You might be interested in Frank Hurley, Australia's first official war photographer, WW1, he caused some controversy when it was discovered he regularly manipulated his images with set ups and composites. I remember his response was something like, "a single photo will never portray the horrors of war"

It's a composite, but to be clear, it was always openly acknowledged as one by the artist. The insistence that it is real is, I believe, more a product of the internet age than Soviet propaganda! I wrote a little it more about this in an old "Monday Mysteries" feature some time back.