Russians spread fake videos of 'overweight Ukrainian soldiers' on social media - Reasons
Photo: Russian propaganda seeks to incite hatred toward police and military personnel (Getty Images)
Russians are spreading AI-generated videos on social media depicting Ukrainian soldiers, police officers, and territorial recruitment center staff as overweight and making statements that serve hostile propaganda narratives, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council on Facebook.
The Center for Countering Disinformation said that the spread of AI-generated videos on social media has intensified, with characters presented as members of parliament, police officers, staff of territorial recruitment centers, and Ukrainian soldiers. These fabricated characters are deliberately portrayed as caricatured and overweight and, under the guise of satire, promote Russian propaganda narratives aimed at dividing Ukrainian society.
According to the Center, the enemy deliberately exploits the most sensitive social issues in such videos to cultivate hatred toward the military, police, and government officials.
The Center added that, using AI technology, this type of content is produced on a massive scale and is often disguised as Ukrainian satirical or humorous material. However, its real purpose is to destabilize Ukraine internally and demoralize Ukrainian society.
Photo: these images are fake (Center for Countering Disinformation)
This is not the first time Russians have spread fake videos about Ukrainian soldiers online. For example, AI-generated videos have been spotted on TikTok in which Ukrainian servicemen allegedly speak about a collapse of defenses, commanders’ indifference, and similar claims.
Such videos were presented as "personal confessions from the front line," but in reality they are products of generative artificial intelligence.
Fake videos about the alleged "mass surrender" of Ukrainian troops near Pokrovsk were being circulated on TikTok and were reported on earlier.
