Russian Propaganda
The Sunday Times had a great story at the weekend exposing the lengths to which the Russian Government goes to spread propaganda and disinformation about its role in Ukraine.
Joseph Goebbels, the infamous Nazi propagandist, would have been proud.
It’s her again: Kremlin’s war-zone fake
By Bojan Pancevski - The Sunday Times
Maria Tsypko has been appearing on Russian TV in a series of pro-Russian propaganda roles
WEARING an expensive-looking black fur coat and designer sunglasses, the woman appeared oddly out of place as she handed out loaves to the starving residents of the war-torn Ukrainian town of Debaltsevo.
But to millions of television viewers in the Russian- speaking world, hers was a familiar face: Maria Tsypko has become an unlikely media star — and object of ridicule — after regularly popping up in a variety of guises in pro-Kremlin news coverage of the war in eastern Ukraine.
Tsypko’s emergence as a “humanitarian worker” in Debaltsevo, shortly after the town was taken by separatist militias last month, was only the latest in a series of her appearances on mainstream media.
In recent months, Tsypko, who appears to be in her late thirties, has featured on major Russian channels in broadcasts from a dozen cities from Moscow to Odessa on the Black Sea, each time playing a different role and often using a different name.
WEARING an expensive-looking black fur coat and designer sunglasses, the woman appeared oddly out of place as she handed out loaves to the starving residents of the war-torn Ukrainian town of Debaltsevo.
But to millions of television viewers in the Russian- speaking world, hers was a familiar face: Maria Tsypko has become an unlikely media star — and object of ridicule — after regularly popping up in a variety of guises in pro-Kremlin news coverage of the war in eastern Ukraine.
Tsypko’s emergence as a “humanitarian worker” in Debaltsevo, shortly after the town was taken by separatist militias last month, was only the latest in a series of her appearances on mainstream media.
In recent months, Tsypko, who appears to be in her late thirties, has featured on major Russian channels in broadcasts from a dozen cities from Moscow to Odessa on the Black Sea, each time playing a different role and often using a different name.
Wrapped in a Russian flag, Tsypko claimed to be an ordinary person from Kharkiv, Ukraine
Once she posed as a pro-Kremlin protester in the eastern city of Kharkov; another time as a mother of soldiers sent by the Ukrainian army to the front; and yet another time as a lawyer co-ordinating an unauthorised referendum on independence in the separatist stronghold of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
For some of the reports she appeared to have dyed her hair red, although she retained her trademark thick golden necklace and pair of heavy golden earrings.
Whatever identity Tsypko assumed, the underlying message was the same: as a local affected by the Ukrainian conflict, she was expressing her grievances against the Kiev government.
Once she posed as a pro-Kremlin protester in the eastern city of Kharkov; another time as a mother of soldiers sent by the Ukrainian army to the front; and yet another time as a lawyer co-ordinating an unauthorised referendum on independence in the separatist stronghold of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
For some of the reports she appeared to have dyed her hair red, although she retained her trademark thick golden necklace and pair of heavy golden earrings.
Whatever identity Tsypko assumed, the underlying message was the same: as a local affected by the Ukrainian conflict, she was expressing her grievances against the Kiev government.
Here, Tsypko is handing out bread to residents in war-torn Debaltseve
Tsypko appears part of a sophisticated information war being waged by the Kremlin’s propaganda machinery — which seems ready to stoop to outright fabrication to get its message across. In most reports, including a notable one from Crimea recorded after the peninsula was snatched from Ukraine by Russia in February last year, Tsypko is an emotional witness. She often breaks down into tears, sobbing as she details the ordeals that she and those close to her have suffered at the hands of the authorities in Kiev.
In one interview, in which she claims to be a refugee from Odessa, she urges President Vladimir Putin to allow all Russian-speakers in Ukraine to flee to Russia “like Jews fleeing to Israel” because of the persecution they allegedly face at home.
Tsypko appears part of a sophisticated information war being waged by the Kremlin’s propaganda machinery — which seems ready to stoop to outright fabrication to get its message across. In most reports, including a notable one from Crimea recorded after the peninsula was snatched from Ukraine by Russia in February last year, Tsypko is an emotional witness. She often breaks down into tears, sobbing as she details the ordeals that she and those close to her have suffered at the hands of the authorities in Kiev.
