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Zbor Palilula Niš Niš Fortress
Statements

“Well, that’s artificial intelligence”

What officials said after 5 October, where and when — and what the documented evidence says about each claim. Quotes are given verbatim in Serbian with an English translation; where media transcripts differ, we give every version.

Videos and reports

Statements

The President’s remark was made live on the “Kolegijum” show on TV Informer on the evening of 7 October. Niš TV posted the clip (I-01). The full broadcast has not yet been reliably identified; for legal use it should be requested from the broadcaster or the media regulator (REM). The mayor’s Instagram Story has expired — Južne vesti preserved a screenshot (I-02).
I-01 Instagram Derived

Vučić: “Well, that’s artificial intelligence”

Published
8 Oct 2026, 13:36:58
Account
@nistv.rs
Type
reel (video)
Speaker
Aleksandar Vučić, President of the Republic

Said live on TV Informer (“Kolegijum” show) on the evening of 7 Oct 2026, before 23:51. The clip was posted by Niš TV. According to media transcripts, the speaker claims the photo of the fire is “artificial intelligence” while admitting that flares were lit.

„Mene zovu ovi ljudi, kažu: ’Ajde, molim te, demantuj da gori tvrđava’. Ajde, bre, kažem, ćuti, bre, budalo, ne pričaj gluposti. […] Kaže: ’Evo ti fotografija’. Ja kažem: ’Pa to ti je veštačka inteligencija’“ (N1) · „Ja ću sutra ili prekosutra da zapalim svoje auto na slici i videćete kako gori moj auto“ · „Jesu palili baklje. Ali to nije požar“ (Alo) / „Oni jesu palili baklje na Tvrđavi, ali kakve to veze ima sa požarima?“ (Južne vesti)
“These people call me and say: ‘Come on, please deny that the fortress is burning.’ Come on, I say, shut up, you fool, don’t talk nonsense. […] He says: ‘Here’s a photo.’ I say: ‘Well, that’s artificial intelligence’” (N1) · “Tomorrow or the day after I’ll set my own car on fire in a picture and you’ll see my car burning” · “They did light flares. But that is not a fire” (Alo) / “They did light flares on the Fortress, but what does that have to do with fires?” (Južne vesti)
I-02 Web article Verified

Mayor: “The truth is there is no damage” — filmed next to the burned rampart

Published
7 Oct 2026, 13:46
Account
Južne vesti (snimak Story-ja)
Type
article
Speaker
Dragoslav Pavlović, Mayor of Niš, member of the SNS Presidency

According to Južne vesti, “two days after the news” the mayor filmed an Instagram Story “in which he walks past the burned rampart of the Fortress” and said there was no damage. The Story has expired; Južne vesti kept a screenshot. According to Informer (M-01), the same mayor addressed the crowd at the Fortress Bridge on 5 October.

„Istina je da nema štete na Niškoj tvrđavi, a očigledno ih je i zabolelo ovih 8.000 ljudi na ulicama grada Niša sinoć…“ · „Znam da moraju nešto da smisle, poraz boli.“
“The truth is there is no damage at Niš Fortress, and obviously these 8,000 people on the streets of Niš last night hurt them…” · “I know they have to make something up, defeat hurts.”
I-03 Web article Verified

Mayor to Niš TV: “a personal, lay assessment”

Published
7 Oct 2026, 21:10
Account
Niš TV
Type
article
Speaker
Dragoslav Pavlović, Mayor of Niš

Niš TV notes this is his “personal, lay assessment” and that the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments will give the final assessment. He describes the opposition and “blockaders” as having “had to make something up”.

„Najvažnije je da niko nije stradao, a čini mi se da nema nikakve materijalne štete“
“The most important thing is that no one was hurt, and it seems to me there is no material damage at all”
I-04 Instagram Derived

Gašić: “everything was under control” (Niš TV paraphrase)

Published
7 Oct 2026, 22:02:05
Account
@nistv.rs
Type
reel (video)
Speaker
Bratislav Gašić, Defence Minister (caretaker), member of the SNS Presidency
Parafraza u opisu Niš TV-a: „prema informacijama koje je dobio, sve bilo pod kontrolom i da događaj nije izgledao onako kako su ga, kako tvrdi, blokaderi predstavljali na društvenim mrežama“
Niš TV caption paraphrase: “according to information he received, everything was under control and the event did not look the way, he claims, blockaders presented it on social media”
I-05 Instagram Derived

Radulović: “it’s not the grass burning – it’s their ratings”

Published
8 Oct 2026, 14:04:47
Account
@nistv.rs
Type
reel (video)
Speaker
Uroš Radulović, candidate on the “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia” list
„To što gori, ne gori trava – gori njihov procenat. Gori njihov rejting“ · parafraza: požar je „možda namerno izazvan kako bi poslužio za fotografije i objave na društvenim mrežama“
“What’s burning isn’t the grass – it’s their percentage. Their rating is burning” · paraphrase: the fire was “perhaps caused deliberately to serve for photos and social-media posts”
I-06 Web article Verified

Alo: “there was no real fire”

Published
7 Oct 2026, 23:51
Account
Alo
Type
article

Headline: “People believed Niš Fortress burned” — Vučić showed how he sees a war of fake images. The same article also quotes “They did light flares. But that is not a fire”.

