In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce Russian propaganda operations around military targets like Starobilsk. For over a decade, the Kremlin has used similar strategies, combining crisis actors, “independent journalists” and fabricated evidence.

First, let’s go back to 2014. Russia funded separatist groups and sent its mercenaries to Donbas, which led to the creation of two puppet states, Donetsk and Luhansk, governed by Russian propagandists and soldiers like Igor Girkin.

Genocide in Donbas

The fake genocide was touted as one of the main reasons for Russia’s war during the early stages of the full-scale invasion, and the claim was made even by Putin himself. Before his mutiny, late Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said that all this was fabricated bullshit.

Prigozhin’s disgruntled troll farm employees later reinforced this claim, confirming that the victims of the “genocide” were actually paid actors. Russians even erected statues to “commemorate” the falsified event in a war that they themselves started.

On 22 May 2026, Ukrainians struck military drone-related targets in Starobilsk, eastern Ukraine. The area has been under temporary Russian occupation since 2022, and many of its colleges have been repurposed as military academies to train soldiers for the meat grinder.

Ukrainians struck a dormitory that housed military personnel, which was evident from the school’s Telegram channel. Several videos also show how the “college” was used for training drone operators.

Yet it didn’t take the Kremlin long to take advantage of the fog of war. Their first false claim was that “all 21 killed were 14-17 years old children”, even though all of the victims were of legal age and most likely had military background.

NAFO fella @TankerFella (follow them!) also found out that several photos of the victims were recycled from other sources. This is nothing new. For example, they once used a photo of famous gay porn star Billy Herrington on one of their memorial plaques.

Then came the “international journalists”. One of them, of course, was Chay Bowes, an RT employee and one of the most prominent English-speaking propagandists in Russia. Others play similar roles for the Kremlin, and some of them were actual crisis actors.

As is tradition, these stories were promoted by large pro-Kremlin accounts like @MarioNawfal, while showing videos from Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti. Many also falsely claimed that the massive missile strike on Ukraine was “retaliation” for this military strike.

According to Russia’s MFA, a “spontaneous memorial” was quickly erected for the victims. It is important to understand that none of this is spontaneous, but a well-planned strategy to score points through disinformation in the international arena.

Russia also employs teenagers to build its war machine. A drone factory or unit is a legitimate military target, but when Russia hires 15-year-olds to build drones, it also creates an opportunity for propaganda once these facilities are hit by Ukraine.

For years to come, we will see monuments and statues erected for these “victims”, who in reality were soldiers from Russia’s elite Rubicon drone military unit. This was a big loss for the Kremlin, and now they are trying to gain something from it.

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Russia spends $5 billion a year on propaganda to manufacture support for its invasions through false narratives such as this one, amplified by bot and troll farms.

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