In one interview, in which she claims to be a refugee from Odessa, she urges President Vladimir Putin to allow all Russian-speakers in Ukraine to flee to Russia “like Jews fleeing to Israel” because of the persecution they allegedly face at home.
Tsypko, this time claiming to be from Odessa, spoke of horrors in Crimea
“She is the star of Russian propaganda about Ukraine, but she is also one of many similar people, mostly women, that resurface in various media reports,” said Yevhen Fedchenko, co-founder of stopfake.org, a website dedicated to exposing Russian propaganda.
“It is unclear who is co-ordinating the news coverage to have her in it all the time, and who pays her travel expenses.
“One would think it’s odd for whoever is doing that to be using the same person so many times, but then Russian audiences are not used to challenging propaganda — they have switched off critical thinking.”
The Sunday Times tracked Tsypko down in Moscow, where she has been giving interviews as a refugee fleeing Kiev’s persecution and participated at events featuring Aleksandr Dugin, the far-right ideologue who has been described as “Putin’s brain”.
The mother of two, who originally comes from Odessa, denied that she appeared in different media reports and claimed only to work for an Orthodox Christian charity called the New Martyrs and Confessors of Christ Fund.
“The Ukrainians think all blondes are me, but, obviously, I resemble none of the women they show in their videos,” she insisted.
“I am only working for a Christian charity. I was in Debaltsevo to help to ease the suffering of people after they were liberated from the fascist occupation” — employing the term used in Kremlin propaganda for Ukrainian government forces.
Tsypko’s charity, according to its website, is linked to extremist groups including the Russian Orthodox Army and Phantom Brigade, two armed militias fighting against Kiev’s forces in east Ukraine. Videos on the website feature Tsypko clutching an iPad while explaining an Orthodox icon to a band of haggard militants on the front line.
In Ukraine, she is wanted for fraud after allegedly employing various scams to extract money from people in Odessa.
The pro-Moscow separatists have used a variety of methods in an attempt to get their message across, including the capture of local television and radio transmitters and replacing Ukrainian broadcasts with Russian ones.
Russian media have also made a series of unsubstantiated claims, the most outrageous of which was to accuse Ukrainian soldiers of crucifying a three-year-old boy in the town of Sloviansk by nailing him to a noticeboard. No proof was provided.
“She is the star of Russian propaganda about Ukraine, but she is also one of many similar people, mostly women, that resurface in various media reports,” said Yevhen Fedchenko, co-founder of stopfake.org, a website dedicated to exposing Russian propaganda.
“It is unclear who is co-ordinating the news coverage to have her in it all the time, and who pays her travel expenses.
“One would think it’s odd for whoever is doing that to be using the same person so many times, but then Russian audiences are not used to challenging propaganda — they have switched off critical thinking.”
The Sunday Times tracked Tsypko down in Moscow, where she has been giving interviews as a refugee fleeing Kiev’s persecution and participated at events featuring Aleksandr Dugin, the far-right ideologue who has been described as “Putin’s brain”.
The mother of two, who originally comes from Odessa, denied that she appeared in different media reports and claimed only to work for an Orthodox Christian charity called the New Martyrs and Confessors of Christ Fund.
“The Ukrainians think all blondes are me, but, obviously, I resemble none of the women they show in their videos,” she insisted.
“I am only working for a Christian charity. I was in Debaltsevo to help to ease the suffering of people after they were liberated from the fascist occupation” — employing the term used in Kremlin propaganda for Ukrainian government forces.
Tsypko’s charity, according to its website, is linked to extremist groups including the Russian Orthodox Army and Phantom Brigade, two armed militias fighting against Kiev’s forces in east Ukraine. Videos on the website feature Tsypko clutching an iPad while explaining an Orthodox icon to a band of haggard militants on the front line.
In Ukraine, she is wanted for fraud after allegedly employing various scams to extract money from people in Odessa.
The pro-Moscow separatists have used a variety of methods in an attempt to get their message across, including the capture of local television and radio transmitters and replacing Ukrainian broadcasts with Russian ones.
Russian media have also made a series of unsubstantiated claims, the most outrageous of which was to accuse Ukrainian soldiers of crucifying a three-year-old boy in the town of Sloviansk by nailing him to a noticeboard. No proof was provided.
