A contentious debate has been sparked across China’s social media platforms following revelations that an influencer claiming to be a Russian soldier embroiled in Ukrainian conflict was actually a sham. The pseudo-soldier, going by the name “Pavel Korchatie” online, managed to amass a substantial following of over 380,000 on Douyin – the Chinese TikTok equivalent. His followers were drawn in by his alleged firsthand accounts of the war, delivered in Mandarin, according to HK01, a news portal.
Korchatie’s video content typically opened with a Mandarin greeting to his Chinese audience and proceeded to tell personal stories from the war-front. The gripping accounts rallied many social media users in support of the Russian troops. One of his videos even featured him standing before a power plant, audaciously claiming to have detained Ukrainian prisoners. Additionally, he made inflated boasts about his engagements with US Navy Seals, shooting down US military drones, and made provocative comments about destroying US tanks.
As his audience base swelled, Pavel began selling Russian goods like honey, beer, and vodka on his Douyin online store, garnering more than 200 orders. However, his fraudulence was unraveled by vigilant followers who raised doubts about his legitimacy. These critics pointed to IP addresses traced back to central China’s Henan province and his distinctive Henan accent when speaking Mandarin. Additional evidence included the ‘Ukrainian’ power plant in his video that was later identified as one in Luoyang, Henan, and vehicles in his video background that sported mainland Chinese plates.
Following these revelations, the influencer changed his account name to “Wang Kangmei,” which translates to “Wang Anti-America,” and began identifying himself as the “Vanguard Against America.” He seemingly aimed to tap into nationalistic emotions to keep the traffic flowing. However, Douyin acted swiftly by banning his account on June 16 for spreading falsehoods.
The controversy has led to mixed reactions from netizens. Some were fooled by his well-orchestrated hoax, praising his Chinese language skills and hailing him as a hero. However, others criticized the platform for lacking robust content moderation and lambasted the influencer as an evident fraud.
One commenter scoffed at the improbability of a Russian soldier speaking Mandarin with a Henan accent. Others warned about the potential political implications of his hoax, especially his false claims of capturing American soldiers, suggesting a direct US military involvement in the conflict.
The phenomenon of Chinese influencers pretending to be foreigners to gain popularity is not new. In 2022, an influencer known as “Russian Nana” was suspected to be a Chinese man impersonating a Russian woman via face-swapping technology. The individual had an impressive following of 2 million on Douyin and used this fame to boost e-commerce sales.
READ MORE: