FT: Russia uses AI-generated videos to claim captures of Ukrainian towns

Russian military units and pro-war bloggers have posted at least 35 videos from the front lines that were likely created or altered using AI, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing findings by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The ISW said Russian forces use the videos to claim the capture of towns and villages that remain in Ukrainian hands.

In October, for example, the Defence Ministry announced that its troops had taken Dobropillia, a city in the Donetsk region, and released drone footage as proof. The investigative group Conflict Intelligence Team said the video showed signs of AI manipulation. In it, a soldier waves a Russian flag from one window of a house, then from another, but the flag reverses direction between shots, as if it had been moved to the other side of the pole.

Other videos contained similar flaws, the institute said, including soldiers with distorted bodies and people and flags that abruptly vanish into the grass.

The ISW’s Daniel Mealie said the videos appear to be the work of opportunistic units and affiliated bloggers rather than a centrally organised effort, though he also described them as part of a broader campaign to portray a Russian victory as inevitable.

Sources who know Putin told the Financial Times that the Russian leader’s eagerness to win the war gives commanders an incentive to lie about successes, which leads to military leadership giving orders based on false information.

The practice has also drawn criticism from within Russia’s pro-war community. In September, Rybar, a prominent pro-war Telegram channel, reported that Russian troops in the Lyman area, facing setbacks, had begun falsely claiming to have seized new ground.