Ukrainian town of Dobropillia deepfake video — Nov 2026

In mid-October, Russian military commanders falsely reported to Vladimir Putin that they had successfully conquered the Ukrainian frontline town of Dobropillia. To support these claims, the Russian defence ministry released a montage of drone footage intended to demonstrate control over the area, despite the town remaining under Ukrainian control.

What happened

The Russian defence ministry and various pro-war military bloggers disseminated a video montage featuring soldiers holding Russian flags amidst the ruins of Dobropillia. Analysts identified at least one sequence as a likely deepfake, noting that a soldier waving a Russian tricolour from a building window exhibited unnatural movement. Ruslan Leviev, head of the Conflict Intelligence Team, observed that the flag abruptly changed orientation in a manner inconsistent with natural physics or camera artifacts, indicating digital manipulation.

This incident is part of a broader trend identified by the Institute for the Study of War, which has cataloged 35 videos from Russian sources likely generated or altered by artificial intelligence. These clips often contain glaring anomalies, such as soldiers with improbable physical proportions or objects that vanish into the environment. Experts suggest these videos are part of a cognitive warfare campaign designed to create a false narrative of inevitable Russian victory and to inflate battlefield success for the Kremlin. While the specific origin of the Dobropillia footage remains unclear, the campaign appears to be driven by opportunistic military units and bloggers rather than a single centralized effort. Despite the clear signs of manipulation, Russian state media and the defence ministry have actively amplified these videos to bolster claims of territorial gains.