Russia deploys AI-generated female personas to lure Ukrainian soldiers to their deaths

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has reported that Russia is deploying fake online profiles featuring AI-generated images of women to build trust with Ukrainian soldiers, ultimately luring them into deadly traps.

Three versions of the scheme

According to the SBU, the fraudulent operation takes three distinct forms. One approach is designed for a quick outcome, described as a "fast kill." Another relies on a longer-term method, in which operators sustain extended conversations with a target soldier over time to gradually build trust before exploiting it.

Six soldiers killed

The SBU states that this use of fake AI-generated identities has already contributed to the deaths of six Ukrainian soldiers. The agency frames the tactic as part of a broader honey-trap strategy, in which posing as a woman online is used to extract militarily useful information or draw a victim into a vulnerable position.

The disclosure suggests that Russian intelligence services are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence tools to automate and make more convincing these psychological manipulation attempts targeting frontline personnel. The SBU's warning about the scheme appears to be part of a wider effort to alert military members to the risks of digital manipulation during wartime.

Further details about how the scheme operates in practice, or about the specific circumstances in which the six soldiers died, have not been made public.