Kandinsky (Sber)
What it is. Sber’s family of models for images and video. Available in GigaChat (on the web and in Telegram) and on the developer’s website.
Video. The Kandinsky 5.0 line (late 2025) generates short clips of about 5 seconds from text or a starting frame, with a choice of lighting and camera movement. According to the developer, Kandinsky 6.0 Video came out in October 2026: clips of about 5 seconds with sound and lip sync, Lite and Pro versions, open models.
Images. Generation from a description in Russian; it understands Russian imagery well: architecture, everyday life, holidays.
Price. Basic generations are free with a daily limit.
For whom: postcards, illustrations for posts, quick experiments, tasks with a Russian context.
Shedevrum (Yandex)
What it is. A Yandex app and website for generating images and short videos on the YandexART model. It has a feed of other users’ work.
Features. Images from a description, short videos, photo animation.
Price. Free; the limits in the app are softer.
For whom: avatars, postcards, entertainment, animating family photos.
Alice AI (Yandex)
What it is. Yandex’s assistant that can generate images via YandexART and animate photos.
Plus: everything in one chat, you can ask for an image right in the conversation.
For whom: a quick image when you already use Alice.
Comparison
| Kandinsky | Shedevrum | Alice AI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Images | yes | yes | yes |
| Video | yes, about 5 s | yes, short | photo animation |
| No VPN needed | yes | yes | yes |
| Free | basic, with a limit | yes | yes |
| Understanding of Russian | good | good | good |
Russian vs Western models: honestly
Where Russian models are strong:
- free and no VPN;
- they understand Russian and Russian realities;
- no payment problems.
Where they still lag behind Western and Chinese models:
- clip length: about 5 seconds versus 8 to 30 for Veo, Kling and Seedance;
- camera and character control between scenes;
- editing your own photo while keeping the face (a strength of Nano Banana Pro);
- Russian text on images: Nano Banana Pro writes Cyrillic more reliably;
- complex scenes with several characters and physics.
How to choose
- Postcard, avatar, experiment, zero budget → Shedevrum, Kandinsky, Alice.
- Ad, a clip longer than 5 seconds, a story → Veo 3.1, Kling v3, Seedance 2.5.
- Photoshoot from your own photo, infographics with Russian text → Nano Banana Pro.
Western models are available from Russia without a VPN through aggregators with payment in rubles: where to generate AI video in Russia. More on free options: free AI video generators. An overview of all platform types: best AI video platforms.
In short
Russian AI models for photo and video are Kandinsky by Sber and Shedevrum and Alice AI by Yandex. They are free, work without a VPN and understand Russian well. For postcards and experiments they are enough. For ads, longer clips, photoshoots from your own photo and images with accurate Russian text, Western models, available from Russia through aggregators, are still stronger.
