The Kremlin Speaks Through Their Mouths: Anti-Ukrainian Influence Agents in the Media Space

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, as Ukrainian society became monolithic and united in the opposition to the enemy, journalists and “public opinion leaders,” rightly labelled as Kremlin propagandists, have either fallen silent or “rebranded” themselves, seemingly taking a pro-Ukrainian position. They have been adhering to this strategy for quite some time, but recently most of them have become bolder, and their speeches are becoming increasingly sharp.

In the context of the modern information war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the media space is becoming an important tool for manipulation, disinformation, and propaganda. One of the Kremlin’s tactics for promoting its narratives is the use of statements by “Ukrainian bloggers,” “journalists,” and “public activists” who are engaged in the purposeful discreditation of the Ukrainian authorities or of its military.

In general, the Kremlin’s propaganda methods are not particularly sophisticated or original. Russia has long been using Goebbels’ methods, according to which the more nonsense one utters, the more willingly people believe it.

Among the main key messages of the enemy are the discrediting of the military and political leadership of Ukraine, the alleged unprofessionalism and inadequacy of the Ukrainian authorities, the complete de-humanization of the Defence Forces of Ukraine, and speculation on topics that may destabilize the situation within the country and demoralize society.

The Kremlin mouthpieces in the Ukrainian media environment work in a more targeted manner – through criticism, which often seems like slinging mud at the President, top officials, military leadership, MPs, etc. In addition to playing along with their Kremlin colleagues, they are persistently trying to hammer into the heads of Ukrainians that the Ukrainian government is unprofessional, totally corrupt, filled with drug addicts, and that Ukrainian leaders in principle do not want to end the war, as peace is not profitable for them. Actually, another message follows from the latter – corruption. It is attributed to everyone, while the scale of this phenomenon is exaggerated and the fight against it, clearly demonstrated by dozens of high-profile cases in the last year alone, is ignored.

Another favourite topic is mobilization. Special attention is focused on discrediting this process and great hopes are placed on it, which logically – the understaffing of units directly affects the potential successes of the invaders at the front.

Thanks to certain officers of the drafting centres (TCCs), who, by exceeding their authority, created the trend of ‘bussification’, propagandists do not even need to invent anything. It’s enough to post a video and support it with a comment such as ‘another cannon fodder’. The idea is being promoted that a significant part of the Ukrainian population is against the war, and that mobilisation is carried out exclusively by force and illegal methods, which is only part of a propaganda campaign aimed at demoralising Ukrainian society.

Another tactic is the use of statements by Ukrainian bloggers in the Russian media that criticise the Armed Forces or military tactics. For example, statements about problems in the army, violations of servicemen’s rights, incompetence of the command or inadequate provision of equipment and uniforms. Usually, these statements are covered in the Russian media as proof that the Armed Forces are not able to effectively defend the country, which undermines the credibility of the Ukrainian military.

This is just a small part of the favourite propaganda techniques from a huge arsenal of lies and manipulations. Some are more skilful than others. In this article, we will find out who of Moscow’s main mouthpieces in Ukraine have already been charged by the Security Service, and who are still waiting for their turn.

Max Nazarov: “Kremlin Mouthpiece” Live

The first one is Nazar Diorditsa, better known as Max Nazarov. Let’s start with him for two reasons: first – he is one of the few propagandists who have actually been brought to justice, second – he is the most media-friendly person among the others.

All of Nazarov’s time on television was associated exclusively with channels from the so-called ‘pro-Kremlin’ orbit – NewsOne (in the pre-Medvedchuk period) and Yevhen Muraiev’s Nash (lit. “Our”), whom British intelligence called Putin’s handpicked choice for the role of “gauleiter” in occupied Ukraine. Given Diorditsa’s extreme proximity to Muraiev, it is possibly thanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine that we did not live to see Nazarov as Minister of Information Policy in the occupation government.

In his broadcasts on both NewsOne and Nash TV channel, Nazarov did his best to justify the aggressor’s actions, to reinforce the Kremlin’s message that ‘the situation is not so clear’, to raise issues of language, faith and the need for concessions to Russia “for the sake of historical justice”. He uttered phrases such as: “civil war in eastern Ukraine”, “people in the East rose up because of the Maidan in Kyiv”, “language harassment”, etc.

