Stirring orchestral sounds accompany footage of a snow-covered Moscow avenue lined with signs announcing peace in Ukraine.

"The Special Military Operation has concluded," reads one imagined sign using official Kremlin phrasing for the conflict. "Our heroes return home."

Below it a striking digitally enhanced woman with a stroller spots a uniformed soldier and embraces him tearfully.

The brief AI-created sequence appeared on Instagram from popular blogger Katya Jin and the pair seem based on her and her spouse.

In truth like many thousands of Russian troops his whereabouts stay unknown after vanishing at the front.

AI-made images and clips of Russian soldiers have spread widely on social platforms since mid-2025 often shared by families of those serving in Ukraine.

Most depict the troops as protectors of nation and kin in a manner that draws sharp criticism.

Ukraine and the war's devastation rarely appear and many Ukrainians who viewed the material expressed strong dismay online.

Some bereaved households use the AI material as part of their grieving while deepfakes of the deceased sometimes feature in memorial services.

Online reactions split sharply with some moved to tears and others labeling the approach unethical and unsettling.

Little research exists yet on the lasting mental and social effects of such technology during mourning notes Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska a scholar at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at Cambridge University.

"Producing 'deadbots' or deepfakes of fallen Russian soldiers returning from Ukraine proves highly intricate and hard to judge ethically in simple terms" she observes.

BBC Russian contacted Katya Jin for input yet she offered no replies. After initial coverage of her account she removed the AI material from Instagram and TikTok whether by chance or intent.

She had frequently shared such AI clips with her large TikTok audience and smaller Instagram following often paired with guides on creating them.

Her personal family narrative formed part of the promotion allowing viewers to commission similar pieces featuring their own relatives.

Numerous individuals requested comparable content with deceased family members supplying photos for AI to animate based on chosen instructions.

Couples could appear in chosen scenes or positions with added cinematic touches while touching farewell notes could be generated for the hands of a lost loved one.

Many clips center on troops killed in action a topic Russian officials usually avoid highlighting.

These sequences typically follow a pattern with a uniformed man hugging family before ascending stairs into a clear sky often amid angelic figures. In others the spirit of the fallen soldier seems to hold relatives from above.

You should be ashamed

Anna Korableva from Kamensk-Uralsky east of Yekaterinburg started producing AI videos with her sister in May 2025.

Her "Farewell video" effort aims to aid those facing incomplete goodbyes and offer a chance to embrace husbands parents or children once more.

"During the early months of this work I wept nearly daily" she shared with the BBC. "Later I managed to separate my feelings from the task and concentrate on technical quality so each video honors the memory beautifully."

Most commissions according to Korableva come from relatives of soldiers lost since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Though Russian authorities withhold verified casualty numbers the BBC Mediazona and volunteers have confirmed at least 225000 Russian military deaths so far.

The actual toll is thought far greater.

Other AI clips online show living Russian soldiers still deployed with some showing women enveloping husbands in angel wings as symbolic protection.

Such portrayals of troops as guardians and angels unsurprisingly spark anger among Ukrainians who see them.

"You should feel shame displaying your 'heroes' who sought blood money by harming our children" one Ukrainian viewer remarked.

Global AI generation tools have grown hard to reach from Russia prompting many to seek help from creators like Katya Jin and Anna Korableva.

In Russia AI military-themed images and videos range from 200 roubles (two pounds) to 10000 roubles (one hundred pounds).

Quality differs with some outputs missing limbs or showing warped faces.

Low production expenses allow certain creators to earn well.

One AI maker Ulyana Lebed married to a Russian serviceman reported monthly earnings of 150000 to 200000 roubles (1500 to 2000 pounds) about twice the national average wage.

Critics view this as profiting from sorrow.

"Beware lest loss visits you next. Certain topics deserve respect yet you sought only gain" one commenter posted under an AI clip of a fallen soldier.

Dubious value of AI-generated content

These soldier videos form part of a worldwide "digital afterlife" sector observes Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska.

Posthumous avatars already appear in museums courtrooms and political efforts so their rise during wartime when death and loss dominate feels predictable to her.

Ethically the political setting renders the videos deeply troubling she notes while psychologically it remains unclear if the visuals aid grief or intensify it.

"We all participate in a vast technological and cultural trial" Nowaczyk-Basińska states.

Some who ordered AI videos of lost loved ones told the BBC the results brought little relief.

"Could technology help me accept never hugging my son again? No it remains an illusion" one woman remarked.

"Mentally of course it changed nothing how could it?" said another who bought an AI image of her late husband for his gravestone.

She nonetheless displayed two additional AI images in her bedroom.

Others indicated the videos fostered a feeling of connection even within fantasy or a virtual setting.

"Thank you AI for allowing time with my loved one" one Russian woman wrote under a farewell video of her husband. "Nearly two years have passed since you left."