Fact Check: Videos Depicting Crying Ukrainian Soldiers Found to Be Fabricated

Russian streamer’s face used in fake videos of “conscripted” Ukrainian soldiers

A wave of emotionally charged videos purportedly showing young Ukrainian soldiers in distress has been exposed as sophisticated AI-generated disinformation, according to an investigation by DW.

The videos, which have amassed millions of views across social media platforms worldwide, show what appears to be a tearful Ukrainian soldier pleading for help. “I’ve been mobilized, I’m heading to Chasiv Yar,” cries the subject in one video. “Help me, I don’t want to die. I’m only 23. Please help me.”

Shared in at least a dozen languages including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Russian, the most viral version reached approximately 1.8 million views on a Hungarian X account. The videos have fueled a narrative that Ukraine is forcibly drafting unwilling young men to replace battlefield losses during Russia’s ongoing invasion.

However, DW’s fact-checking team has conclusively determined these videos are fabricated. The investigation revealed multiple inconsistencies that expose the deception. Most notably, the Ukrainian military currently maintains a minimum conscription age of 25, which was only recently lowered from 27 in April 2024—never as low as 23, as claimed in the videos.

Visual analysis also identified telltale signs of AI generation, including poorly-rendered military equipment. The subject’s helmet doesn’t match standard Ukrainian military issue, a detail that would be difficult for AI to accurately replicate.

Most damning is the facial recognition evidence. The face in the viral videos belongs to Vladimir Yuryevich Ivanov, a young Russian streamer from St. Petersburg who uses the online pseudonym “Kussia88.” Ivanov maintains a substantial online presence with over 1.3 million followers on Twitch.

The username itself contains troubling symbolism—”88″ is widely recognized neo-Nazi code for “Heil Hitler,” while the double “SS” spelling and the letters “IA” (code for “14” in neo-Nazi circles) reference white nationalist slogans. These numerical codes appear throughout Ivanov’s online profiles.

The AI videos appear to have originated from a now-deleted TikTok account, @fantomoko, which produced dozens of similar clips supposedly showing distraught Ukrainian soldiers. Some videos even carried the “Sora” watermark, identifying OpenAI’s image generation technology as the likely tool used to create them.

Another face frequently appearing in these fabricated clips belongs to Aleksei Gubanov, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin now living in New York. Contacted by DW, Gubanov emphatically denied any involvement.

“All of them were created by someone using AI and without my consent or involvement,” Gubanov told DW. “I warned my audience that someone is deliberately trying to stir public outrage by creating this kind of content. Those videos play directly into Russian propaganda narratives and gain millions of views.”

According to the Ukrainian database “Stars about war,” which tracks celebrities’ positions on Russia’s invasion, Ivanov typically avoids commenting on the conflict. The database notes he was once reprimanded by Russian authorities for mocking children of mobilized soldiers, after which he reportedly apologized in a video featuring a Russian flag, stating that “Crimea is Russian.”

When contacted regarding the videos, Ivanov responded sarcastically on his Telegram channel, dismissing suggestions of direct involvement in creating the deepfakes.

This case highlights the growing sophistication of AI-generated disinformation in conflict zones, where emotional manipulation can be weaponized to undermine morale and shape international perception. As detection methods improve, so too does the quality of fake content, creating an ongoing challenge for media literacy and fact-checking organizations monitoring the information space surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war.