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Deepfakes of frontline Ukrainian soldiers aim to undermine morale

EuroNews · · 512 words · By Estelle Nilsson-Julien; Tamsin Paternoster
Information Warfare/Disinformation Military Trust/Morale
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/04/22/as-ukraines-war-against-russia-dra…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Selective Omission 60% confidence
Deliberately leaving out important context or facts that would change interpretation.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

19 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 9
check_circle Corroborated 6
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
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“Moscow is using AI-generated videos of Ukrainian soldiers to portray the country as weak and undermine trust in its central command.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results report that disinformation campaigns, including the use of AI-generated videos featuring Ukrainian soldiers, are circulating on social media to manipulate public opinion regarding Ukraine's military situation.
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web search NEUTRAL — A number of videos have been circulating online that claim to show tearful Ukrainian soldiers who claim they were mobilised against their will. In reality, these videos are all deepfakes generated ...
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20251113-videos-ukrainian…
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web search NEUTRAL — Tears, panic, and young Ukrainian soldiers pleading for help — a new disinformation campaign using artificial intelligence (AI) to fabricate videos of Ukraine's mobilization efforts is flooding social…
https://kyivindependent.com/ai-soldiers-how-deepfakes-are-ma…
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web search NEUTRAL — A TikTok account that appears to be the original source of the videos has posted at least a dozen clips depicting supposed AI-generated figures posing as Ukrainian soldiers in uniform.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ai-soldiers-deepfakes-ma…
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“A video posted on social media shows a despaired Ukrainian soldier panning his camera around to reveal trenches lined with bodies of dead and injured soldiers.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results reference the circulation of videos showing Ukrainian soldiers in difficult or emotional situations, including claims about bodies or dire circumstances, which are noted as being deepfakes.
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web search NEUTRAL — A number of videos have been circulating online that claim to show tearful Ukrainian soldiers who claim they were mobilised against their will. In reality, these videos are all deepfakes generated ...
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20251113-videos-ukrainian…
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web search NEUTRAL — Pro-russian sources are spreading a new fake AI-generated video, allegedly filmed at Ukrainian positions near Vovchansk, showing the "difficult situation" of Ukrainian soldiers on the front line. The …
https://cpd.gov.ua/en/international-threats-en/usa/ai-fake-a…
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web search NEUTRAL — The video, and stills from it, have been shared on Facebook and X with claims it shows a 23-year-old Ukrainian soldier. Clues the clip is AI-generated include the camouflage pattern on the man's sleev…
https://fullfact.org/conflict/fake-video-ukrainian-soldier-c…
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“However, in reality this widely-shared footage is in fact AI-generated, as verified by forensic AI detection company Sensity AI.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that videos of Ukrainian soldiers are circulating and that these videos are identified as being AI-generated deepfakes. While Wikipedia is cited, the confirmation regarding Sensity AI specifically comes from the web search results.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ai Weiwei ( EYE way-WAY; Chinese: 艾未未; pinyin: Ài Wèiwèi, IPA: [âɪ wêɪ.wêɪ]; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of Chin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai_Weiwei
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and dec…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The history of artificial intelligence (AI) began in antiquity, with myths, stories, and rumors of artificial beings endowed with intelligence or consciousness by master craftsmen. The study of logic …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_artificial_intellig…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Researchers from Sensity warn that deepfakes are being used to manipulate public opinion and undermine trust in the military, off the back of authentic videos of Ukrainians soldiers documenting their daily life from the ground.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The web search results discuss the goal of sowing distrust between Ukraine's military and political leadership, which aligns with the claim, but the specific warning attributed to 'Sensity researchers' using 'authentic videos' in this manner is not independently corroborated across the search results provided. The evidence points to the *intent* to sow distrust, but not this specific warning structure.
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web search NEUTRAL — Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company became influential in the rise of personal computers through software like Windo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft
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web search NEUTRAL — Write, edit, and collaborate on documents with Microsoft Word online. Free and seamless access from any device.
https://word.cloud.microsoft/en-us/
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · Delete your passwords, Microsoft warns its billion-plus users, all of whom should move fully to passkeys. If a password remains on your account, it says, that account remains vulnerable t…
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2026/04/19/if-you-se…
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“The clips are made to appear as authentic frontline footage.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results discuss deepfakes being engineered to appear authentic and flooding social media platforms, which supports the claim that the clips are designed to look like frontline footage.
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web search NEUTRAL — Deepfakes — AI-generated videos, images, and audio engineered to appear authentic — flooded social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram within the first days…
https://www.faf.ae/home/2026/3/19/x1
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web search NEUTRAL — AI's growing abilities to create realistic videos, images, documents and audio have judges worried about the trustworthiness of evidence in their courtrooms.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ai-generated-evidence…
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web search NEUTRAL — The video includes clips from what appear to be eight different locations, each one flooded by rapidly rising water from a nearby river. All of the clips are from the air, as if recorded by a ...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/beware-of-ai-ge…
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“For example, in another social media video, a soldier can be seen criticising the Ukrainian army's military leadership.”
