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Russia’s war propaganda gets a soundtrack – how AI-generated songs reached global streaming platforms Russian war propaganda is no longer confined to television broadcasts, Telegram channels or political videos. A study by the Ukrainian threat-intelligence organisation Terrecon has identified 981 songs combining signs of AI generation with pro-Russian military narratives, distributed through an ecosystem that reaches YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and SoundCloud. The songs range from sentimental ballads to rock and heavy metal. Their recurring themes are familiar from conventional Russian wartime propaganda: the heroisation of Russian soldiers, romanticisation of the war, mobilisation, the “Russian world”, commemoration of fallen troops and attacks on Ukraine and its armed forces. Some contain derogatory or dehumanising references to Ukrainians. What is new is not necessarily the message, but the production and distribution model: generative AI allows propagandistic music to be produced rapidly, cheaply and in quantities that would previously have required musicians, studios and producers. Nearly 1,000 tracks identified Terrecon examined 3,725 tracks collected from YouTube, YouTube Music, SoundCloud and the AI music platform Suno. After manual review, researchers classified 981 as showing both indications of AI generation and pro-Russian war propaganda. In 681 tracks they identified 728 propaganda-related keywords or phrases. The largest category was the glorification of the Russian military, followed by romanticised treatment of Moscow’s so-called “special military operation”, mobilisation appeals, narratives about the “Russian world”, and the cult of fallen soldiers and the state. The reach was not merely theoretical. Listening or viewing statistics were available for 608 of the identified tracks; together they had accumulated 86.8 million plays and views, according to Terrecon. A smaller group of 13 high-performing songs accounted for more than 53 million YouTube views and more than 67 million when YouTube Music was included. Among the better-known examples is “Power of Artillery”, a Russian-language rock song praising artillery weapons that passed two million views on YouTube. Most of the tracks for which publication dates could be established appeared after 2024, broadly coinciding with the rapid expansion of consumer AI music generators such as Suno and Udio. That correlation does not prove that AI alone caused the increase, but it illustrates how drastically the economics of production have changed. A propaganda song for as little as $11 Terrecon also tested how difficult it would be to commission such material. Researchers approached 25 creators producing AI-assisted militaristic music; 15 agreed to take commissions. Prices ranged from approximately $11 to $330, while delivery times ranged from two hours to three days. According to Terrecon, some were prepared to produce highly aggressive anti-Ukrainian material, including content intended for audiences involving children from occupied Ukrainian territories. Some creators used Russian intermediary services that provided access to Western AI tools such as Suno and Udio despite restrictions. The researchers then tested several AI generators themselves. Across 40 prompts submitted to Suno, Udio, Mureka, Google Flow Music and ElevenLabs, 25 resulted in successful generations, while safeguards were circumvented in 15 cases. Terrecon reported that four of the five services tested produced Russian-language material containing wartime narratives, although technical problems prevented comparable testing on some systems. In one Udio experiment, the researchers said the model itself introduced more explicit violent language than had appeared in the original promp These tests do not demonstrate that the commercial platforms knowingly support Russian propaganda. They show something narrower: existing safeguards can be inconsistent when political messaging is packaged as music. From generation to Spotify The distribution experiment may be the most revealing part of Terrecon’s research. The team deliberately uploaded test tracks containing explicit hostile language to YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify and Deezer. Terrecon says none was blocked during the experiment. On SoundCloud, researchers used an account identifying its location as Moscow, disclosed the use of AI and added markers including references to the Russian military and the war. The platform accepted the upload and subsequently offered paid promotional and distribution tools. This does not prove that streaming recommendation systems systematically promote pro-war music. There is currently insufficient public evidence to make that claim. It does demonstrate that material can enter the same commercial distribution infrastructure as ordinary music and, once there, potentially benefit from playlists, searches, sharing and recommendation mechanisms available to other releases. That distinction is important. Propaganda no longer has to announce itself as political communication. On a streaming platform it can look like another song. Culture as a delivery mechanism Music has always been used in wartime propaganda. What generative AI changes is scale. Instead of investing heavily in a limited number of patriotic performers or officially commissioned productions, creators can generate variations across styles, audiences and emotional registers at very low cost. Terrecon found material ranging from war rock to sentimental songs and content styled for younger audiences. Some creators also experimented with cloned celebrity voices and stylistic imitation of established musicians. The format also offers a different relationship with the audience. A political video asks a viewer to consume an argument. Music can accompany commuting, exercise or entertainment and may be encountered outside explicitly political spaces. This does not automatically make it more persuasive, and Terrecon’s research does not establish measurable effects on political attitudes. It does, however, place wartime narratives inside a cultural environment where users may not initially perceive themselves as consuming political messaging. An ecosystem, not a proven Kremlin command structure The strongest evidence supports describing this as a growing AI-assisted pro-Russian propaganda-music ecosystem, not a single operation controlled from Moscow. Terrecon did not establish that the Russian government created, financed or coordinated all 981 tracks. Reporting on the study likewise notes that the extent of direct state involvement remains unclear. There is broader evidence that the Russian state finances cultural projects and digital content supporting the war, including through state-backed funding bodies. That context matters, but it does not allow individual songs in Terrecon’s dataset to be attributed to the Kremlin without additional evidence. The significance of the case lies elsewhere. AI has reduced the cost of producing ideological content, intermediaries can help creators access generation tools, and global platforms can provide distribution. The result is a pipeline in which wartime propaganda no longer has to resemble propaganda at all. It can simply appear in a playlist. Sources Terrecon / Ukrainska Pravda — Daria Verbytska on the research https://www.pravda.com.ua/columns/2026/10/05/8056229/ Suspilne Culture — detailed breakdown of Terrecon findings https://suspilne.media/culture/1417933-rosijsku-voennu-propagandu-maskuut-pid-anime-karaoke-ta-rok-doslidzenna-si-pisen-vid-terrecon/ The Insider — AI-generated Russian war propaganda music https://theins.ru/news/297839 Institute of Mass Information — summary of New York Times reporting https://imi.org.ua/en/news/doslidzhennya-rf-masovo-stvoryu%D1%94-propagandistski-pisni-za-dopomogoyu-shi The Bridge Media — AI-generated songs and Russian military propaganda https://thebridgemedia.com.ua/en/ai-generated-songs-russian-military-propaganda/ Center for Strategic Communication — cost and production of AI propaganda music https://spravdi.org/propaganda-za-11-yak-rosiya-shtampuye-shi-pisni-z-miljonamy-prosluhovuvan/ Times of India — AI-generated Russian war songs https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/ai-sings-russias-war-story-inside-the-rise-of-generative-songs-about-ukraine-conflict/articleshow/134650594.cms EU Council / EUR-Lex — Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32026D1351 Human Rights Watch — Russian state funding of digital and patriotic content https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/07/30/disrupted-throttled-and-blocked/state-censorship-control-and-increasing-isolation #DISINFORMED #Episode16 #Russia #Ukraine #RussianPropaganda #WarPropaganda #MusicPropaganda #AIMusic #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #GenerativeAI #SyntheticMedia #AIPropaganda #Disinformation #InformationWarfare #InfluenceOperations #CulturalPropaganda #DigitalInfluence #NarrativeManipulation #PropagandaMusic #StreamingPlatforms #Spotify #AppleMusic #YouTube #YouTubeMusic #Deezer #SoundCloud #Suno #Udio #RussianWorld #RusskiyMir #MilitaryPropaganda #WarNarratives #Mobilisation #AlgorithmicDistribution #RecommendationAlgorithms #MusicStreaming #PlatformManipulation #Terrecon #OSINT #MediaManipulation #WRLD

