Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin relayed a fabricated story from a Croatian satirical website to President Vladimir Putin, presenting it as evidence of a corruption scandal in the European Union, independent outlet Meduza reported on Wednesday.
Volodin cited the story during a discussion on the need for legislative oversight of artificial intelligence, saying new technologies bring “challenges and problems.” To illustrate his argument, he referred to a supposed case involving a corrupt “minister for artificial intelligence” — unaware the report originated from the Croatian satire portal NewsBar.
According to the satirical piece, an AI “minister” in Albania named “Diela,” described as a computer system, had analysed public procurement data and concluded that taking bribes in the Balkans was “a normal bureaucratic practice.” The “minister” then allegedly accepted 14 bitcoins to approve a highway project, was to be defended in court by ChatGPT, and temporarily replaced by an old Casio calculator.
The story was entirely fictional. NewsBar published it only days earlier, and several large Russian Telegram channels circulated it as fact, allowing it to likely reach Volodin.
In reality, Albania — not an EU member — introduced a prototype AI tool named Diela in September as part of its public procurement system to strengthen anti-corruption efforts. It is not a minister, nor is it involved in any corruption affair.
Some Russian channels later deleted the posts or added disclaimers noting the content was satirical.
It is not the first time Croatian satire has been mistaken for news in Russia. In October 2025, Russian media widely circulated a fabricated NewsBar story from 2020 about a snake dying after biting a heavily intoxicated Croatian man.