Russian Invaders Use AI To Make Deepfake Videos Of Triumphs In Ukraine

Russia’s invading troops are ramping up the use of text-to-video AI to depict fabricated victories in taking over Ukrainian territory, says a senior researcher at the acclaimed Washington, DC-based Institute for the Study of War.

Deploying OpenAI and Bytedance video creation AI software to counterfeit Kremlin military advances has been rising since last spring, says Daniel Mealie, a leading geospatial analyst at the Institute.

Mealie, who headed an investigation into Moscow’s AI-generated “triumphs” along the front lines of the Ukraine war, told me in an interview that his team has been using AI detection software to uncover a spiraling array of Russian deepfakes.

These theatrical fabricated videos, mini-films produced for the TikTok era, purport to document the invasion of towns and villages that in fact remain part of free, democratic Ukraine.

“Russian sources are using AI videos to shape Western perceptions on the frontline and erode support for Ukraine,” he told me.

“Russia uses AI footage and exaggerates territorial gains to erode confidence in Ukraine’s ability to repel Russian advances.”

“The Kremlin is interested in creating a false narrative that Ukraine’s frontline is collapsing,” says Mealie, whose team scrutinizes and pieces together open-source intelligence to track the Russian-Ukraine war.

The Institute for the Study of War closely chronicles the invasion, with daily bulletins that also cover Ukraine’s skyrocketing strikes across Russia with fleets of leading-edge drones and missiles, and predicts alternative future outcomes by factoring in new weapon systems and technologies, like AI, deployed in the conflict.

The Kremlin’s Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Vladimir Putin, routinely fabricates victories in the quest to conquer Ukraine, to present his ultimate annexation of the blitzed country as inevitable to the White House, and to his own citizenry.

“Putin is well aware that Ukraine’s increasing ability to conduct long-range strikes poses a significant threat.”