Russia Floods Info Space With AI War Videos as Gains Stall – ISW - Kyiv Post
In 2026, Russia increased its use of AI-generated videos to falsely portray battlefield gains in Ukraine, part of a broader information warfare campaign.
- Incident date
- May 2026
- Target
- Ukraine
Russia increased its use of AI-generated videos to portray false battlefield gains in Ukraine. These videos, including clips showing Russian flags being raised, are part of a broader information warfare campaign that has intensified since winter 2025.
What happened
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) linked the increase in deepfake videos to slowing Russian progress on the ground. One example is a video published by Russia claiming Ukrainian troops surrendered and raised a Russian flag in the Donetsk region; Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation said the footage was fabricated using AI. Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation (CDD) says more than 1,000 synthetic videos have been identified as part of a structured disinformation system designed to target soldiers, civilians, and Western audiences. The goal is informational chaos, where even real evidence can be dismissed as fake.