He even went so far as to invite a traitor to Ukraine, an “adviser” to the “head” of the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic”, and later the “ambassador” of that “republic” to Russia, Rodion Miroshnyk, on the channel’s live broadcast. He is a kind of voice of the occupied Donbas, who once again called Russia’s aggression a “civil war” on Ukrainian television and said on behalf of the people living in occupation that they “would never return to Ukraine”.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Max Nazarov has changed his rhetoric, spoken out against Russia’s actions and praised the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but he continued to categorically defend his right to communicate on air and in his telegram channel in Russian. By some miracle, it was Nazarov who got access to the former million-subscribed YouTube channels from which Nash had broadcast before the full-scale war. The channels were renamed as Da Eto Tak (lit. “Yes, It’s Like That”) and Vyshka (lit. “The Tower”), and Nazarov hosted programmes on the former together with another Nash journalist, while the latter was given to another colleague, Lana Shevchuk.
 

The more days passed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the tougher the polemics became in Nazarov’s programs and on his personal Telegram channel. It is worth noting that the anti-Ukrainian filth, aimed at splitting society and discrediting the authorities, mainly poured not from Nazarov’s lips – it was voiced by the guests of his broadcasts, who always tried to conceal their openly pro-Russian views under the guise of the just criticism of the authorities. The main essence of their messages is very similar to what we heard from Russia during the war, and what we are now starting to hear from representatives of other foreign nations, which shows how seriously Russian special services work, recruiting foreign politicians.

It is interesting how much money Max Nazarov has been living on for the last three years, as he was actually unemployed, and YouTube monetization apparently did not bring enough money to live on. Apparently, the same question arose with the Security Service of Ukraine – at the beginning of this year Nazarov was charged with justifying Russian aggression. The court chose a preventive measure for the propagandist in the form of 60 days of detention and an unaffordable (as it turned out) 12-million-hryvnia bail. Though, according to the popular phrase, “Russians do not abandon their own”, Nazarov is still in custody facing a possible long term of imprisonment.

Myroslav Oleshko: from the Pseudo-Activist to the Fugitive Working for the Enemy

The next ‘hero’ with an easier fate is Myroslav Oleshko. The hands of Ukrainian justice cannot reach him for now, as he fled abroad after the outbreak of a full-scale war.

Previously, Oleshko was Petro Poroshenko’s group of top bloggers and systematically defamed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. With the start of the full-scale invasion, Oleshko, like Nazarov, unsurprisingly toned down his criticism of the authorities – given the level of support for President Zelenskyy at that time, it was practically a suicidal idea, in terms of public image, to criticise him. Myroslav entered the mode of a “lap patriot”, but only until he, like most Ukrainian men, received a draft notice in 2023. At that point, his patriotism ended, and Oleshko himself miraculously fled abroad.

Obviously, the Russians took advantage of this, as living abroad is not cheap – and quite quickly, the “patriotic” Oleshko became a “useful idiot” in the hands of the Kremlin propaganda machine. In particular, he stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are allegedly “holding back the Russians with their bodies”, that the war is ongoing because of Zelenskyy’s “unwillingness to make peace”, and has consistently been expressing his disdain for Ukrainians who stayed in the country and are defending it – calling their rejection of Oleshko’s statements “envy”, “because he left and they could not”.

Oleshko was especially active in discrediting and disrupting the mobilisation, calling the work of the TCCs a “safari” – in unison with the Kremlin’s propagandists.

Myroslav Oleshko, like Max Nazarov, was charged by the Security Service of Ukraine. He faces up to 8 years in prison.

Volodymyr Boyko: a Hidden Tool in the Shed of Russian Propaganda

However, there are ‘journalists’ who turned out to be a little more fortunate. Among them is Volodymyr Boyko. He is the least well-known of the trio we are talking about today, but this does not stop him from actively promoting hostile narratives under the guise of his so-called “investigative journalism”.

The loudest voice to talk about Boyko belongs to his closest friend, the completely insane Tatyana Montyan, who now lives in Boyko’s native Donetsk and broadcasts the utmost hatred for Ukraine. At one time, they were included in the Myrotvorets database together. In 2016, they were detained together on the Ukrainian-Polish border. During their detention, Montyan and Boyko threatened Ukrainian border guards. ‘Russia will come, you will all be hanged on telegraph poles, and I will be happy,’ Tatyana said.

