A Brief Foray into Ukrainian Propaganda

Written by contributor M. Book

“There is no use talking to the ignorant about lies, for they have no criteria. Deceiving the ignorant is by some regarded as evil, but it is the demagogue's business to bolster up his position and to show that God’s noblest work is the demagogue.” 

-Ezra Pound “The Constant Preaching to the Mob”

Patrick S. Tomlinson is a writer and comedian, though he will be remembered for the campaign of hatred he provoked from internet users, rather than his work. Tomlinson was made a target by reddit users after posting about how he didn’t find Norman McDonald funny.  There are various examples of harassment, such as swat calls to vandalism, but the most impressive result is that Tomlinson continues to make himself look ridiculous. His efforts have cost him tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees as he attempts various lawsuits to get the personal details of the internet trolls. Though he still hopes to gain some sort of victory over the internet harassers, any achievement now pales in comparison to the successes of the trolls. There are various stories of internet crusades, like fourchan going after Scientology or organizing air strikes for the Russian MoD, but this is my personal favourite, because of the absurdity. The harassers are drunks and schizophrenics who frequent Opie and Anthony forums, and without the internet might just be a hobbyist or join the Klan. Instead, they all singularly unite around inflicting misery upon their subject. Such is the power of internet trolls. 

            I imagine that there are several people who thought they could harness this energy and aim it towards Russia. We’ve heard of Russian troll farms, or their ability to spread disinformation. Most recently, we’ve been informed by Visegrad 24, that Russians have been convincing migrants to travel to European countries in order to enjoy a socialist paradise and free housing. From getting Donald Trump elected to spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories, Russian trolls might be the most powerful asymmetrical warfare tool in modern history if Western media is to be believed. One would assume there is no reason Five Eyes should surrender this powerful tool for fear of seeming ignoble. At least, that’s what I would assume think tanks would be fantasizing about. Consider an Australian meme team sharing their kooky jokes and devil may care word play to support Taiwan. The UK jokers and Americans troll brigade coming together like Avengers and second-string Avengers in Marvel 3, to absolutely embarrass Putin! Epic! Not to mention merchandise potential.

 The reality is much more pathetic. There is the idea of “cringe,” which implies overwhelming second-hand embarrassment. People have called some of these efforts cringe. What this is more akin to is seeing an elderly wolf drag himself into a village in order to beg for scraps. Is this the same military industrial complex that managed to convince America about the Gulf of Tonkin? From manufacturing reasons to bomb Serbia to helping Contras, now reduced to promoting “Ukrainian Memes for NATO teens”? The Cold War saw Jazz diplomacy, literary warfare and the full brunt of Hollywood to cement hatred towards Russians for decades. Yet, we don’t get Kendrick Lamar hiphopping about Bakhmut. There is no more Pasternak or Solzhenitsyn. Perhaps Kurkov could be considered the closest contemporary example, but his most famous work details a corruption scandal and caring for his pet penguin. Foisting the task of etching Ukrainian heroism in the rock of history is a bit unfair. Still, where are the tales of outrage that aren’t immediately forgotten? What about the stories of heroism that aren’t immediately disproved? Is it the internet? Hiring women? Why does it seem like propaganda efforts have deteriorated in recent times?

No, the reality of Ukrainian war propaganda, whether state supported or not, revolves around profiting from even the most tangential connection to Ukraine. If your name has several consonants and ends with “ov” you can probably get away with claiming to be ethnically Ukrainian and ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGED about Russia. Many would reflexively use the term “grifter” but recently it’s been stripped of all meaning I’m not sure it’s useful. Instead, I’ll refer to these people by a word from my youth, “Shyster.” I’ll mention a few such examples before discussing what might be the more interesting topic of NAFO. You can skip ahead if you’re a “fella” wanting to see the critiques. 

