AI-Generated Fake Story of British Officers' Capture Circulates Globally
A fabricated narrative claiming the capture of two British army officers by Russian special forces in Ukraine has rapidly proliferated across at least 13 countries, despite the photographic “evidence” being demonstrably generated by artificial intelligence. This sophisticated disinformation campaign highlights the evolving tactics of information warfare and the challenges in combating its swift global spread.
The false story first surfaced on August 3, 2025, on pro-Russian websites, including reseauinternational.net, a platform previously identified for disseminating misinformation. These reports alleged that Russian special forces, during a raid on a Ukrainian command center in Ochakiv, southern Ukraine, had captured British Colonels Richard Carroll and Edward Blake, alongside an unidentified MI6 agent. According to the Russian news agency Eurasia Daily, a frequent purveyor of Kremlin propaganda, the officers were supposedly in full uniform, possessing secret military documents and diplomatic passports. The narrative further spun a tale of the British government’s initial denial, followed by a claim that the men were tourists, and ultimately, a failed attempt to negotiate a prisoner exchange.
However, a closer examination of the “proof” — a widely circulated photograph purporting to show the captured officers — reveals tell-tale signs of AI manipulation. The text on the prisoners’ passports is illegible, and the national crests are scrambled, bearing no resemblance to authentic British insignia. Another image, circulated separately and said to depict the officers in prison, also proved to be AI-generated. Discrepancies between the individuals in the two photographs were apparent, and their military badges were nonsensical; for instance, one supposed colonel was depicted wearing the insignia of a sergeant, entirely lacking the two stars under a crown that denote a colonel in the British Army. Furthermore, no official communication from the British government or mentions in mainstream British media outlets corroborated the capture.
The origins and dissemination pathways of this disinformation are complex and far-reaching. The fake news was shared in France by Pravda-fr, a site that the French government’s digital interference watchdog, Viginum, has flagged as part of the Russian disinformation network “Portal Kombat.” On August 6, the Russian news agency Tass picked up the story, citing Steigan, a pro-Russian Norwegian news site known for propagating conspiracy theories. Interestingly, Steigan had already deleted its article on August 4, acknowledging insufficient verification. Steigan, in turn, attributed its information to the Hal Turner Radio Show, a US-based program run by Harold Charles “Hal” Turner, an American political commentator with documented pro-Russian and anti-Semitic views.
This particular piece of disinformation illustrates a self-reinforcing network of pro-Russian media. Sites like Pravda, Tass, and Eurasia Daily, along with the broader “Russosphere” of international pro-Russia outlets such as reseauinternational.net, amplified the false narrative. The story even permeated traditional media, with the Algerian television channel AL24 hosting a 24-minute debate on the purported capture on August 5. Ultimately, the fabricated story concerning the British officers reached audiences in at least 13 countries, spanning diverse regions from Serbia and Hungary to Pakistan and Vietnam, underscoring the pervasive reach of digitally-enabled disinformation campaigns.