Russian families pay to ‘resurrect’ soldiers killed by Putin’s war in creepy AI videos | News World

Russian troops killed within the war in Ukraine are being ‘brought back to life’ in an eerie recent AI resurrection trend.

Grieving families pay for videos showing final hugs with wives and other relatives, kisses and ascents to heaven for the fighters.

Dozens of communities on Russian ‘Facebook’ VK with a combined audience of lots of of 1000’s of users now offer these ‘farewell videos’ of the Kremlin’s fallen troops.

The videos follow a strikingly similar script through which a fallen soldier appears, embraces family members, after which walks away into the sky, disappears, or is escorted by angels through the Pearly Gates.

Each clip is paired with an obituary. The soldiers are shown as if in real life, with no indications of the fatal wounds they suffered from getting used as Putin’s cannon fodder.

In 4 years of fighting, the Kremlin is estimated to have sent 350,000 soldiers to their deaths in a war that has led to only minuscule territorial gains.

Prices for the AI resurrections start at around 1,500 rubles (£13) for an easy animated hug, rising to three,500–4,000 rubles (£30–£35) for more elaborate scenes—including a ‘goodbye kiss’ or perhaps a voice simulation of the dead.

There are even waiting lists or extra charges for rush orders. Families commission videos to recreate a ‘final meeting’ with sons, husbands or fathers killed in combat.

One video shows soldier Alexei, 49, ascending the steps to heaven in his Russian military uniform.

One other depicts Sergei, 40, hugging and kissing his wife, and embracing his brother and oldsters, before smiling, waving, and then climbing the steps to the Pearly Gates.

Vladimir, 36, kisses his sleeping wife farewell on the pillow before ascending the steps to the afterlife, awaited by two angels.

One service openly advertises: ‘Using neural networks… we recreate the moment of reunion and send them off to heaven.’

Psychologists say such videos can act as a coping mechanism for grief, allowing relatives to process loss. But critics say it has also develop into a profitable digital industry built around death, where emotion is packaged into algorithm-generated content.

One pro-Ukrainian source called the Russian videos ‘cringeworthy,’ showing ‘resurrected occupiers’ who died fighting in an illegal war.

‘To avoid such a loss,  you can simply not send your husband or son to a war of conquest,’ they said.

There may be also a suspicion of a powerful Russian propaganda motive behind the videos – portraying the dead fighters as doing God’s work.

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