Russian Units Accused of Using AI-Altered Videos to Exaggerate Gains in Ukraine

A flag-raising video can make a contested town look captured. The Financial Times reported on November 9 that at least 35 videos that appear to be AI-altered were used to overstate Russian battlefield gains in Ukraine.^[1]

What Happened

The FT cited research by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). ISW identified at least 35 such videos posted by Russian military units and pro-war bloggers. Russian state media and the Defense Ministry also helped circulate them.^[1][2]

Some showed soldiers with impossible physical proportions. Others showed people and flags disappearing into trees.^[3]

The most prominent case involves the town of Dobropillia. The Russian military reported to President Vladimir Putin that it had captured the town. In mid-October, the Defense Ministry posted drone footage of soldiers waving a Russian flag there.^[2]

Experts believe that footage was highly likely manipulated using AI. The flag abruptly changes direction.^[2]

"This kind of glitch can't be explained by compression or camera sensor artifacts," said Ruslan Leviev, head of the open-source investigative group Conflict Intelligence Team.^[3]

ISW flagged a second case in its October 23 assessment. Footage purportedly showed Russian troops raising flags in Vesele Pole, north of Dobropillia. That spot was about 12 km beyond the furthest Russian advances ISW had assessed. ISW said it had reason to believe the footage might have been AI-generated or AI-altered.^[1]

On the ground, ISW judged that Russian troops had entered southern Dobropillia on an infiltration mission. It said their presence did not establish control. Ukraine has denied Russian claims that it lost the town.^[1]

According to the FT, some units accused of exaggerating results had been under pressure over their performance. An unnamed person familiar with Putin's thinking told the FT that commanders pass exaggerated claims up the chain of command.^[3]

Daniel Mealie, ISW's geospatial intelligence team lead, told the FT: "The Kremlin is interested in creating a false narrative that Ukraine's frontline is collapsing."^[3]

Russian pro-war commentators have mocked the trend as "neural flag-sticking."^[3]

The published reports do not include a response from the Russian Defense Ministry or the Kremlin.

Why It Matters

Flag-raising videos are used as evidence of territorial control. If the footage is synthetic, the claim it supports needs independent confirmation.

ISW's own figures show the size of the gap in question. By its count, Russian forces secured about 119 square kilometers from January to October 2026, compared with 4,854 square kilometers in 2025.^[2] Dara Massicot of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said "the gap between Russia's claims and reality is growing wider."^[2]

The findings have limits. Hromadske notes that not every video ISW identified has been conclusively proven to be a deepfake. Fabricated footage alone also does not show that commanders relied on it.^[1]

What to Do

• Newsrooms: Treat a flag-raising clip as a claim, not a confirmation. Geolocate it and compare it with independent assessments of the front line before reporting a capture.
• Analysts: Check motion across several frames. Flags that reverse direction, objects that merge into trees and bodies with wrong proportions are signals worth a closer look.
• Everyone: Find the earliest upload and who posted it. Footage from a party to a conflict needs outside corroboration.
• Know the limits: A detector result is a signal, not proof. A clean result does not prove a video is authentic.

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