Russia also uses teens to spread Putin’s propaganda. | outside

The Russian army wanted complete control of Donbass and southern Ukraine, as it seemed in April 2022. Alexander Malkevich, who has close ties to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, ordered the establishment of several pro-Russian television and radio stations in war-ravaged Ukrainian cities. Southern Ukraine has been inundated with propaganda designed to intensify the Kremlin’s rhetoric and erase Ukraine’s past.

Alexander Malkevich, who is under Western sanctions for spreading disinformation, is the mastermind behind “Tavria TV” in Kherson, “Za TV” in Melitopol and “Mariupol 24” in the eastern Donetsk region. They are all channels that closely follow Kremlin propaganda stories. For example, Tavria TV recently reminded viewers of the reasons Moscow puts forward to justify the war against Ukraine. It was a forced step. Moscow had no choice.

Faced with an acute shortage of people willing and able to work for his channels, Malkevich creates a “information school” in Kherson. He also became the head of the journalism department at a local university and authored a book, “Real Russian Journalism for New Territories” for future collaborators in the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine. Some of these employees are still teenagers, like two girls who were already employed at the age of 16 at “Za TV” and “Tavria TV”.

Malkevich moved to Kherson in the summer of 2022, which Russia illegally annexed in September last year. However, during a raid by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he had to flee with his staff. During the evacuation, a worker was killed and a teenage reporter was injured. The latter later received the Order of Courage from President Putin and is known as “Russia’s youngest war journalist”.

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