The draft amendment to the so-called Lex Kamilek introduces new rules regarding the verification of parents and guardians of children in schools, as well as the processing of images of minors, aimed at protecting children from threats. #LexKamilek #OchronaDzieci #PrawoWPolsce (translated)

The author of the entry accused Bogucki of manipulating the message about Nawrocki's decisions and questioned the claim that each of them stemmed solely from concern for Poles. He pointed out that political calculations, ideological disputes, and his own strategy could also stand behind the vetoes. He requested clarification on, among other things, the veto against the wind farm bill combined with solutions concerning energy prices, and then the presentation of his own project containing some of those solutions; the veto against the SAFE act regarding financing security and defense; and the referral of the act on extraordinary profits of fuel companies to the Constitutional Tribunal. He also asked about the vetoes against laws about the active farmer, the principles of practicing the profession by some doctors from outside the EU, the status of a close person, regulations of the cryptocurrency market — which were vetoed twice — and the amendment of the so-called Lex Kamilek. The author noted that Nawrocki had the right to use the veto power and conduct his own policy, although he still had fundamental doubts about the constitutional basis of his office's functioning. In his opinion, however, it was necessary to openly discuss the political, constitutional, economic, ideological, and strategic motives behind decisions, rather than presenting one's own actions as serving Poland, while portraying the government's actions as blackmail or a political game. He compared such a narrative to Trump's politics, where — as he wrote — one's own actions are presented as the state's interest, while opponents' actions are depicted as betrayal or blackmail. He added that Poland's system differed from the system of the United States and emphasized that he had provided just a few examples, without a detailed analysis of subsequent vetoes, laws, and statements. #Polska #polityka #demokracja (translated)