Possibly the most enterprising of the Ukraine propagandists is “Reporting From Ukraine.” These social media types can be classified as “war reporters.” There are dozens for both Ukraine and Russia, and no doubt the reader knows several.  This youtuber is by far the most refined aesthetically. The YouTube profile picture is a tasteful Ukrainian flag designed with slight imperfections to indicate the dirty struggle of the soldiers. His “About” section quickly assures you he is Ukrainian, which in our ethnocentric culture grants him special power over discussing the topic. The thumbnails of the videos themselves are hardly as sophisticated as the simple cigar and glass of whiskey look, but nonetheless tease the viewer by promising TOTAL RUSKIE DEFEAT EMINENT. They each have Slavic man in military dress. He might be famous in Ukraine, I’m not a war expert. I do know it’s not the narrator, as interestingly enough, the narrator lives in the US of America. All in all, this could be a classic RWA clone for Ukraine, if it wasn’t for the interesting part. The merchandise. 

“Reporting from Ukraine” (RFU), has a store called UASupporter that has a staggering number of mugs. There are five pages of mugs with designs like, “Ukraine and Quebec solidarity” or other variations for nearly every single nation.

Now, this is interesting enough. I’m sure many people wouldn’t mind the prices if they can support Ukraine. Although, tell me, does anything in this website indicate that he’s donating some of the proceeds? Do the pictures of children and all the products endorsing Ukrainian support, if not explicitly, at least hint that some of the proceeds would be donated? The advertisements in the video somewhat imply financial support and I had assumed that, but I'm a humble country bumpkin. No, hilariously this is his mission, 

“We are committed to offering you a concept that makes everyone feel strong, confident and completely independent.”

From the website itself, 

“Spiritual support”! 40$ fanny packs so that when you cross paths with that Ukrainian refugee you can smile, nod your head and say, “Don’t worry, your spiritual needs have been satisfied. Carry on, Sl-ah-va Ukrianaia” Worry not, the entrepreneurial spirit does not end there. There is not only an affiliation program that allows you to split some of the profits for promotion, as well as several other sponsorship programs (Patreon pulls about 4,000 British Sterling). Cleverly, he even devised a YouTube solution where, for potential translators, he creates a channel, gives you the material and asks you to translate. For this service you can share the proceeds 50/50. Of course, perhaps the promise of Ukrainian support, financial rather than spiritual, is going on in the background, yet he admits the motivation for the videos. At about this timestamp, he discusses how “My goal is to reach 1,000 patrons which would allow me to fully support my family in this crisis.”  I am sympathetic to his family living in a warzone, but several of these patreon tiers are the most expensive I’ve seen on the website. For a mere 212$ a month, you too can be considered a hero!

I should also discuss the difference between Ukrainian war reporters in RWA. For example, I could imagine someone accusing RWA of doing the same sort of profiting that RFU is doing. However, I think there is very little in common. For example, RWA started in 2020, RFU started in March of 22’. It makes sense for a war channel specifically focusing on the invasion to be created immediately after the event has started, but demonstrates that RWA is not, first and foremost, a war channel. Secondly, RWA does not claim to be representing the last bastion of courage, preventing the scourge of the 21st century from breaking through the confines of its nation’s border to envelop the world into bleak darkness. It is the sanctimony of Ukraine supporters that makes the pocketing of the money nefarious. If Kirillov wept in a podcast and pleaded for people to send money to “spiritually support” Russians by buying bear mugs, I’d agree with you. 

I should discuss the actual content more, but it’s somewhat boring to listen to. It’s mostly just narrated news reports about Ukraine doing well. There is astounding little charisma compared to Russian war reporters. I would recommend leaning heavily into the Cossack identity and call Moscovites peasants or something. RFU, if you’re reading this, read “And Quite Flows the Don” or listen to some Bogdon videos and try to emulate that. Although, based on estimated income, who am I to offer any advice? Pray for a long war shyster, this is the feast before famine. 

There are few other of these Ukraine War report channels, such as lezzetnesli, but they’re somewhat difficult to distinguish. By that I mean he uses the exact same thumbnails as the RFU channel. It would be interesting to know whether there is a bitter struggle of people trying to be the main “Ukraine” guy. From looking around it seems like Lezentnesli used to be a cooking channel before realizing Ukraine was more lucrative. I’m sure there are a dozen smaller channels, but the criticism remains the same, no one does it like RFU!

I’m getting to the Trolls, and some brief commentary about why the West can’t recruit trolls, but I think it’s important to now address the think tanks. Where the war reporters might appeal mostly to autists or people with the free time to track the various inches of territory their combatants are trading, think tanks appeal more to the intellectual. This format could be for political freaks hoping to have their stances confirmed by quasi government agencies before actually confirming any opinions. You would assume they’re probably bland and uninteresting, but I think many in Five Eyes have become so incensed by the war they’ll let some insanity slip. For example, Royal United Services Institute, a UK think tank, endorses the practice of reducing the Russian to Orcs. Although I did laugh when the openly praise nazi tactics, 

“The power of the fiction-based tactical narrative is threefold. First, it is more accessible than historical narratives, especially when disseminated through the cinematic medium, marrying impactful narrative themes with powerful imagery. This was a method that was infamously utilised by Nazi propagandists, a prime example being the film Triumph of the Will directed by Leni Riefenstahl.”

Usually, these organizations would resist admitting using tactics from fascists, and other references I could find about Nazis revolve around accusing Russia of “being the real nazis!” or crushing domestic right-wing groups. The Claremont Institute was far more neutral than I expected. As opposed to just breathing heavily to the thought of executing Putin, the article “Why Are We in Ukraine '' admits Russia and US tensions are the primary reason for the Ukraine invasion, even advocating for a peaceful solution. Actually, interestingly, publications from American think tanks seem to be more reserved in general when it comes to Russia than the UK. The Chatham (British) clarifies that any peace resolution that doesn’t end in the elimination of Russia is akin to punishing Ukraine for the invasion. I’m not sure why Great Britain is considerably more hawkish in this regard, perhaps blood memories of English and Russian diplomatic sabotage from when the UK was an actual world power. 

            Of course, there are also the Ukrainian efforts to spread propaganda, but these are so stunningly inept, it would be impossible to parody. I still think there was some sincere support for adding the Ukraine colours to the Pride (US) flag, despite that being marked “FALSE” by Reuters. The most famous blunders might be the attempt to graft the Harry Potter fandom into Ukraine Support.

Which, truly, I struggle to understand what this could mean. Presumably Ukrainian twitter teams are hoping to use Barthe’s idea of the “Death of the Author” to justify claiming childhood characters are joining the fight, separate from any intention of Rowling. I think this demonstrates that there is little cross communication between the teams, as I would have continued to use the Lord of The Rings comparison, rather than doubling down on Pottermania. I suppose it’s possible they were just trying the Harry Potter/Balenciaga meme. Of course, there is the more recent attempt, where they show photos of young boys growing older together and then being buried together. It’s regrettable the Russian MoD didn’t retweet it. As silly as this all it seems, it does reveal their target audience, over-socialized liberals. I don’t think any man has watched Goblet of Fire and enlisted to fight. However, how many moms, who remembered putting round glasses on her son for Halloween, felt a pang of emotion seeing this?

            This observation even reveals a little of the Five Eye’s plan. Reiterating what PigDog discussed on the podcast with Martyanov, there is no intention to formally place boots on the ground. Instead, they’ll merely be arming Ukraine to the point of absurdity and using the war as a platform to denounce Russia, all the while increasing military spending. This is a financial investment to the United States, not a conflict they hope to win. When I saw this meme, I realized that convincing democrat voters who thought of themselves as Hermonie (both men and women), was the goal, not the poor rednecks who usually fight wars that I’ve previously written about. Not so much the “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom” style, but rather the, “Shouldn’t we invest in green energy” crowd. 

            I imagine part of this goal, encouraging SPENDING not COMBAT, is what led to the decision to promote that abhorrent American goblin to spokesperson. You might be aware of the bud light fiasco where, by hoping to partner with “influencer” Dylan Mullaney, bud light became the gay beer, and was widely boycotted by conservatives. It appears this boycott, unlike most from Republicans, was effective and cost the company massively. Even now the fallout is continuing, and you’d imagine this would be a concrete lesson taught to every advertisement company, “don’t alienate your core audience.” So, the reader can decide whether the decision to promote Sarah Ashton-Cirillo as AFU/TDF Spokesperson, was a failure resulting in alienating conservatives, or a success by trying to court liberals. Judging by the engagement on Twitter (X), it seems many commenters lean liberal, or are at least critical of Trump and especially Musk. Although this is to be expected, as they have both criticized the Billions sent to Ukraine.

            Personally, I think it was a success, conceptually. The boycotting republicans are already critical of the support for Ukraine, and by marrying the ideas of transgenderism and Ukraine, it was possible the AFU would have enjoyed the support of both the LGBTQIA2S+ lobbies, and the Russia war hawks. If you want an example of a similar unity, ask how many evangelicals in Dallas or Tallahassee support Israel. Not because the concerns of Judaism are particularly important to the voters, but because of biblical prophecy, Israel had connected the idea of Israeli security and Revelation. I think it’s clear Israel is significantly more competent, but the Ukrainians know what idols to acknowledge for Five Eyes support. Furthermore, I imagine Western intel agencies hoped that the transgender identity would provide cover from critics who feared reprisal from LGBTQ… groups. As far as whether the spokes(person) is supported by the US government, that's a matter of debate at the moment. Ohio senator JD Vance has begun to ask government officials as to whether Ashton-Cirillo is receiving funding from the US. In a strategically brilliant move, Ashton-Cririllo clarified, “I’ll finish by stating unequivocally that I only answer to three groups of people, my Ukrainian commanders, the Ukrainian people, and the American taxpayer.” 

What that means exactly, might be up for some debate. I have no idea how exactly she answers to the American taxpayer, or what obligation she would have, if not for the fact he was receiving money from the government. Later Ashton-Cirillo further stated that the entire salary from the Ukrainian government would be donated, and that you should send him more money in the form of donations. Once again, supporting Ukraine seems to be a very lucrative move. 

(WRITER’S UPDATE) 

            It appears this person was suspended and under investigation. To any readers, please remember these people, as many will later be denounced, and their support rescinded.

            Finally, there is NAFO. For those blissfully unaware of the existence of NAFO, I’d encourage you to stop reading entirely. However, for the curious, NAFO is a “play on words” reference to NATO. Instead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, this is the North Atlantic Fella Organization. “Fellas” is an interesting choice in word as well, as it is praised as being gender neutral. The fact that a gender-neutral term is required sheds light into the sort of politics NAFO espouses. I would describe them as having the energy of radicals, with none of the convictions or intelligence. Instead of aggravating for a worker’s revolution or a return of Hitler, they focus entirely of fantasizing about raping and killing Russians. This really isn’t an exaggeration based on the comics they share amongst each other. They tend to always imply that Putin and any supporters of Russia are homosexuals, despite a significant amount of their members being LBGT(...) themselves. (Mostly trans), this is further established by the fact you can buy official NAFO trans/pride flags. Fellow Samizdat contributor Max, shared this video of NAFO reacting to the Victory day parades. If this is any indication of the people comprising NAFO, it seems to be slightly autistic men, shrieking about Russian’s committing genocide while dreaming of Putin being assassinated or laughing at Russian casualties. One quickly realizes this is simply spectacle for the commentators, likely because they lack the athleticism to get into sports. They frequently use words like “based” or “Clown world” which are usually associated with Nick Fuentes style tradcath opinions, despite Fuentes voicing support for Putin. This is bloodlust and Fuentes is strangely juxtaposed with teary references to the suffering Ukrainians in a way that obfuscates any actual opinions they might have. It is characteristic of the seemingly oxymoronic ideas that Russia is evil because they invaded, but also that we should kill every Russian. Funnily enough, it seems to be a policy to ban anyone using the Cyrillic language. Sorry Ukrainians, you’ll be speaking English ‘round these parts, boy.

The NAFO twitter (X) users define themselves by pictures of shiba inus and strange words implying violence like “bonking.’ All of this seems to be a continuation of the ancient internet meme of Doge, which inspired their mascot. The Wikipedia article includes praise from various organizations like The Economist, Wall Street Journal, German Council of Foreign Relations and even 780th Military Intelligence Brigade. Once again, one wonders why Five Eyes would be so noble as to not engage what they themselves declare as incredibly effective.

They do have celebrities within their community. Again, shysters using Ukrainian death to promote their brand. It would be easy to become irritated observing brits feign being Cossack in order to take pictures looking sad next to destroyed houses and doing dances for the attention of queers and overweight woman. It would be simple to hate these people, but that’s their intended goal.

Still, time marches on. The war continues and the NAFO members grow, and the organization takes on a life of its own. What do I mean by that? The horrors of #darknafo. This is degeneracy put on prime display. I assume that many of these people cling to the Ukraine situation because they themselves lack some sort of social connection that becomes increasingly common in our atomized world. For this reason, as what happens with any group with no formal moderation, especially on the internet, that includes both genders, it gets a little freaky. There are, from what I saw, a couple of pictures from overweight women hoping to seduce people into donating for pictures of their thighs. It doesn’t appear as thought it was successful. What stunned me most was the “Playfella” magazine, which, I can’t say definitely, but appears to be sexual?

Truthfully, this disgusts me. I can’t confirm whether it’s sexual or not, but it’s revolting. I don’t even really understand why you would flick away your tears for the Ukrainians to work on a gentleman’s periodical. I’m sure there are probably more on discord channels and telegram. What’s difficult to fathom is why this group of freaks and sadists would immediately descend into being lustful, or maybe it's actually obvious. 

            I’ll speak briefly on the idea of trolling. I like to engage in a little tomfoolery in the RWA telegram. For example, I might say The Burn was written by Maximov, when I know it was written by Akysonov. Or might say “The Little Demon” is Russian Dissident when it’s very clearly Russian Symbolist. The point is, to effectively troll, one must be funny. This means shedding any sanctimony and trying to be funny, foremost. When NAFO responds with a dozen pictures of dogs with bats screeching “VATNICK!” there is no subversion of expectations that leads to comedy. For normal people, it’ll either be vulgar or boring. I don’t think Americans really understand this, because they must make sure that no one has any naughty opinions before they support them. When the originator of NAFO was revealed to be anti-semtic, Adam Kinzinger tried refuting it as disinformation, before beginning to distance himself from the organization. Someone who enjoys mocking people is getting a reaction and will often have anti-social opinions. 

            However, America is not wrong to do this. The continued support for Ukraine is contingent on the idea that liberals continue to wring their heart about the poor country. When Zelensky(y) is seen as untrustworthy or maniacal, he’ll quickly be eliminated. The propaganda must then be targeted to people who like to feel “informed” and enjoy explaining to their friends what causes they support. In a way, the current support for Ukraine is spiritually a child of the Quaker Friends of Russia Society that gave rise to the Bolsheviks. Though we may see it as pathetic, or “cringey” it must be effective to the people who are likely to vote for democrat/labour politicians. The money keeps rolling, as it were. Still, I beseech you, remember these propagandists. If the Iraq war was any indication, these people will flip the moment it is no longer financially beneficial and claim they wanted a quick resolution the entire time. I encourage you to find one American who will admit to supporting the Iraq war today, even though opposing it would have made you a pariah. 

Finally, to any scum CIA agent reading this, you filthy glowie, you abominable rat, you hear me, please god hire a better spokesperson. First and foremost, I recommend creating an AI of either Macho Man Randy Savage or some Cockney retard and using that to replace Ashton-Cirillo. I have more ideas, but you’ll need to arrange payment.