Russian Forces Use Artificial Intelligence to Show Artificial Victory

Russian forces are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence-generated and altered videos to falsely depict their military as capturing Ukrainian territory they do not control, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). These AI-altered videos, which typically show Russian servicemembers raising flags in settlements that are not actually under Russian control, have been on the rise since June 2026.

ISW identified at least 35 such videos between June 1 and August 30, with a high confidence rate of 10 being manipulated using AI models. The videos often contain visual anomalies such as distorted soldiers, inconsistent shadows, unnatural movements, and flags that appear to distort or disappear. While accurate geolocation does not guarantee the authenticity of the footage, as Russian sources may use recorded real footage as reference material for AI-generated scenes, at least some of the manipulated videos have been exposed by visual inconsistencies and debunked by pro-Ukrainian sources.

This practice is believed to be used by several Russian units and milbloggers to conceal battlefield failures or to create the impression that their forces have achieved objectives set by the Kremlin.

Brief written by urgent.news from Kyiv Post's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.