Jan 24, 2026
3 min read
Among the photos of the massive snowfall on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, some created by artificial intelligence have been posted on social media as if they were real.
These images do not show heavy snow in Kamchatka, Russia, they are made with AI
- The Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia is experiencing one of the heaviest snowfalls in its history.
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Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, in eastern Russia, experienced heavy snowfall last week that resulted in snow accumulations of up to four meters.On January 15, two people died as a result of the storm in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where a state of emergency was declared.In this context, spectacular photos taken by photojournalists are circulated, but fake photos presented as genuine are also circulated on social networks.At VerificaRTVE collects and debunks AI-generated content that exceeds a million views due to its spectacular nature.
It's not humans going down a "snow slide" between buildings, it's AI
A 10-second video circulated on social media showing the trio walking down a huge snow slope between buildings."Kamchatka. Children sliding down the slide", we read the same in a message shared by another user of the same social network, saying in Spanish: "Kamchatka. Children sliding down the slide after heavy snow." This is false.
This is an AI-generated video.At Verifierative, we analyzed the record using three AI detection tools: Ivers, ImageViser, and Hive Moderation.As you can see in the image below, they all came to the conclusion that they are images produced using this technology.99.7% reliability of prediction and 83.79% with Ivers tool, Hive moderation.In addition, the HIVE X account warned this user in this message that this video was created with the help of artificial intelligence.The analysis was also carried out by Eurovision News Spotlight, a verification alliance led by the European Broadcasting Union, of which Verifartio is a member.Using the Google Syntheid tool, it concludes that the video is fake because it was created using Google AI.As you can see in the picture below.If so, the device will warn you that the blue areas are created by this technology.
Bulgaria's FactCheck.BG also noted that "the video is not real" and that the "AI device or note" shows a 99% chance that it is AI.Also, the portal emphasizes that the images are "not realistic."He states that "the media reports about snowfall reaching the second floor of some buildings, but if there are cases where the snowfall is heavy" it suggests that "without the snow there would not be the necessary intensity for people.
It's not a huge snow tower that's taller than a few buildings, it's AI
“Snow in Russia.Simply amazing,” says one user X in a post that has been shared more than 9,000 times. Attached to the text is a 24-second video that has more than 2.2 million views. The images show an aerial view of buildings surrounded by snow that exceeds their height, and at the 17 second mark a snow accumulation can be seen so large that it is shaped like a wave and covers several floors. This is false.
This is not a real recording, the images are created using artificial intelligence.There are two tools to identify what was made and AI to confirm that they were made using this technology.This is how Hive Moderation concludes with 99.6% confidence in its view.In addition, Hive's statement on X warned a social media user who made this video and AI.The analysis carried out by Eurovision News Spotlight and Google SynthID confirms that this video was produced with Google AI, as you can see in the following image.In addition, Turkish verifier Teyit points out that it was first shared by a user of the website Threads who met another AI when he told him that he was the "memory of Kamchatka with a nine-story building."
This street blocked by meters of snow-plowing cars isn't real, it's AI
Video has also circulated on social networks showing street due to a large snow accumulation of overhead shot showing the buried cars.On Tiktok it spreads through a message where the recording reaches 19.4 million scenes and says in French: "Historic snow in Kamchatka: activates the state of the crisis."This is fake.
These are not real photos, this is an AI generated videoWe analyzed recordings created with AI Hive Moderation at VerificaRTVE with content analysis tools and predicted that they were created with this technology with 97.9% confidence in predictions.The video was distributed by the TikTok account, which labels the images as "AI generated" content and the YouTube profile description indicates "AI video" in English.In addition, the images show inconsistencies in the AI-generated content: the vehicle we see in the foreground appears to blend in with another, and the streetlight on the right is turned off.These graphical errors have also been identified by other reviewers (1, 2).
