Russia Debuts First AI-Made Film About World War II

An experimental film about World War II, created entirely with artificial intelligence, has premiered in Russia. Experts say the neural-network format resonates strongly with students.

Russia has held a preview screening of “The Bear Speaks,” a film about the Second World War produced entirely by artificial intelligence. The project is based on declassified counterintelligence documents from the Soviet era.

The film focuses on one of the most notable operations carried out by the USSR’s People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD). It recreates in detail a nearly two-year-long radio deception campaign against the Wehrmacht, known as Operation Bear—also codenamed Lesniki. Most of the operation’s details have remained classified for almost a century. Over its course, Soviet specialists neutralized 12 enemy agents and intercepted supplies worth more than two million rubles (about 22,000 USD). Two members of the secret group were awarded the Order of the Red Star.

The AI-driven film also integrates authentic archival footage from the Kostroma and Yaroslavl regions, according to local outlet k1news.ru.

Anton Khailov, head of the Kostroma branch of the youth organization Molodaya Gvardiya, said after the preview that the neural-network format is perfectly aligned with the clip-based thinking of today’s youth. In his view, the film provides accurate information in a form familiar to students, and is easier to absorb than many conventional World War II dramas.