#russian-propaganda

#russian-propaganda

When people hear my name these days, it's usually followed by "former British soldier captured in Mariupol." Or worse, "foreign fighter" as if I'd spent my weekends pledging allegiance to some jihad. The truth is simpler: I was a Ukrainian Marine. Why journalists find it so hard to say that without choking on their morning coffee, or realising they're parroting a Russian talking point is beyond me.

Some signings are better received by fans than others, as is well known, but it is questionable whether any new addition has been at the end of such an outpouring of anger as Dynamo Kyiv's acquisition of Vladislav Blanuta. The 23-year-old Moldovan-Romanian striker joined last week for 2.6m (2.3m) from FC U Craiova and the transfer had barely been made public before it transpired that he had shared content by a Russian propagandist on TikTok, to the fans that made him pro-Putin.

A suspected GPS sabotage forced European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's plane to divert from its course and in Russia, the incident quickly made her the focus of mockery and smear campaigns. The politician had flown to Bulgaria on August 31. The GPS disruption of the aircraft resulted in an unscheduled landing in the city of Plovdiv. Authorities in Bulgaria suspect that Moscow was behind the attack and link it to Russia's war against Ukraine.