Kamdan Kadyrov: A Serious Attack on the Russian Military Against the Occupied Kherson Regime and the Invasion of Ukraine
Anyone convicted of spreading fake information about the invasion ofUkraine will face up to 15 years in prison, according to a new law. This month, a Russian court sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison for a Telegram post that the court said spread supposedly “false information” about a Russian airstrike on a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, that killed hundreds, state news agency TASS reported.
A provocative statement, perhaps – Stremousov might perhaps be mindful of the fact that troublesome leaders of Russian-backed separatist entities have a habit of dying violently – but some of this criticism is not new. Just weeks after Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, one of his key domestic enforcers, Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, urged the Russian military to expand its campaign, implying that Moscow’s approach had not been brutal enough.
In a recent interview with Russian arch-propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, the head of the defense committee in Russia’s State Duma demanded that officials cease lying and level with the Russian public.
There have been reports of cross-border strikes between Russia and Ukraine, but the Ministry of Defense was not telling the truth.
The Belgorod region is located near the border with Ukraine. When it comes to striking Russian targets across the border, the stance of the government in Kyiv has generally been neither confirm nor deny.
The Russian-appointed quislings who have been installed to run the occupied regions of Ukraine have come in for some criticism. In a recent four-minute rant on the messaging app Telegram, the Russian-appointed deputy leader of Ukraine’s occupied Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, lambasted Russian military commanders for allowing “gaps” on the battlefield that had allowed the Ukrainian military to make advances in the region, which is illegally claimed by Russia.
Stremousov said that he did not mean to say traitors but incompetent commanders, who did not bother, and were not accountable, for the processes and gaps that exist today. The Minister of Defense may have been capable of shooting himself because he allowed this situation to happen. The word officer is new to a lot of people.
When it comes to blaming Russian commanders, Kadyrov has a lot more credibility after the retreat from the Ukrainian city of Lyman.
Writing on Telegram, Kadyrov personally blamed Colonel-General Aleksandr Lapin, the commander of Russia’s Central Military District, for the debacle, accusing him of moving his headquarters away from his subordinates and failing to adequately provide for his troops.
“The Russian information space has significantly deviated from the narratives preferred by the Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) that things are generally under control,” ISW noted in its recent analysis.
One of the central features of Putinism is a fetish for World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. The Red Army used punishment battalions, sent soldiers accused of desertion, cowardice or wavering against German positions ascannon fodder, as well as the brutal tactics which they employed to fight Hitler’s Weharacht, in Russia’s party of war.
The recently promoted Kadyrov was one of the most prominent voices advocating for the abolition of methods from the past. He recently said in another Telegram post that, if he had his way, he would give the government extraordinary wartime powers in Russia.
“Yes, if it were my will, I would declare martial law throughout the country and use any weapon, because today we are at war with the whole NATO bloc,” Kadyrov said in a post that also seemed to echo Putin’s not-so-subtle threats that Russia might contemplate the use of nuclear weapons.
What has happened in Kherson? How the Russians abandoned the Soviet occupation on March 11, 2011 and how Cambodia became a breakaway pro-Russian republic
For much of the journey through smaller towns and settlements, our team of CNN journalists was forced to drive through diversions and fields: bridges over canals were blown up, and roads were full of craters and littered with anti-tank mines.
The Russian occupation of the west bank of the Dnipro River in the southern region of Kherson was quickly abandoned on Friday when the Russians announced they would leave the region to the Ukrainians.
There is no military presence on the outskirts of the city which was occupied by Russian forces since March 3 and only one checkpoint outside the city center where half a dozen soldiers waved CNN’s crew in.
Billboards around the city that once read “Ukraine is Russian forever” have reportedly been spray-painted over with the message: “Ukraine was Russia’s until November 11.”
The city’s residents have no water, no internet connection and little power. But as a CNN crew entered the city center on Saturday, the mood was euphoric.
Once the scene of large protests against Russian plans to transform the region into a breakaway pro-Russian republic, the streets of Kherson are now filled with jubilant residents wrapped in Ukrainian flags, or with painted faces, singing and shouting.
The military presence is still limited, but huge cheers erupt from crowds on the street every time a truck full of soldiers drives past, with Ukrainian soldiers being offered soup, bread, flowers, hugs and kisses by elated passersby.
As CNN’s crew stopped to regroup, we observed an old man and an old woman hugging a young soldier, with hands on the soldier’s shoulder, exchanging excited “thank yous.”
After living under Russian occupation, every person we’ve spoken to has had experiences that have terrified them: earlier today, a teenager told CNN he had been taken and beaten by Russian soldiers who believed he was a spy. The residents said they are exhausted and overwhelmed as a result of this new freedom.
With the occupiers gone, everyone wants you to understand what they went through, how happy they are, and how much they appreciated the countries who helped them.
The Russians could shell them here and everyone we have talked to is aware of that. There is no clear picture of whether or not all Russian troops have left Kherson. There is still a lot of uncertainty behind this euphoria.
Ukrainian authorities have been stepping up raids on churches accused of links with Moscow, and many are watching to see if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy follows through on his threat of a ban on the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
A week on Ukraineraine a week ago and look-ahead at Russias war — dec. 5. U.S. response to Brittney Griner’s release from Russian prison
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the prime minister of Norway will meet the president of France for a dinner in Paris.
Also in France, on Tuesday, the country is set to co-host a conference with Ukraine in support of Ukrainians through the winter, with a video address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Following Brittney Griner’s release from Russian prison, fans, friends and family are celebrating the basketball player’s return to the U.S. Meanwhile, some Republican politicians have been complaining about the prisoner swap and other U.S. citizens still held by Russia.
New measures targeting Russian oil revenue took effect Dec. 5. They include a price cap and European Union embargo on most Russian oil imports.
There were two military bases inside Russia. The New York Times report stated that drones were launched from Ukrainian territory to attack Russia because of its willingness to take the fight deep into Russia.
There are reports that a Russian military base was hit byUkrainian missiles in the city of Melitopol. Officials said that Ukrainian forces used long-range weaponry to attack targets in the city.
Zelenskyy said that the Russian forces turned Bakhmut into burned ruins. Fighting has been fierce there as Russia attempts to advance in the city in the eastern Donbas region.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/12/1141827823/latest-on-ukraine-a-weekly-recap-and-look-ahead-at-russias-war-dec-12
The First Russian Invasion of the Ukranian Republic: Vladimir Zelenskyy’s High-Energy Negotiations with the United States
President Zelenskyy had a phone call with President Biden on Dec. 11, as well as the leaders of France and Turkey, in an apparent stepping up of diplomacy over the 9 1/2-month-long Russian invasion.
You can read past recaps here. You can find more NPR’s coverage here. NPR’s State of Ukraine is available for updates throughout the day.
I was supposed to be in Ukranian on February 24, 2022, but that never happened. But a few days before that, my husband broke his shoulder and we had to stay in Moscow. At 9:00 a.m. that day he had surgery.
Whether it’s a wedding in the aftermath of a rocket attack, pitching in to make Molotov cocktails or keeping a family business open against all odds is one thing that Putin has done for the Ukrainian people.
In the past year, tens of thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of millions more have been displaced. It has unleashed unfathomable atrocities, decimated cities, driven a global food and energy crisis and tested the resolve of western alliances.
The Court of Vladimir Putin. Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, by Michael Bociurkiw
February 23, 2022. I thought that I would celebrate my husband’s birthday the next day. Our lives was getting better. My husband owned his own business. Our daughter had started school and made friends there. We were fortunate to have found a special needs nursery for our son. I was able to work in the time I had left. I felt happy.
We’re trying to live here and now. We’re not happy, the truth is. While in Ukraine, our hearts have stayed there.
The Czech Republic gave opportunities to Ukrainians and my husband got a job. I found special needs classes for my son. He is a learning support assistant and attends an adaptation group. While my daughter is studying in her Ukrainian school in Czech she goes to a Czech school.
The former editor of the independent TV news channel Dozhd, Mikhail Zygar is a journalist. He is the author of a book. Both books are about the Court of Vladimir Putin. Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.”
That morning we woke up to learn that the invasion started. I wrote an open letter denouncing the war, which was co-signed by 12 Russian writers, directors and cultural figures. The Russians added their signatures after it was published.
My husband and I left Russia on the third day. I felt that it was some kind of moral obligation. I couldn’t stay on the territory of the state that has become fascist.
We moved to the other side of the world. My husband went to work as a volunteer at the refugee camp next to the main railway station, where thousands of Ukrainians had been arriving every day. I was starting to write a book. It starts like this:
“This book is a confession. I am guilty of not reading the signs earlier. I am also responsible for the war between Russia and Ukraine. As are my contemporaries and our forebears. Russian culture is to blame for making these horrible things possible.
I know that Russian people are infected with imperialism. We have to come a long way in healing ourselves from the idea of Russia as a “great empire,” that we didn’t spot before.
Michael Bociurkiw moved to Ukraine from Canada in the summer. He is a senior fellow and former spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Over the past week, Russia has fired dozens of Kalibr missiles towards several cities in Ukraine and my hometown of Odesa. Air raid sirens blare and we run for shelter. My landlady brings me a pot of borscht to help create a sense of normalcy.
There was another battle that I was fighting in order to claim my life back. Russia stole the life from me and millions of Ukrainians.
During the time my father kept telling the stories of relatives shipped off to the Soviet Gulag, I was haunted by the darkness in his eyes. Stories of millions of Ukrainians who starved to death in Stalin’s manmade famine of 1932-33.
What’s changed since Russian missiles first began falling on February 24, 2022? The fear that had been felt by the Ukrainians has been replaced by anger.
Sasha Dovzhyk is a special projects curator at the Ukrainian Institute London and associate lecturer in Ukrainian at the School of Slavonic and East-European Studies, University College London. She divides her time between London and Ukraine where she works as a “fixer“– a translator and producer for foreign journalists.
A year into the full-scale invasion, my passport is a novel in stamps. I live in London and teach Ukrainian literature in Ukraine, but also get my lessons in courage.
My former classmates from Zaporizhzhia are willing to fight the addictions that I believed would end their lives in a few years. The hairdresser who was supposed to stay a sweet summer child fled with her mother, grandmother and five dogs on foot from the Russia-occupied town of Bucha through the forest.
My capital, which the Kremlin and the West expected to fall in three days, has withstood 12 months of Russia’s terrorist bombings and energy blackouts. These dark winter nights, one sees so many stars over Kyiv which the Russians have only managed to bring closer to eternity.
Ukrainians have become aware that they are stronger than they were thought to be. Have those people learned from their mistakes? Military aid has been enough for Ukraine to survive but not to crush the enemy.
It seems that since February 2022, we have had several eras. Putin received more than 80% approval from the population, making him the first to experience euphoria.
In the fall, Putin wanted citizens to share responsibility with him for the war and he replaced public demobilization with mobilize. The majority of the population preferred adaptation, even though there was a great deal of anxiety.
By aborting the past, he canceled the future. Those who were disoriented, preferred to support Putin: it is easier to live this way when your superiors decide everything for you, and you take for granted everything you are told by propaganda.
For myself and my family, what happened was a catastrophe and it’s not possible to adapt. As an active commentator on the events, I was labeled by the authorities as a “foreign agent,” which increased personal risk and reinforced the impression of living in an Orwellian anti-utopia.
I took a bath, cleaned the house, and lit candles after washing my dog. I have a one-bedroom apartment in the north of the city. I loved taking care of it. I had a great life. The struggle and the small routines are part of it. That night was the last time my life mattered.
I remember talking to colleagues, trying to assemble and coordinate a small army of volunteers to strengthen the newsroom. My parents were supposed to organize buying supplies.
The life I knew started falling apart soon after, starting with the small things. I no longer cared what cup of tea I used to drink or how I dressed. Life itself no longer mattered, only the battle did.
Just a few weeks into the full-scale invasion it was already hard to remember the struggles, sorrows and joyful moments of the pre-war era. I would remember being upset about my boyfriend, but I could no longer relate. My life didn’t change on February 24, it was stolen from me on that day.
I wanted to act through sports after my initial shock and fear of the war. The best method for athletes to fight against Russian propaganda is by fighting it alone. We just had to tell the truth about the war and Ukrainians – how strong, kind and brave we are. How we have united to defend our country.
I didn’t worry about my personal ambitions anymore. The only thing that was important was to show that we are still fighting in these circumstances and raise our flag.
I couldn’t enjoy my victories on the track. Because so many defenders had died, they were only possible. Soldiers on the frontline sent me messages. They were so happy that I kept going, and I wanted to follow their footsteps.
Putin, the Kremlin, and the War in Ukraine: What do we really want to hear from a Russian state TV channel?
Russia’s operations for information have been hit by obstacles. Big U.S. social networks began to restrict the reach of Russian state media after the invasion. The European Union banned RT and Sputnik, another Russian broadcaster, entirely. Facebook started warning users when they clicked on or tried to share a link from a Russian state outlet.
And as authorities rounded up thousands in a crackdown on anti-war protests, a culture of fear descended on Russian cities and towns that prevents many people from sharing their true thoughts on the war in public.
For Natalya and many of her countrymen, the endless grind of war casts Russian propaganda in a different light. The tide of public opinion against Putin creates an opening for those hoping to push it.
“I do have an opinion about the special military operation … it remains the same to this day,” Anna told CNN in Moscow. “I can’t tell you which side I support. I am for truth and justice. Let’s leave it like that,” she said.
Ekaterina said that her opinion on Ukranian had changed after she watched the Russian news program 60 Minutes. “At first my feelings were: what is the point of this war? Why did they take the decision to start it? It makes the lives of the people here in Russia much worse!”
CNN doesn’t use the full names of individuals who were critical of the Kremlin Public criticism of the war in Ukraine or statements that discredit Russia’s military can potentially mean a fine or a prison sentence.
Gauging public opinion is notoriously difficult in a country where independent pollsters are targeted by the government, and many of the 146 million citizens are reluctant to publicly condemn President Vladimir Putin. But according to the Levada Center, a non-governmental polling organization, support dipped by only 6% among Russians from March to November last year, to 74%.
In many respects, that is unsurprising. There is little room for dissenting voices on Russian airwaves; the propaganda beamed from state-controlled TV stations since the onset of war has at times attracted derision around the world, so overblown are their more fanatical presenters and pundits.
And, in a farfetched statement that encapsulates the alternate reality in state TV channels exist, another pro-Russian former lawmaker claimed of Moscow’s war progress: “Everything is going to plan and everything is under control.”
Such programming typically appeals to a select group of older, more conservative Russians who pine for the days of the Soviet Union – though its reach spans generations, and it has claimed some converts.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/europe/russia-propaganda-information-ukraine-anniversary-cmd-intl/index.html
The situation in Ukraine is not going to change: Yuliya and Leonid tell the world if the Russian invasion is going to end
The conflict has taken a personal toll on her. “My life has deteriorated a lot in this year. Thankfully, no one close to me has been mobilized. But I lost my job. And I see radical changes around me everywhere,” she said.
And yet, Ekaterina’s initial opposition to the invasion has disappeared. “I arrived at the understanding that this special military operation was inevitable,” she said. “It would have come to this no matter what. And had we not acted first, war would have been unleashed against us,” she added, mirroring the false claims of victimhood at the hands of the West that state media relentlessly communicate.
“I trust the news there completely. Yuliya told CNN that she should not distrust them because they all belong to the state. The war is succeeding according to me. It could be that it is taking longer than one might want. According to Yuliya, the main source of news is the state-owned Channel One.
Around two-thirds of Russians rely primarily on television for their news, according to the Levada Center, a higher proportion than in most Western countries.
“Everything I hear on state channels I split in half. I don’t think anyone is trustworthy, according to the 55 year old accountant. “One needs to analyze everything … because certain things they are omitting, (or) not saying,” said Leonid, a 58-year-old engineer.
CNN spoke with several people in Moscow who said that they engaged with the state-controlled TV but were skeptical of it. And many reach different views on Ukraine.
Vocal minorities on each side of the conflict exist in Russia, and some have cut off friendships or left the country as a result. But sociologists tracking Russian opinion say most people in the country fall between those two extremes.
“Quite often we are only talking about these high numbers of support (for the war),” Denis Volkov, the director of the Moscow-based Levada Center, said. The majority of the people are not happy about it. They support their side, (but) would rather have it finished and fighting stopped.”
She said that a lot of doubters don’t believe that the Russians killed Ukrainians, because they hear the same thing on TV.
She is not alone. The attitude is not to discuss or watch the news with colleagues or friends. What do you have to do about it? It is up to the government to do what they want.
That feeling of futility means that anti-war protests in Russia are very rare and noteworthy, a contract that suits the Kremlin. People don’t want to go and protest because it may be dangerous, and they don’t feel like it’s worth it.
The bulk of the population typically disengages instead. Savelyeva said those people tried to distance themselves from what was happening. They try to live as if nothing is happening.
“I have felt anxious ever since this began. A woman who asked to remain anonymous told CNN last month that it is affecting availability of products and prices. There is not a lot of public information. People should be aware of their surroundings. She said that everyone is listening to Soloviev.
A film student, who said she hadn’t heard from a friend for two months following his mobilization, added: “I don’t know what’s happened to him. It would be great if he said he was alive.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/europe/russia-propaganda-information-ukraine-anniversary-cmd-intl/index.html
Russian Propaganda Information Network During World War II: The Role of Facebook, Google, Twitter and YouTube in Spreading Kremlin Propagator Videos
The outlet brings uncensored scenes from the Ukrainian frontlines into Russian-speaking homes with the aid of various digital platforms, most notably Telegram, Telegram Pay, and YouTube.
And interest has surged throughout the war, the network says. “We saw traffic spikes after the mobilization, and after the Ukrainian counter-offensives, because people started to understand what (the war) means for their own communities and they couldn’t get it from local media.”
Sukhotski said that they need to get to the wider audience in Russia. It will be an uphill battle, but we shape our strategy here.
It has been difficult to reach Russians. Most of RFE/RL’s Russia-based staff made a frantic exit from the country after the invasion, following the Kremlin’s crackdown on independent outlets last year, relocating to the network’s headquarters in Prague.
His staff are “still coming to terms with that,” Sukhotski admitted. “They are Russian patriots and they wish Russia well … they see how they can help.”
About a quarter of Russians use VPN services to access blocked sites, according to a Levada Center poll carried out two months after Russia’s invasion.
Searches for such services on Google spiked to record levels in Russia following the invasion, and have remained at their highest rates in over a decade ever since, the search engine’s tracking data shows.
Thanks to its huge popularity in Russia, and the fact that it is able to spread Kremlin propaganda videos, it remains one of the few major global sites still accessible.
That can allow organizations a way in. I like to watch the videos on the site. I watch everything there – I mean everything,” one Moscow resident who passionately opposes the war told CNN, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “These federal channels I never watch,” she said. I don’t trust what they say. They lie all the time! You have to switch on your logic, compare some data and see that it is a lie.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/europe/russia-propaganda-information-ukraine-anniversary-cmd-intl/index.html
The Kremlin’s Stones: How Armed Forces and Russian Blogospheres have Metastasized in the Era of Russia’s Invasion
Since the war began, Telegram has grown more popular, becoming a public square for military Bloggers to analyze every day on the battlefield.
The analysis was initially in line with the Kremlin’s line. But “starting around September, when Ukraine launched their successful counter-offensives, everything started falling apart,” said Olga Lautman, a US-based Senior Fellow at CEPA who studies the Kremlin’s internal affairs and propaganda tactics. I have never seen anything like that before, she said.
Scores of hawkish bloggers, some of whom boast hundreds of thousands of followers, have strayed angrily from the Kremlin’s line in recent months, lambasting its military tactics and publicly losing faith in the armed forces’ high command.
The impact on those bones is not known. For now, Putin can rely on a citizenry that is generally either supportive of the conflict or too fatigued to proclaim its opposition.
The Atlantic Council’s Digital forensic Research Lab wrote in a new report that Russia was trying to defeat Ukraine on the battlefield and also give support to it.
It’s a continuation of a strategy President Vladimir Putin has been pursuing for years, stretching back to when Russia annexed the Black Sea island of Sevastopol and threw its support behind the people of eastern Ukraine.
Since last February’s invasion, Russian-linked influence operations on social media have “used a throw-the-spaghetti-at-the-wall-to-see-what-sticks kind of approach,” said Nathaniel Gleicher, head of security policy at Facebook parent Meta.
How Russia is losing and winning the information war in Ukraine: a critical look at the U.S. comments on the Osadchuk case
The point is not to think that every one of the narratives will be true and every one of the claims will be proven correct, said Osadchuk.
The main idea is to inflate the information space with multiple false theories and denials in order to make people disinterested, or just be too puzzled.
The claim of the U.S. government assisting the development of the biological weapons in Ukraine was picked up and amplified in the U.S. by a group of online commenters, theorists and even Tucker Carlson.
“There’s been a major focus on non-English-language information,” said Kyle Walter, head of research at Logically, a company that tracks online misinformation and disinformation. “They’re both trying to change their opinions of the invasion but also to position themselves as a better strategic partner moving forward.”
Those efforts have had an impact. RT’s Spanish-language channels get high engagement on Facebook and Twitter in Latin America, DFRLab found. Logically’s Walter links Russian messaging to lower levels of support for Ukraine in the global south.
“You’ve seen a lot of that manifest in different U.N. resolutions,” he said. 15 of the 20 countries in Africa and southeast Asia will not vote in favor of the invasion, and at least a few will condemn it.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/28/1159712623/how-russia-is-losing-and-winning-the-information-war-in-ukraine
How Russian is Losing and Wining the Information War in Ukraine: A reappraisal of a Russian influence campaign on social media
Russia is adapting to the push from the social media companies. It turned to proxies, like the Chinese government and right-wing figures in Europe and the U.S., to launder its narratives into public conversation.
It’s using other platforms like Telegram and TikTok. It’s set up new web domains to try to escape restrictions on platforms such as Facebook. videos with the channel have been taken down from the video site due to its association with Russia’s interference in the election.
But unlike the more sophisticated influence efforts Meta has caught in the past, the company said the tactics used to target Ukraine have been more reminiscent of the spammers’ toolkit: high volume and low quality.
“These campaigns were like smash-and- grab operations that used a lot of fake accounts across social media, not just our platforms, in an attempt to overwhelm the conversation with content”, said Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs.
As Russia’s messaging campaigns have proliferated across the social media landscape, the Kremlin has also cracked down at home, blocking Russians from accessing many big U.S. internet platforms including Facebook and Twitter. What you are exposed to on the global internet is now determined by where you are in.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/28/1159712623/how-russia-is-losing-and-winning-the-information-war-in-ukraine
The emergence of a gang inspired by anime inspired by a video game in the Ukrainian capital, Petrovsk and Kiev: implications for the stability of Russia and Ukraine
“It plays to the fact that everything at this point is up for debate,” Walter, the Logically researcher, said. “Truth, democracy, institutions and their role in giving human rights are all up for debate.” They’ve brought everything into question.
The Ukrainian government claims that Russia tried to export a phenomenon: teenage gangs inspired by a Japanese video game who are fighting in the streets.
The gangs have been called RedanPMC, made famous by theWagner mercenary group, combining the names of a Japanese animation character with an acronym for Private Military Company.
They appear to have started in Moscow as a vehicle for teenagers to fight organized gangs of football fans. Teenagers organize through Telegram and create flash mobs. A recent video showed a running battle at a shopping mall in the Russian capital. The news agencies reported a brawl at the Moscow subway station.
Russian authorities have acknowledged the emergence of Redan. RIA Novosti said that more than 350 people were taken to police stations in Moscow for being involved in Redan. A security source claimed that gas and knives were taken away.
The redan fans have an outline of a spider with the number 4 written on it. It is derived from a Japanese anime series called “Hunter x Hunter,” in which there is a gangster group called Gen’ei Ryodan (hence Redan). Redan members in Russia wear black hoodies and checked pants, shown on social media.
The fad is fading because police in both Russia and Ukraine are moving against Redanists. But its sudden emergence on both sides of the border may speak as much to teenage boredom and the power of social media channels as to any cunning destabilization plan.
The police said Tuesday that they had blocked 18 Telegram channels and groups “created to conduct Russian military information campaigns, undermine the domestic situation in Ukraine and involve minors in illegal activities.”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/02/europe/anime-inspired-russian-gangs-ukraine-intl/index.html
Prevention of conflicts among teenagers using social media: A video recorded by a boy in his tassellated Facebook group and posted on its Facebook page
They stated that about 30 youth gatherings took place over the course of two days. Law enforcement officers immediately responded and prevented conflicts among teenagers.”
In a video recorded and later released by the police, the teenager says: “I am the founder of a group with about 2,500 members. The topic of Redan is a popular topic on social media so I created it to make money from advertising posts.
Vasyl Bohdan, head of the juvenile prevention department of the police, said that a lot of people had been summoned to police stations. Bohdan said the force was appealing to parents to “show interest in who their children communicate with.”