Rezident_ua, a clear example of how Russian propaganda reaches Western audiences

I have been warning for years about how Russian propaganda reaches the Western public through various channels.

Tucker Carlson's pro-Russian hoaxes and the reason for their zero cost among his followers
Russia's new war against Poland: more than 1,400 Russian hoaxes against Poles

Today I'm going to give you a clear example of how this is done. Julio Ariza, president of Grupo Intereconomía and owner of El Toro TV, published yesterday morning a message on his Telegram channel without indicating the source. The message, in Spanish, stated the following:

"Pay attention to this information

Our source in the Presidential Office said that the problem of relations with the US has nothing to do with Zelensky's apologies.

We simply cannot sign the deal on rare earth minerals, in which the Americans included the gas transit system (GTS) and ports, as well as a number of strategic enterprises.

Ukraine has already handed them over to the UK in a secret deal, and now we will be forced to fight without US help.

All these details were well known to American intelligence, which is why Trump requested this document."

Where did this information come from, the source of which is not indicated? I searched a bit and finally found the source: it was posted on March 4 by a Telegram channel called Rezident_ua, a channel that is apparently Ukrainian but constantly spreads propaganda against Ukraine. The original text was in Russian, it is as follows:

#Инсайд
Наш источник в ОП рассказал, что вопрос отношений с США не состоит в извинениях Зеленского, мы просто не можем подписать договор о редкоземельных ископаемых, в который американцы включили ГТС и порты, а так же ряд стратегических предприятий. Украина уже отдала их Британии в секретном договоре и теперь мы вынуждены будем воевать без помощи США, все эти детали хорошо были известны Американской разведке, вот почему Трамп запросил этот документ.

This is the translation:

#Insider
Our source in the PO said that the issue of relations with the United States is not about Zelensky's apologies, we simply cannot sign an agreement on rare earth minerals, in which the Americans include gas transportation systems and ports, as well as a number of strategic enterprises. Ukraine has already handed them over to Britain in a secret deal and now we will be forced to fight without US help - all these details were well known to American intelligence, that's why Trump requested this document.

Why didn't Ariza indicate the source of the information? I don't know. That information was already circulating on Twitter a few hours earlier in Spanish and clearly citing its source: "RezidentUA". Anyone who consults the aforementioned channel will realize that Rezident_ua is a constant source of propaganda and hoaxes against Ukraine. Searching for more information, I found that on October 15, 2022, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security (SPRAVDI) of the Government of Ukraine stated the following:

"The network of Telegram channels posing as Ukrainian, supported by Russian special services, including Legitimny, Rezident, Zhenshchina s kosoy, Olga Shariy, Anatoliy Shariy, once again proven their Kremlin origins while covering the strikes of Putin’s terrorists on the Ukrainian infrastructure on October 10."

In other paragraph of that SPRAVDI report, the following was read about the findings of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in relation to these channels:

"At the beginning of 2021, the SBU exposed some of these channels, finding that they were connected to the Russian military, namely, the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation (formerly the GRU). The agent network was established by the 85th Centre of the Main Directorate. According to law enforcement, the network included such channels as Legitimny, Rezident, Kartel, Spletnitsa, Cherny Kvartal."

SPRAVDI's 2021 information about this and other Telegram channels stated that "the SBU considers some of them to be Russian intelligence channels. These channels are closely linked." That SPRAVDI information stated that Rezident had 115,000 subscribers at the time (it now has more than one million followers). The Ukrainian government center noted that the SBU links this channel "to Russian special services".

In April 2024, SPRAVDI debunked one of the many hoaxes published by that channel, noting that Rezident "is linked to the Russian Federation and is known for spreading disinformation under the guise of “insider” information."

The question that must now be asked is: How many of these anonymous and supposedly confidential reports that are used to discredit Ukraine have a similar origin? This is information that some people spread without even asking where it comes from and without subjecting it to even the slightest verification.

---

Photo: Futurity.org.