On February 2, a Russian-language Facebook page that frequently spreads disinformation, Саня во Флориде, published a photo of a banner that it claimed was an advertisement for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The banner bears the following text: “Completely frozen? It’s warm with us! We also have electricity and hot food. Join the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
On the same day, the photo was also shared in the Russian-language Facebook group Украинский ГАМБИТ (Ukrainian Gambit).
The photo circulating on Facebook was generated using artificial intelligence, as evidenced by several visual inconsistencies and confirmed by an AI-detection tool. The advertising banner is fake and is intended to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The fact that the banner was created by artificial intelligence is supported by multiple visual anomalies. For example, the inscription in the upper right corner of the image – “Прекифузнси Зачний свин” – has no meaning in any language. AI-generated visual content often contains text written in an unclear or nonexistent language, with letters mixed together in a similar manner.
In addition, the official name of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is distorted in the fabricated image. Instead of the correct form – “Збройні Сили України” – the banner reads “Зіройні Сили України.” At the same time, the website listed on the banner – zsu.team – does not belong to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
A similar poster can be found in open sources, though it contains different text. A comparison of the poster and the billboard shows that the photo of the soldiers and the design are identical, but the text has been altered. The original version reads, “Join the contract military service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” In addition, in the upper left corner, where the fabricated image contains unclear text, the original version reads, “Join us! Defend your own!”
We verified the image using the Hive Moderation tool. According to the results, the probability that the photo was generated by artificial intelligence is 99%.
The fake banner image was initially published by Саня во Флориде, a page that frequently spreads posts discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukrainian politicians. On February 2, the same page also shared another version of the banner with different, offensive text: “Tired of defecating into a bag? Join the Armed Forces of Ukraine – you’ll soil your pants.”
As a result of Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, thousands of people have been left without electricity, further exacerbating the humanitarian situation during harsh winter conditions. The circulated fake banner exploits precisely this situation.
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