Security Service of Ukraine detains Kyiv residents launching pro-Russian media centre

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO — FRIDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2022, 17:35

The SSU (the Security Service of Ukraine) detained two residents of Kyiv who were working for the Russian Federation, engaged in launching a pro-Kremlin media centre, Tavriia, in the south of Ukraine.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine

Details: The main task of the Russian project is the mass dissemination of Kremlin propaganda within the region through specially created Telegram channels, online television and radio apps. These resources were to be used first of all to justify the aggression of the Russian Federation and spread disinformation about the situation on the front.

The project was supposed to operate under the guise of the so-called Tavriia media centre and reach audiences in the Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk oblasts and temporarily occupied Crimea. The Russian forces further planned to expand their dissemination of destructive content to Kirovohrad Oblast.

Quote: "According to the investigation, two residents of Kyiv, who came to the attention of the special services of the Russian Federation due to their public support for Russian aggression against Ukraine, were involved in the organisation of subversive activities.

At the beginning of the Russian invasion, one of the collaborators gave his Russian supervisor information about the deployment of the Ukrainian Defence Forces in Kyiv. He used closed electronic communication channels to do this.

Subsequently, the said collaborator was tasked with developing a plan for the creation of a pro-Kremlin media centre to destabilise the political situation in our country. He involved his accomplice who formed the concept and algorithm for the implementation of the Tavriia project.

According to the collaborator’s plan, the main office and technological equipment of the media centre were to be located on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea or Kherson. Propagandists and internet campaigners in the Russian Federation were to create and spread destructive content that favours the aggressor country. Subsequently, such underground cells were to create a network in other regions to commit information sabotage.

During searches of the houses of both criminals, law enforcement officers found computer equipment and mobile phones with evidence of criminal activities.

At present, one of them has been notified that they are under suspicion pursuant to Part 6 of Art. 111-1 (collaborative activity) and Part 2 of Art. 111 (treason committed under martial law) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The indictment was sent to the court.

Another collaborator was notified of suspicion of collaborative activity. The selection of a preventive measure in the form of detention is pending.

Background:

On 18 August, Anton Alikhanov, the head of the Kaliningrad region in Russia, came to occupied Kherson for an official visit. The Russian news outlets wrote that Alikhanov took part in the launch of the Tavriia TV channel in the city.

According to Yurii Sobolevskyi, the first deputy chairman of the Kherson Oblast Council, propagandists from Russia Today are engaged in training journalists for the regional TV channel Tavriia.

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