Wonders of Russian propaganda. How a Moscow blogger sent his family to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Russian propaganda excels in the short film genre. Advertisement videos targeting the Ukrainian audience are disseminated through their social media platforms, primarily on Telegram and TikTok.
Texty.org.ua used facial recognition software to find out who starred in one of these videos. Among the actors, they identified a popular fitness blogger, a girl resembling a webcam model, an unknown actor, and a woman whose photos are available in photo banks.
"To the Last Ukrainian"
The world has already seen a series of such "works." One of them features an alleged German family (the video is voiced in German) who have everything valuable taken away to help Ukraine. Other creations of Russian propaganda highlight the "contrasts" of Ukrainian life.
A video promoting the Russian narrative about the "war to the last Ukrainian" was so well-received by Kremlin propagandists that it seems no Russian war correspondent or bot on duty didn't repost it. In the primitive world of Russian propaganda, its authors tried to create an unexpected plot twist.
So, in short, everything is tailored to the ideological framework of Russian propaganda about the West waging a "war to the last Ukrainian" against Russia. Initially, we see a brave Ukrainian soldier, oddly in an American uniform, seemingly saying goodbye before heading to the front lines to his relatives — presumably his father, mother, girlfriend, and a young man who is likely his brother. The specific details of their relationships are not emphasized but this can be inferred from the context. However, the reality is then dramatically reversed.
It turns out that it is not the brave soldier in the American uniform heading to the front lines but his relatives — father, mother, girlfriend, and brother.
The next scene shows them awkwardly holding weapons, trudging aimlessly under the sound of explosions around them. The message is quite clear: State Department mercenaries (remember the American uniform) are rounding up the last Ukrainians and sending them to certain death.
Who starred in this masterpiece?
Fitness Blogger with a Tattoo
The brave soldier sending his family to their deaths turned out to be none other than Denis Kishkovich, a fitness blogger from Moscow.
Kishkovich became famous for participating in the popular Russian TV show "Dom-2" He also describes himself as a blogger, traveler, and presumably just a "good guy."
The fact that he is the same person is confirmed not only by the visual similarity of the faces of the "Ukrainian soldier" and Kishkovich but also by the similarity of the tattoos on his right arm.
An interesting detail: although Kishkovich is very active on his social media accounts (his TikTok account has 750,000 followers), he hasn't mentioned a word about his participation in the propaganda video. This can't be a coincidence, as it seems he documents almost every step of his life under the blogger's spotlight. Just a few years ago, he didn't find it offensive to pose with the flag of the current nominal enemy.
It can be assumed that Kishkovich fully understands that, as a person who loves to travel, he might face certain difficulties due to his clear association with propagandists. He probably also doesn't want to lose some of his followers on TikTok, who view him as an apolitical fitness mentor.
An Actor, a Webcam Model, and a Woman from a Photo Bank
The role of the rugged "father" was played by the inconspicuous actor Oleksandr Hryhorash.
On the website of a medical organization from the American state of Utah, there is a photograph of a woman who looks very similar to her.
The photographs of our heroine were placed in some photo banks, from where they were taken for the American developers' website.
The identity of the "brother" of the main character could not be established. However, the main character's beloved seems to work in a different artistic genre. At least, photos of a webcam model who looks very similar to her can be found on many sites that specialize in providing virtual sex services. The actress did not respond to our inquiry about participating in the propaganda film.
Of course, the main goal of this video, like the previous ones, is to convince Ukrainians and their supporters worldwide to stop resisting Russian aggression. According to their creators, the Ukrainian audience (and possibly others, as one of the previous "works" was voiced in German) is supposed to accept these "truths" as given.
Spoiler: it seems that the creators of this propaganda have outsmarted themselves. These videos went viral primarily in the Russian "patriotic" environment rather than in Ukrainian or, for that matter, German social media. They have become a quasi-reality for Russians eager for victory, where Germans have nothing left to give to help Ukraine, and Ukrainians have fought until the "last Ukrainian."
Of course, the creators of such propaganda should not stop at this achievement and should make a few videos about a final victory and a parade on Red Square, or in Berlin or Paris. Why not, if they have the budget for it?
