The images being circulated online were generated using artificial intelligence.
Following the Russian strike on Kyiv in the early hours of June 15th, during which the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was among the sites damaged, propaganda began sharing a conspiracy theory: even though photographing missile impacts in Ukraine is prohibited, the moment of the strike on the church was allegedly captured by photographers with professional equipment. As supposed evidence, the Russians produced images of these purported photographers at work. According to their claims, this proves that the strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was orchestrated by the Ukrainian government to “blackmail” the West and discredit the Russian military. The Kremlin continues to insist that it carries out exclusively precision strikes against military targets.
In reality, however, the images of photographers allegedly documenting the strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra were generated using artificial intelligence. StopFake was able to establish this using SynthID technology — invisible watermarks that neural image generation platforms automatically embed in content they produce, allowing it to be identified. By uploading the photographs to the OpenAI database, we determined that the images were generated using OpenAI’s own tools — ChatGPT, the OpenAI API, or Codex.
Following the strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Air Force spokesman Colonel Yurii Ihnat emphasized that sharing photographs of the strikes’ aftermath on social media is inadvisable for more than one reason: propaganda actively uses such content to spread disinformation, including the narrative that Ukrainians are “shelling themselves.” As a reminder, filming and sharing footage of enemy strikes and their consequences, as well as air defense operations, is prohibited — even in private chats and Telegram channels. At the same time, photographs or videos taken for personal archiving and not published online do not violate the law; however, lawyers caution that in such cases law enforcement agencies are entitled to conduct a check to verify that the relevant materials have not been distributed online.
Propagandists tirelessly manufacture fakes claiming that Ukraine is “shelling itself” to justify their own war crimes and lend credibility to the narrative of “precision Russian strikes against military targets.” Such disinformation campaigns are particularly active whenever civilian infrastructure becomes the target of Russian projectiles. We have previously debunked stories claiming that Ukraine Is Deliberately Blowing Up Civilian Infrastructure To Blame Russia For Missile Strikes, that the Ukrainian Military Shelled Olenivka with HIMARS on President Zelensky’s Orders and that the Children’s Hospital Ohmatdyt Was Hit By Ukrainian Missile.
