---
title: '''Gennady Rakitin,'' an invented pro-war poet'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/rakitin-ai-persona-2023/
description: The AI-generated profile photo of 'Gennady Rakitin,' presented as a 49-year-old teacher and pro-war 'Z-poet' on the Russian network VKontakte from…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[!['Gennady Rakitin,' an invented pro-war poet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/rakitin-ai-persona-2023.png)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/rakitin-ai-persona-2023.png)

# 'Gennady Rakitin,' an invented pro-war poet

The AI-generated profile photo of 'Gennady Rakitin,' presented as a 49-year-old teacher and pro-war 'Z-poet' on the Russian network VKontakte from mid-2023. The man does not exist, and his poems were lightly edited Russian translations of 1930s and 1940s Nazi verse. Russian officials, State Duma deputies and poetry prizes took up the account before its creators revealed the hoax in June 2024.

- **Date:** 2023
- **Period:** [Contemporary](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=contemporary)
- **Made by:** A group of anti-war Russian exiles (revealed June 2024)
- **Region:** [Eastern Europe and Eurasia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=eastern-europe-eurasia)
- **Country:** [Russia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=russia)
- **Medium:** [Digital posts](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=digital-post)
- **Issuer type:** [Covert network](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=covert-network)
- **Regime:** [Putin Government](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=putin-government)
- **Leader:** [Vladimir Putin](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=vladimir-putin)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Deceive or deny](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=deceive-deny)
- **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Media and information](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=media-information), [Science and technology](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=science-technology)
- **Event:** [Russian Invasion of Ukraine](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=russian-invasion-of-ukraine)
- **Techniques:** [Synthetic media](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/synthetic-media/) [Astroturfing](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/astroturf/)
- **Source:** Impersonated Source falsified: fake personas, outlets or documents
- **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%93%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD.png), retrieved September 27, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (AI-generated, no human author)

## Text on the object

Checked for printed text

No printed or legible text on this object.

Checked closely: a head-and-shoulders portrait of the invented 'Rakitin' persona against trees and a blurred wooden shed, with no signage, clothing text, captions or watermarks anywhere in the frame.

[← 'Z #заПутина' LED billboard](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/z-za-putina-billboard-2022/) [AI-generated image of Donald Trump being arrested →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/trump-arrest-ai-images-2023/)

## Using the same techniques

- [AI-generated image of Donald Trump being arrested](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/trump-arrest-ai-images-2023/) (Mar 20, 2023 · Synthetic media)
- [AI-generated image of the Hollywood sign on fire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hollywood-sign-fire-ai-2025/) (Jan 9, 2025 · Synthetic media)
- ['Russian Ads on Facebook' (House Intelligence Committee exhibit)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ira-facebook-ads-hpsci-2018/) (2016 · Astroturfing)
- ['Miners for Trump' rally poster (Internet Research Agency)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/miners-for-trump-ira-2016/) (Oct 2016 · Astroturfing)