Russian soldiers who died fighting in Ukraine are being ‘digitally resurrected’ kissing goodbye to their wives before ascending to heaven.
Videos generated by artificial intelligence are spreading across social media, billed as a way for relatives to get closure even if they are uncertain what happened to the body of their loved on.
Created using family photos, a typical video shows a husband in his wedding suit kissing his wife tenderly, before his clothes become combat fatigues and he turns away to climb a white staircase into the sky. Turning briefly to wave at the family he leaves behind, he then walks through gates in the clouds and they close behind him.
For an extra fee, the men can voice their farewell, using archive audio as a base for how they sound.
Metro found dozens of the videos on VKontakte, a social media app seen as Russia’s version of Facebook.
One of them shows a soldier making the symbol of a heart with his hands as he looks back from heaven, while many include bereaved young children being kissed goodbye.
Some of the videos have thousands of views, and content creators are making a business out of curating the clips.
The trend has been criticised by some in Ukraine, who say it is glorifying the war by portraying those who invaded their country as martyrs.
Anna Korableva, whose ‘Final meeting’ page made the theme go viral, has made a business of charging people to make the videos, which she describes as ‘therapy’ for them.
She told the Washington Post: ”I’ve received a lot of requests from women who said I did not get to say goodbye before [their husband] left, or that they quarreled and then he died.’
One widow who commissioned a video, Yelena Kirghizova, told the paper that the loss of her husband, an officer in the Russian army, left many unanswered questions.
‘For a long time, everything was shrouded in mystery. His body was never returned to us, there was no funeral, no opportunity to say goodbye,” she said, saying she had to uncover the truth with her own investigations.
While most of the videos Ms Korableva creates are for military wives, she also makes some for beloved pets or other family members.
‘I’ve received a lot of abuse and curses in my private messages,’ Ms Korableva said. ‘But I think if these videos help someone, it’s worth doing.’
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