Aleksandar Vučić rekao je na Informer televiziji da se društvenim mrežama širila fotografija koja je trebalo da pokaže da Niška tvrđava gori, ali da je, prema njegovim rečima, slika napravljena pomoću veštačke inteligencije i da stvarnog požara nije bilo.
Aleksandar Vučić said on Informer television that a photo meant to show Niš Fortress burning had spread on social media, but that, in his words, the picture was made with artificial intelligence and there was no real fire.
I-07 Web article Verified

Niš TV: “found everything in order the morning after” — after the clean-up

Published
6 Oct 2026, 14:10
Account
Niš TV
Type
article

Published at 14:10 — after the pre-7 a.m. clean-up (P-01) and after the investigation that found soot (P-03). The same Niš TV reported that morning that “Mediana” was working in the Fortress (P-05), and cut its live feed the previous evening (M-04).

„Došla sam da snimim i pošaljem ćerki video da vidi da ništa nije izgorelo u Tvrđavi.“
“I came to film and send my daughter a video so she can see that nothing burned in the Fortress.”
Claim vs. evidence

What the evidence says about each claim

1“That’s artificial intelligence”Said in: I-01 I-06
Documented facts
  • The fire was filmed from at least three different positions (A, B, C), and the first two angles were posted 2 min apart: 19:30:02 and 19:32:02.
  • The posting time is written into the post ID by the platform’s server — a user cannot set it to an earlier time (see “Post timestamps”).
  • The sightlines of all 18 videos intersect at one point on the southern rampart of the Fortress, within ±15 m — from different places they all film the same flames.
  • The author of the video from the crowd showed the original in their phone gallery, with the recording time “Monday · 19:26” (S-18) — six minutes before posting it on Instagram.
  • None of the four X posts was edited after posting (public edit history).
  • Video S-08 runs continuously for 56 seconds — longer than the maximum AI video-editing tools process in one pass (5–30 s).
  • Video S-10 shows firefighters putting out the fire; the firefighters confirmed it to N1 the same evening.
  • Outlets with their own reporters on the scene (Južne vesti, N1) reported the same evening.
Evidence: S-01 S-02 S-07 S-18 S-08 S-10 M-02 M-05
2“That is not a fire” / “there was no real fire”Said in: I-01 I-06
Documented facts
  • Firefighters told N1 that “low vegetation and grass burned and the fire was quickly put out”.
  • The Niš Basic Prosecutor’s Office qualified the event as the criminal offence of causing general danger (Art. 278 CC).
  • The police on-site investigation found soot on the rampart.
  • Even articles disputing the “burned Fortress” (TV Zona Plus, Južna Srbija Info) confirm that dry vegetation burned and that firefighters put the fire out.
  • The same speaker admits: “They did light flares.”
Evidence: M-05 P-07 P-03 P-06 P-12 P-13
3“The truth is there is no damage”Said in: I-02 I-03
Documented facts
  • The same mayor told Niš TV this was his “personal, lay assessment” and that the Monuments Institute would give the final assessment.
  • The Institute had published no finding as of 7 Oct; its director had no data on damage on 6 Oct.
  • The burned area was cleaned and ploughed before 7 a.m., before the investigation — although the duty prosecutor had ordered police to guard the scene overnight.
  • The question of damage does not change the fact that the fire happened.
Evidence: I-03 P-04 P-08 P-01 P-02
4“Everything was under control” / “it did not look the way blockaders presented it”Said in: I-04
Documented facts
  • Videos from three different positions agree with one another and look at the same point on the rampart (±15 m): flames along the rampart, flares, fireworks.
  • Firefighters had to intervene (S-10, M-05).
  • Niš TV, which was broadcasting the rally live, cut the broadcast when extinguishing began.
Evidence: S-01 S-02 S-07 S-10 M-05 M-04
5“Perhaps caused deliberately” for social-media photosSaid in: I-05
Documented facts
  • No evidence supports that insinuation.
  • The videos show the fire started where flares and fireworks were lit at the rally.
  • The President himself admits that flares were lit on the Fortress.
Evidence: S-01 S-02 I-01 P-07
6“Everything in order the morning after”Said in: I-07
Documented facts
  • The report was published at 14:10, after the pre-7 a.m. clean-up and after the investigation.
  • Despite the clean-up, the investigation found soot; N1’s reporter saw “the remains of where it burned”.
Evidence: P-01 P-02 P-03
7“Old footage” (comment under S-02)Said in: S-02
Documented facts
  • The ID of post S-02 shows 5 Oct 2026 at 19:32:02.
  • S-03, verifiably posted at 19:39:25, is a screen recording of that very reel.
  • The videos show the features of the 5 October SNS pre-election rally (flags, fireworks).
Evidence: S-02 S-03
Reporting patterns

What was published — and what was left out

We only record what particular outlets published and when. We make no claim about intent — the facts speak for themselves.

  • M-01Informer (20:34): report on the rally and its “spectacular fireworks” — no mention of the fire.
  • M-09Niš TV (5 Oct): “evening ended with spectacular fireworks” — no mention of the fire.
  • M-04According to Beta, Niš TV cut its live broadcast without sign-off when extinguishing began.
  • I-07Niš TV (6 Oct 14:10): “found everything in order the morning after” — after the pre-7 a.m. clean-up.
  • I-08Informer.rs: four written reports of the 7 Oct interview omit the Fortress segment, although it aired.
  • I-06Alo (7 Oct 23:51): “Vučić showed how he sees a war of fake images” — relays the claim that “there was no real fire”.
Context

The “liar’s dividend” — when real footage is called fake

In 2019 the legal scholars Robert Chesney and Danielle Citron warned that the mere possibility of deepfakes would allow authentic evidence to be dismissed as fake — the “liar’s dividend”. Research published in 2024 in the American Political Science Review found the tactic works against text reports but is largely ineffective against video evidence.

Similar cases: US courts in 2023 rejected claims that recordings of statements could be deepfakes; a 2024 US rally crowd photo was called AI, but its metadata confirmed it was real. Artificial intelligence is a tool — and one of its abuses is to use it as an excuse to deny what really happened.