Someone cosplaying online as Ukraine's new top general has already fooled thousands

Less than a week after Ukraine appointed its new commander in chief, a premium X account posing as the popular general has already racked up nearly 7,000 followers.

The account @Drapatyi_M, which was created this month, has been on a tear since Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi was named Ukraine's new military chief on Tuesday, posting at least 22 times in the last five days.

Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces confirmed on Sunday that the account was illegitimate and posted a list of Drapatyi's "only official pages." @Drapatyi_M wasn't among them.

X permits parody or satirical accounts of celebrities or major figures on its platform, but generally marks them with a "parody label" to denote they aren't the real deal.

@Drapatyi_M, however, doesn't appear to be posting for a laugh.

The X account has been mimicking the run-of-the-mill updates that Kyiv's leaders tend to publish, ranging from thanking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a meeting to an apparent discussion with Raytheon executives about Patriot missiles.

"We are bringing the war to the territory of Russia and intensifying strikes with long-range weapons," it wrote in a July 22 caption of a photo showing Drapatyi and Ukraine's acting defense minister, Yevhen Khmara, grasping hands in greeting.

Then on Sunday, one of its posts drew the attention — and ire — of several Ukrainian figures. @Drapatyi_M had announced that an "audit" of Ukraine's forces was underway, saying that there would be no "untouchables" in the investigation.

To be fair to @Drapatyi_M, it wouldn't be absurd for the actual general to announce an investigation. Mykhailo Fedorov, who was until recently the country's defense minister, had announced a similar audit before his ousting, and Drapatyi is known to have agreed with many of Fedorov's decisions.

But Serhii Sternenko, who runs one of Ukraine's most famous fundraising groups for combat drones, called out the account on Sunday.

"Mykhailo Drapatyi does not currently have a Twitter page. The statement circulating on social media is fake," Sternenko wrote, in a snub to @Drapatyi_M. Sternenko's was one of the 15 accounts the fake general's page followed.

As of Sunday evening, @Drapatyi_M had close to 6,850 followers.

X provides a blue check mark to accounts that pay for its premium $8 monthly service, but has said before that the check mark doesn't mean an account is ID-verified. There's historically been confusion, however, over whether the badge denotes legitimacy because it was how the platform verified marked accounts during its days as Twitter.

Official government accounts are typically marked with a gray checkmark instead.

Notably, X pays creators for posting on its platform if they have at least 500 verified followers or 5 million organic impressions over three months.

Zelenskyy appointed Drapatyi, a rising star in Ukraine's armed forces, as commander in chief on Tuesday amid widespread protests about Fedorov's removal. Demonstrators had demanded that the commander in chief at the time, Oleksandr Syrskyi, be removed instead.

Drapatyi was the popular favorite to take over the position.

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