Overview
- A Ukrainian nonprofit, Terrecon, catalogued 981 songs it classifies as AI‑generated pro‑Russian war propaganda that were uploaded and streamed on services such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Deezer.
- Most of the identified tracks were released after 2024 when consumer AI music generators like Suno and Udio became widely available and sharply lowered the time and cost to produce new songs.
- The songs span genres from ballads to thrash metal, commonly glorify Russian soldiers, describe the 2022 invasion as a necessary defence, and sometimes use derogatory language toward Ukrainians; one Suno‑made track, “Power Of Artillery,” has more than two million YouTube views.
- Streaming platforms and AI services have inconsistent rules: Spotify recently said it will label AI songs and avoid recommending them, Deezer and YouTube require some AI disclosure, and automated moderation often only blocks specific banned words rather than judging overall propaganda intent.
- Direct Kremlin involvement in creating or uploading the tracks is unproven, though Kremlin‑linked cultural organisations have promoted hundreds of war‑themed projects, and researchers warn the trend could make low‑cost, high‑volume propaganda easier to produce and harder for platforms to police.