Russian military recruitment ad used AI-generated image of Navalny fighting in Ukraine

A banner ad for Russian military service that appeared on the social media platform VKontakte in April featured images of the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

Independent journalist Oleg Kashin was first to draw public attention to the ad, which originally appeared on 4 April in a group called Contract for the Special Military Operation • Rear Recruitment • Kaliningrad. It has since been deleted.

The banner advertised a contract offering 7 million rubles for a year of military service, noting that this sum would be enough to buy an apartment in Kaliningrad. It featured two AI-generated images of Navalny: one showing him at the front in Ukraine, the other of him smiling and holding the keys to a new apartment.

Journalists from the independent outlet Agentstvo messaged to the number listed in the ad to ask about the use of Navalny's likeness. They received a reply stating that “of course that shouldn't be there, but evidently something went wrong with our marketing person's plan.”

Agentstvo also noted that the ad included the website of Heroes' Homeland, an organisation that recruits for the Russian military. The outlet Vot Tak found that the group's main headquarters is registered in Rostov-on-Don at the same address as the Rostov regional government and the regional Department for Cossack Affairs and Cadet Educational Institutions.

Russian courts have repeatedly penalised people for posting photos of Navalny online, including members of the liberal Yabloko party and pro-war Z bloggers alike. The Russian authorities consider images of the politician “extremist symbols”, though the Justice Ministry and Interior Ministry disagree.