MOSCOW, Russia — Thousands of Russian families affected by the war in Ukraine are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to create digital images and videos of loved ones killed or missing on the battlefield, a growing trend that is raising ethical, psychological, and political concerns.
The AI-generated content, which has spread widely across Russian social media since mid-2025, typically depicts soldiers returning home, embracing family members, or appearing as angelic figures watching over relatives from heaven.
For many grieving families, the technology offers a virtual opportunity to say goodbye. Critics, however, argue that it risks commercialising grief while sanitising the realities of a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
One widely shared video showed a woman reuniting with a uniformed soldier on a snow-covered Moscow street lined with billboards declaring an end to the conflict. The clip was created by a popular Russian blogger known as Katya Jin, whose husband disappeared while fighting in Ukraine.
Although the scenes are fictional, they resonate deeply with families searching for comfort after losing relatives in the war.
AI creators across Russia now offer customised videos and photographs for grieving families. Clients submit photographs of deceased or missing relatives, and artificial intelligence tools animate the images into emotionally charged scenes of reunions, farewells, or family moments that never happened.
The practice has become particularly common among families of Russian soldiers killed during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to independent research conducted by the BBC, Mediazona and volunteers, more than 225,000 Russian military deaths have been verified since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, although the true number is believed to be significantly higher.
Some AI creators say their work helps families find closure.
Anna Korableva, who launched a project producing AI-generated farewell videos in 2025, said many clients seek a final emotional connection with loved ones they never had the chance to properly mourn.
“The aim is to help people cope with unfinished farewells and give them a chance to embrace husbands, parents, and children again,” she said.
Yet experts warn that the long-term consequences of such technology remain largely unknown.
Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska, a researcher at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, described the phenomenon as part of a broader global “digital afterlife” industry.
“Creating deepfakes of deceased soldiers is extremely complex and ethically difficult to assess,” she said, noting that society is effectively participating in a large-scale technological experiment whose psychological effects are not yet understood.
The videos have also sparked anger in Ukraine, where many view them as glorifying Russian soldiers while ignoring the devastation caused by the invasion.
Many of the clips portray servicemen as heroic defenders of families and nation, with little or no reference to the destruction inflicted on Ukrainian communities.
The growing market has also become lucrative. Some AI creators report earning between 150,000 and 200,000 roubles (about Sh240,000 to Sh320,000) monthly, prompting accusations that businesses are profiting from personal tragedy.
Despite the controversy, demand continues to rise.
For some families, the digital recreations provide comfort and a sense of connection. Others say the technology only reinforces the painful reality of loss.
“Could technology help me accept that I will never hug my son again? No. It’s an illusion,” one Russian mother told the BBC.
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly sophisticated and accessible, experts say governments, technology companies, and societies will face growing pressure to establish ethical boundaries around the digital recreation of the dead, particularly in the context of war and mass loss.
