The video circulating online was generated using artificial intelligence based on a real video from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a popular source of information about the course of the military campaign in Ukraine and around the world.
Numerous pro-Russian sources have spread a video allegedly created by the Institute for the Study of War about an «unprecedented bribery attempt» that the institute’s employees allegedly encountered. Unnamed Ukrainians allegedly contacted the publication on behalf of credible international media outlets and offered a bribe of $100,000 to $500,000 for publishing fake information about Pokrovsk.
However, this news is fake, and the video was generated with a neural network. To fabricate the video, the propagandists used a familiar technique. They borrowed a few frames from a real video from the ISW, edited the rest from stock footage and narrated it with artificial intelligence, copying the researcher’s voice on the video. Earlier in a similar way the Russians have fabricated stories from Human Rights Watch — about Ukrainian women allegedly making up 94% of erotic streamers, and the Voice of America.
In the original video, which was published back in April 2025, geospatial researcher Harrison Hurwitz explains that the Russian offensive on Pokrovsk is aimed at capturing a strategically important logistics hub. Since Pokrovsk is a key transportation hub, control over it would significantly facilitate Russian supply and support in this direction. Despite this, Hurwitz emphasizes that the tactical dynamics are gradually changing in favor of the Ukrainian forces. Russia’s advance in the area has slowed down significantly: the pace of the offensive is no longer what it was before, and this indicates either serious logistical difficulties for the Russian troops or an effective and persistent defense on the part of Ukraine. In general, Hurwitz emphasizes that the situation on the battlefield demonstrates that the initiative at the tactical level is increasingly passing to the Ukrainian defenders. The video does not mention anything about the «unprecedented bribe» that Ukraine allegedly offered the institute.
We also reached out to the Institute for the Study of War for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
We have recently refuted similar disinformation that European journalists are being forced to lie about the situation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Pokrovsk.