If Tidö had won the election, one could have now moved on to the next step in the constitutional amendment to then enact a law stating that citizenship can be revoked if granted on false grounds or in cases of serious crimes. It is now not possible due to the small parties on the right outside of parliament. I propose that we call the rule that all criminal immigrants retain their citizenship Lex Kasselstrand-Allard. #medborgarskap #grundlag #politik (translated)

A patient was sent home from the healthcare center despite clear signs of an acute heart attack, which led to a Lex Maria report and a lasting injury to the heart muscle, and new routines have been implemented to improve patient safety. #LexMaria #Patientsäkerhet #Hjärtinfarkt (translated)

“el marco de energías renovables para la próxima década debería ser una contribución justa de todos los Estados miembros y un despliegue rentable de las energías renovables en toda la Unión”Los ministros de Energía y Transición Ecológica de los tres países, Sara Aagesen y Maria da Graça Carvalho y Lex Delles, respectivamente, abogan porque “el marco de energías renovables para la próxima década debería ser una contribución justa de todos los Estados miembros y un despliegue rentable de las energías renovables en toda la Unión”. #EnergíasRenovables #TransiciónEcológica #UniónEuropea

Kto chce wygrać w Krakowie, powinien pokazać mieszkańcom, gdzie stoi w sprawie Lex AirBnB. Gdzie stoi w sprawie patohoteli, które zatruwają ludziom życie i odbierają spokój w domach. W stolicy Małopolski ilość mieszkań pod airbnb wzrosła r/r o 15 proc. Nic dziwnego, że kandydaci na Prezydenta Krakowa obiecują walkę z patologiami airbnb. Tego nie da się już przemilczeć. 350 tysięcy Krakusów mieszka w spółdzielniach mieszkaniowych. Ustawa, która idzie przez Sejm nie daje im de facto żadnego prawa do decydowania czy chcą mieć taki hotel w swoim domu. Ale to można zmienić. Jeszcze przed II turą wystarczy opowiedzieć się za poprawką, którą zgłosiliśmy jako @PL_2050. Zróbmy proste „sprawdzam”, kto chce dać mieszkańcom Krakowa prawo, aby decydowali sami o sobie, a kto stoi po stronie korpo-najemców i patohoteli. #Kraków #LexAirBnB #Mieszkania

Vor dem Hintergrund des Treffens von @AussenMinDE #Wadephul mit Lawrow sollte man sich nochmal die Aussage von @JoWadephul von 2025 in Erinnerung rufen: „Wie auch immer der Krieg mit Russland ausgehen wird, Russland wird für uns immer ein Feind sein.“ https://t.co/GBavIYplsu D.h. wir haben einen Außenminister, der Russland als eine Art "Erzfeind" und den Krieg in der Ukraine aus seiner Perspektive als @CDU-Politiker als "Krieg mit Russland" bezeichnet. Hintergrund zur damaligen Aussage: Wadephul tätigte die Aussage im Januar 2025, im Glauben mit dem damaligen Leiter des Präsidialamtes der Ukraine, Andrij Jermak, zu sprechen. Tatsächlich war er auf die zwei russischen Prankster "Vovan und Lexus" hereingefallen. Sein Büro bestätigte Anruf wie Inhalt. #Russland #Außenpolitik #Ukraine

Artykuł porusza problem oszustw medycznych w Polsce, szczególnie w kontekście stosowania biorezonansu, który mimo braku naukowych podstaw i skuteczności, cieszy się popularnością wśród pacjentów, a nowelizacja ustawy lex szarlatan nie zdążyła jeszcze skutecznie ukrócić tego procederu. #lexszarlatan #medycynaalternatywna #szarlatanizm

Muszę przyznać że Kanał Zero i Stanowski miał rację. Wygląda, że faktycznie urzędnicy się uwzięli na rodzinę, postanowień było więcej niż jedno, a sąd za każdym razem uważał, że dzieci powinny zostać przy mamie. To nie może być już przypadek. Sierpień 2022- Odrzucenie wniosku o zabezpieczenie dzieci Październik 2022 r. — Kolejny wniosek kuratora o pieczę zastępczą 14 marca 2023 r. — Postanowienie o pozostawieniu dziecka w rodzinie Dodatkowo dzielnicowy i pracownicy opieki społecznej nie zauważyli w domu przemocy. Ciągłe zmienianie mieszkań, niebieskie karty za złe warunki bytowe to nie powód by zabierać dzieci.Tłumaczenia rodziców też wyglądają przekonująco. A tak naprawdę to tylko informacje ze słynnej sprawy (Lex Kamilek) #rodzina #prawo #opieka