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With the beginning of the military operation of the Armed Forces in the Kursk region, Russian propaganda telegram channels and media actively spread narratives about “foreign mercenaries” fighting in Kursk region.
To support their narratives, they used photos belonging to the Forward Observations Group account on the social network instagram.
Forward Observations Group is an American company that advises on security and tactical training, a brand of military equipment. It was founded by former U.S. Army infantryman Derrick Bales. To promote their own brand, they shoot videos from places where combat takes place. His group has already visited Ukraine, Iraq, Syria.
“American mercenaries confirmed that they are participating in the occupation of the Kursk region.
On the PVC Forward Observations Group Instagram page (banned in the Russian Federation), Western military pose next to an armored vehicle HMMWV as part of the invasion group of the Armed Forces.
The geolocation is marked Kursk region and signed under the publication The boys in Kursk. In the center in the photo is the founder of FOG Derrick Bales,” Russian Telegram channels spread.
The photo with the alleged American mercenaries was taken by Vyacheslav Ratynsky, a Ukrainian documentary photographer and photojournalist for Reuters in the border region of Sumy. In the photo are the Ukrainian military.
The British Newspaper The TelegraphAugust 14, 2024 illustrated with a photo by Vyacheslav article “In a week, Ukraine captured more land than Russia in eight months”.
Ukrainian military near the Russian border. It is believed that the captured territory can be used as a barter coin in any peace negotiations. Photo by Vyacheslav Ratinsky for Reuters
The author of the article compares the advance of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region and the Russian army in Kharkiv and Donetsk region and analyzes the speed of the advance of the Russians.
The article mentions the tactics of the Russians, namely “infantry offensive and continuous fire curtain”, thanks to which they manage to advance in eastern Ukraine. This was the case with Avdiyivka in February 2024, and now Russian troops are approaching the strategically important city of Pokrovsk.
“Advancing through scorched-earth tacticsaccelerated with the capture in February 2024 of Avdiyivka, the industrial city of Donetsk. This opened the way for the capture of more territory, since the Ukrainian defense forces lacked ammunition amid the delay of US assistance,” the British newspaper explains.
Another photo from the Forward Observations Group Instagram page, dated August 21, was also actively distributed by propaganda telegram channels. It allegedly recorded how “American mercenaries” are on the territory of a playground in the Kursk region.
“The American PKK Forward Observations Group, which published photos of its militants in the Kursk region, posted a picture of a mortar fire position near the playground,” Ukraina.ru Telegram channel said.
However, on the Instagram page of Forward Observations Group on June 24, 2023, another photo was published, which in terms of the details of the terrain, location, objects is identical in place and time of shooting, marked with the location “Ukraine”.
An identical in detail photo was also published in the summer of 2023 by other resources. That is, the relevance of the photo, which was picked up by Russian telegram channels - at least August 2023. This fact helped establish an independent NGO fact-checker project “Gwara Media”.
The narrative about “foreign mercenaries” expands inextricably with another narrative about “atrocities of foreign mercenaries in the Kursk region”. Propagandists claim that “foreign mercenaries” have been fighting in Ukraine since before the full-scale invasion and already now their share in the Armed Forces exceeds 50%. The Russian authorities call them criminals and attribute the most brutal crimes.
Lenta.ruwith reference to TASS:
“The most cruel treatment of civilians is mercenaries.
According to the agency's source, fighters from the USA, Poland and France are recorded at the Kursk border.”
The main purpose of such fakes is an attempt by the Russian authorities to show that they are fighting with the “collective West”, and not with Ukraine. Propagandists replace the concept by calling the foreign legion, which is part of the Armed Forces, “mercenaries”, thus trying to devalue the heroism of the Ukrainian army and discredit it.
“Foreigners undergoing military servicein the Armed Forces of Ukraine, receive the same monetary support as citizens of Ukraine. This is stated in Article 21-3 of the Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service”, — explains StopFake. — Ukraine does not take any actions aimed at “recruitment” either on its territory or abroad.”
Foreigners who do not want to sign a contract with the Armed Forces join volunteer battalions. They do not receive material benefits, but fight “for the idea”. But they are not “mercenaries.”
“In general, the term “mercenary”means that a person participates in war, but is not part of the armed forces of a particular country. Mercenaries are usually recruited by third parties, and subsequently they receive a monetary reward for their work,” he explains “Media Detector”.
Material created with support The Free Word Foundation.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Yana Yevmenova
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
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