedly speaks Romanian, while Russian subtitles attribute to her the words: “We see with our own eyes how Georgia, disregarding European values, has once again become a Russian colony. The Georgian government has deprived the people of a chance for a prosperous future in the European Union”. The fake was debunked by Georgian experts from MythDetector.

However, the circulated video is a deepfake created using artificial intelligence to manipulate Maia Sandu’s speech from August 29, 2025. In the genuine speech, available on her official Facebook page, the president does not mention Georgia and does not refer to it as a “Russian colony”. The original video is 2 minutes and 28 seconds long and contains a call for Moldovans to make the right choice in the elections that will determine the country’s future. Visual elements in the deepfake, such as Sandu’s clothing and the background, match the August 29 speech, confirming that the video was manipulated.

Evidence of manipulation

Georgian fact-checkers from MythDetector analyzed the video using AI detection tools Hive Moderation and InVID. The results showed that the audio contains 91-99% traces of AI manipulation, while the video shows 91.5-98% indicators of deepfake technology. Visual analysis also revealed flaws, including unnatural movements of Sandu’s mouth, head, and eyes, inconsistent facial expressions, and moments when her teeth disappear. The audio also differs from the president’s usual speaking style, with unnatural pauses and tone.

No authoritative sources, including Maia Sandu’s official accounts on X and Facebook or local Moldovan media, confirm that she called Georgia a “Russian colony”. Posts on X that refer to this alleged statement rely solely on the manipulated video and lack any independent verification.

The fake video may be part of a broader campaign aimed at dividing Moldovan society, increasing polarization, or mobilizing pro-Russian voters ahead of Moldova’s parliamentary elections, which took place on September 28.