“On the VK page of 29-year-old Roman Koshelev there’s a photo from a gym, and his status features the quote ‘Sport is life’. Every day he posts updates about the progress of the ‘special operation’ and ‘nazism’ in Ukraine. Among his subscriptions: ‘Contract service in the Ministry of Defense of russia’ and dozens of news public pages from different regions. Only Roman has never existed. His photo was taken from a Telegram channel about sports nutrition, and the page, like thousands of others, was created to promote russian propaganda on social media”, - reported “The Moscow Times” Telegram channel on November 17.
Using the service Botnadzor, which tracks the activity of kremlin bots, “The Moscow Times” studied how fake accounts imitate russian support in the occupied territories.
According to Botnadzor, fake accounts left at least 1,300 comments under the posts of the occupation administration of Berdiansk. Imitating real residents of the oblast, they celebrated the work of “United Russia” party on State Flag Day and May 9, urged people not to panic during an “enemy attack”, and admired russian soldiers fighting against Ukraine. Similar comments are posted by bots under posts of other occupation administrations.
On September 30, the anniversary of the annexation of Ukrainian territories, bots began posting messages in support of kremlin policy more frequently, notes “The Moscow Times”.
Among the comments: wishes for new Ukrainian regions to come under russia’s control. “It would also be good to [annex] Kharkiv. But only if a referendum is held. We won’t forcefully annex, obviously”, - wrote a bot named Vasilisa.
“I am counting on a referendum in Odesa as well”, - stated another fake account in comments under a news post about the use of the phrase “unfriendly countries”.
According to Vincent Berthier, head of the digital department at Reporters Without Borders, the occupied territories of Ukraine have turned into “informational black holes where only the kremlin’s mouthpieces are allowed to work”.
“The narrative being spread in the occupied territories systematically seeks to justify the invasion and the promotion of russian policy, creating the impression that everyone supports russia and its representatives. This does not reflect reality”, - Berthier said.