A private prank with an AI-generated image of a brown bear on a quiet Russian street snowballed into a full wildlife search, police calls, and a court fine. In September 2026, A.S. Kostyleva, a 21-year-old resident of Magdagachi in Russia’s Amur region, used ChatGPT to insert a large brown bear into a photo of Krasnoarmeyskaya Street she took near her home. She sent the realistic image to a friend as a joke.
The photo raced through local messaging apps. Alarmed residents called police and emergency dispatch, reporting a bear near streets including Lazo and Depotsky Lane. One woman stayed indoors, too frightened to leave. The district head dispatched wildlife rangers and hunters, some from nearby Zeia, to hunt an animal that never existed.
Kostyleva realized the panic and called police herself, admitting the image was AI-generated.
“The joke quickly got out of control. The photograph of the bear spread through messaging apps, and police began receiving alarmed calls from residents,”
The Amur regional courts’ press service said.
On or around October 13, 2026, a magistrate of Magdagachinsky District Judicial District No. 2 found her guilty under Part 9 of Article 13.15 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses for spreading knowingly false socially significant information that created a threat to life and health. The standard minimum fine is 30,000 rubles. The court halved it to 15,000 rubles (about $178) after noting her confession, remorse, first offense, and personal circumstances. Her iPhone 15 was returned.
Timing was crucial here. In Russia alone, there have been at least 26 bear fatalities since spring 2026, which is caused by a brown bear population of around 308,000 more than double what it was three decades ago with a lack of berries and pine nuts leading the bears into the vicinity of towns. Bear attacks have already claimed the lives of 3,400 threat bears and imposed stricter regulations on the part of the authorities.
 after generating a fake brown bear photo with ChatGPT as a prank, triggering public panic and a real wildlife search.){kind=link}