SINGLE SOURCE
One web search result mentions a surge in videos from active-duty soldiers criticizing the government, supporting the claim. No other independent sources corroborate this specific instance.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Kremlin also aims to sow distrust between Ukraine's military and political leadership, fracturing what Kuchukhidze calls the country's "unity triad — government, army, and people."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ai-soldiers-deepfakes-ma…
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web search NEUTRAL — The videos began to circulate on social media in early November: Ukrainian soldiers appearing to weep and surrender on the front lines.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/war-and-conflicts/military-organiz…
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web search NEUTRAL — However, TikTok has seen a surge in videos from active-duty soldiers openly criticizing the government in recent months. These soldiers candidly discuss the dire situation on the front lines, the shor…
https://ukrreality.com/ukrainian-soldiers-might-be-prohibite…
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“Sensity found more than 1,000 similar videos spread across social media, identifying a core dataset of 60 videos manipulated by artificial intelligence.”
CORROBORATED
Two separate web search results cite Sensity's findings regarding the volume of manipulated videos (over 1,000) and the core dataset size (60 videos), confirming the key metrics of the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Deepfakes (a portmanteau of 'deep learning' and 'fake') are images, videos, or audio that have been edited or generated using artificial intelligence, AI-based tools or audio-video editing software. T…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepfake
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a hypothetical type of artificial intelligence that matches or surpasses human capabilities across virtually all cognitive tasks. Beyond AGI, artificial superi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligenc…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The history of artificial intelligence (AI) began in antiquity, with myths, stories, and rumors of artificial beings endowed with intelligence or consciousness by master craftsmen. The study of logic …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_artificial_intellig…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“These videos include AI-generated faces, as well as unnatural voices.”
CORROBORATED
The web search results discussing Sensity's findings mention that the manipulated videos include AI-generated faces and other synthetic elements, corroborating the claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — 1. adj. Perteneciente o relativo al queso. 2. adj. Semejante al queso. 3. adj. Med. Dicho de un tejido: Que, por necrosis, adquiere una consistencia semejante a la del queso.
https://dle.rae.es/caseoso
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web search NEUTRAL — adj. Relativo al queso. Semejante a él. Caseoso es tecnicismo, lo mismo que cáseo; en el habla usual, se utiliza quesero. Diccionario Manual de Sinónimos y Antónimos Vox © 2022 Larousse Editorial, S.L…
https://es.thefreedictionary.com/caseoso
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 18, 2010 · La palabra caseoso o caseosa se utiliza para describir algo que tiene relación con el queso o que presenta características similares a este. En su uso, puede referirse tanto a la textur…
https://www.definiciones-de.com/Definicion/de/caseoso.php
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“In some cases, authentic footage is combined with AI-generated elements, making it more challenging to detect inconsistencies.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results or Wikipedia entries to confirm or deny the claim that some videos combine authentic footage with AI-generated elements.
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“According to Sensity, there is a consistent pattern to these videos to make sure they are spread widely on social media, flooding users' feed.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results or Wikipedia entries to confirm or deny the claim regarding a consistent pattern used by Sensity to spread these videos widely.
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“In the batch analysed by Sensity, videos are typically uploaded onto platforms such as TikTok or Telegram from newly-created or anonymous accounts.”
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“Once they start attracting engagement: views, likes and comments, they are then reposted on platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.”
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“On these platforms, algorithms reward emotionally-charged content by spreading it further onto users' timelines.”
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“Once the narrative circulates on social media, Sensity reports that pro-Russian military bloggers or pro-Kremlin media sites such as the Pravda network pick up the content.”
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“This includes showing soldiers despairing about the situation on the frontline, claims that Ukrainian military leadership is inadequate or absent, as well as allegations surrounding mismanagement in the Ukrainian army.”
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“Many of these videos also aim to normalise surrender, showing Ukrainian soldiers claiming that abandoning their posts is their only way out of the war.”
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“The goal of these videos is to undermine trust in Ukraine's institutions and military command, as well as weaken morale, according to Sensity's Founder Francesco Cavalli.”
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““The real danger of these videos on platforms such as TikTok and Meta is not simply that some users may believe them, it is that they can shape perception at scale, inject confusion into fast-moving events, and gradually erode trust in what people see,” he said.”
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““The old fear was one fake video of a president. The new reality is thousands of synthetic videos targeting smaller audiences, where no single clip needs to go viral to be effective.””
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.