In March 2023, a criminal case was initiated regarding Montyan for crimes against Ukraine’s national security. A number of criminal cases have been initiated regarding Mr Boyko, but so far, no steps have been taken to bring him to justice. Moreover, there is evidence that Boyko had regularly visited the Russian Federation through the territory of the Republic of Belarus until 2022.

Volodymyr Boyko’s international partners are indeed ‘interesting’ – especially those with ties to the occupying state. For example, Mariam Lambert, a Belgian “humanitarian” figure, founder of the Orphans Feeding Foundation.

In June 2022, Interfax-Ukraine CEO Oleksandr Martynenko reported that Lambert had tried to organise a press conference in Kyiv for Russian propagandist Marina Ovsyannikova. But things get even more interesting.

Meet Yekaterina Poletayeva, Lambert’s close friend and the head of the Ukrainian office of her Foundation. A small detail here: Poletayeva is a Russian citizen who permanently resides in Kyiv and also enjoys diplomatic immunity as the wife of a Brazilian diplomatic official. In private conversations, she doesn’t even hide her pro-Russian views and ties to the FSB. Things happen, you know.

But it doesn’t end there. In 2024, using her husband’s diplomatic connections, Poletayeva organised a meeting between Lambert and the head of the Brazilian President’s Office. The purpose? The Lambert Foundation’s ‘humanitarian work’ in Russia under the auspices of the BRICS. What a surprise!

Now we can only hope that Poletayeva’s diplomatic immunity will not prevent our counterintelligence officers from paying close attention to this ‘charitable’ activity. Something tells us that under the guise of humanitarian initiatives, something more interesting than helping orphans may be hidden.

As of now, Mariam has been instructed by her Russian handlers to launch a campaign to discredit the Ukrainian government – and to distort the situation regarding the process of returning Ukrainian children abducted by the Russian Federation. These theses are now being openly promoted on her personal social media.

Russian propaganda has long ago taken Boyko into its arsenal, presenting him as an “opposition Ukrainian journalist” or an “insider.” His statements fit conveniently into the Kremlin’s main narratives: “The Armed Forces of Ukraine are weak and falling apart” – his claims about “200,000 deserters” are used by Moscow to create the illusion of a mass reluctance among Ukrainians to fight.

“The Ukrainian authorities are lying about the losses” – this is precisely his thesis, widely circulated by the Russian media, aimed at undermining trust in the military-political leadership of Ukraine and creating artificial tension between the authorities and society. It is no secret that that the Kremlin sees internal confrontations in Ukraine as its greatest support.

Another of Boyko’s statements – “Even Ukrainians admit defeat” – was initially widely circulated in Russia, and later, thanks to the Kremlin, began to appear abroad, to justify the Russian aggression, under the guise of a statement stemming from an “objective Ukrainian journalist”.

Moreover, in his articles, Volodymyr Boyko openly denies the existence of Ukraine as a state and calls for not paying taxes, because “Ukraine does not have genuine statehood.”

His media activities are so convenient for the Kremlin that his comments regularly appear on Russian channels and in propaganda materials. Doesn’t it seem quite obvious that, since 2018, Boyko has been one of the “political experts” on pro-Kremlin TV channels ZIK, 112, NewsOne, and Nash, where he uttered theses favoruable to Moscow?

Given all those facts, Boyko’s “business trip” to Russia on the eve of a full-scale invasion in 2021 is also not surprising. The only question, as in the case of Nazarov and Oleshko, is: At whose expense does the unemployed “journalist” Boyko live? The question also arises as to who the real client of Boyko’s so-called “journalistic investigations” is?

And even more surprising is the question of why he still continues to engage in pro-Kremlin propaganda and remains out of the Security Service’s focus? It is obvious that he, like Oleshko and Nazarov, is not an independent journalist, but a cog in Russia’s propaganda machine that splits society, discredits the government and works in favour of the aggressor.

Journalists do not shoot bullets. The theses of this ‘trio’, as well as dozens of other pseudo-media personalities like Lana Shevchuk, Diana Panchenko and others, have been helping the Kremlin to wage a hybrid war, weakening Ukraine from within. None of them should be ignored by law enforcement bodies – not only information security, but also the security of the nation as a whole depends on it.