AI-generated images of deceased Russian soldiers spark ethical concerns
Russian families and content creators have increasingly used AI-generated deepfakes of deceased soldiers since mid-2025 to portray them as returning from war or to mourn their losses. The practice has sparked ethical concerns among researchers and Ukrainian observers, who report emotional distress and worry about the long-term psychological impact of such content.
What happened
AI-generated photos and videos featuring Russian soldiers have gained popularity on social media since mid-2025, most often posted by relatives of Russian servicemen fighting in Ukraine.
Popular blogger Katya Jin posted a 15-second AI-generated video on Instagram depicting a couple modelled on her and her husband, in which the man in military uniform returns home. In reality, her husband disappeared at the front and his fate remains unknown.
Katya Jin regularly posted AI videos to her 10 million TikTok followers and 50,000 Instagram followers, often alongside tutorials explaining how to make them, and offered to create similar content for viewers featuring their own deceased relatives in exchange for photographs.
Reported impact
Responses online to such clips are sharply divided: some viewers said they were brought to tears, while others see the practice as unethical and deeply disturbing.
Many Ukrainians who have seen the videos have been appalled, as the soldiers are portrayed as heroes defending their country and loved ones, while Ukraine and the destruction caused by Russia's invasion is usually absent.
Very little is yet known about the long-term psychological and social impact of this technology on the grieving process.
Index analysis
Katarzyna Nowaczyk-BasiΕska, a researcher at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, said that creating deepfakes of fallen soldiers is extremely complex and ethically difficult to assess in a clear-cut way.
For some grieving families, AI content provides a way to mourn their loved ones; in some cases, deepfakes featuring deceased people are used at funerals.
Governance controls
After BBC Russian first reported Katya Jin's story, she removed her AI-generated content from Instagram and TikTok.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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