Anton Shekhovtsov Profile picture
Jun 24, 2024 10 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Nigel Farage's claims that the West allegedly provoked the Russian invasion of Ukraine are not coming out of nowhere, and the context behind this picture from a few years ago helps understand his claims. Left: Farage, right: Nadia Borodi (Sass). 1/10 Image
Borodi is originally from Ukraine, and together with her partner Oleh Voloshyn they operated an agent network in Europe on behalf of Ukrainian pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk. Left: Borodi, right: Voloshyn. 2/10 Image
While still in Ukraine, and when Ukraine still tolerated (mistakenly) agents of Russian influence, both promoted pro-Kremlin politics, and actively used European politicians for their objectives. Here's Borodi with Nicolas Bay of the French National Front/Rally. 3/10 Image
Through Voloshyn/Borodi, Medvedchuk would also cooperate with the German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD): from left to right, Oleh Voloshyn, Petr Bystron (AfD), Viktor Medvedchuk, Maximilian Krah (AfD) and Ulrich Singer (AfD). 4/10 Image
One special area of interest for Medvedchuk was also the British far right: UKIP/Brexit Party (now Reform UK), and Borodi/Voloshyn actively engaged with members of Nigel Farage's political project: Nathan Gill, David Coburn and Jonathan Arnott. Here's Borodi with Gill. 5/10 Image
Through Voloshyn and Borodi, UKIP/Brexit Party were connected to Viktor Medvedchuk's media projects that were run by Artem Marchevsky. Here's a panel at the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 2019 featuring David Coburn, Nathan Gill, Marchevsky and some others. 6/10 Image
Voloshyn and Borodi fled Ukraine just one month before the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Medvedchuk failed to flee, was arrested and then exchanged for several Ukrainian PoWs. Marchevsky fled Ukraine and somehow settled in Czechia. 7/10 Image
Neither Medvedchuk nor Marchevsky retired from pro-Russian activism. Medvedchuk started cooperating with the Russian Social Design Agency infamous for “Operation Doppelgänger”: 8/10euobserver.com/news/ar53fd9f38
And as we now know, Medvedchuk and Marchevsky set up the Russian front media organisation "Voice of Europe" that was busted by the Czech intelligence earlier this year: 9/10 bbc.com/news/world-eur…
Image
The "Voice of Europe" promotes Eurosceptic politicians, and especially those who voice ideas close to what Farage said about the West, Russia and Ukraine. Given the many connections between Farage's political project and pro-Kremlin operatives, this is hardly surprising. 10/10 Image

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More from @A_SHEKH0VTS0V

Apr 16
The apparent involvement of a 30-year-old Ukrainian national from the Donetsk region in the stabbing attack in central Amsterdam at the end of March this year brings to mind an incident from May 2024. 1/7
That month, a teenage Ukrainian refugee from Kherson planted an explosive device in an IKEA store in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, causing an explosion and a fire. He was swiftly arrested by the Lithuanian police. 2/7
The investigation revealed that Russian military intelligence had recruited him to set fire to and blow up shopping centres in Lithuania and Latvia, offering him €10,000 for the task. The campaign turned out to be a complex operation, involving not only organisers and foot soldiers like the teenager, but also multiple intermediaries. 3/7
Read 7 tweets
Apr 9
Austria’s security services (DSN) have uncovered a Russian disinformation operation, coordinated through a Bulgarian intermediary. The campaign aimed to discredit Ukraine in German-speaking countries by deploying fake pro-Ukraine content embedded with extremist cues to manipulate perception. 1/6
Graffiti near Vienna’s Soviet War Memorial mimicking Ukrainian nationalist symbols fits DSN’s findings. The operation sought to provoke moral outrage and pressure local authorities, all while reinforcing Moscow’s false narrative portraying Ukraine as a neo-Nazi state. 2/6
Russian propaganda strategy adapts to local contexts. In states deeply sceptical of Moscow, like Poland or the Baltics, agents deploy anti-Ukraine or anti-EU narratives rather than overtly pro-Russian ones. The goal remains constant: to fracture societal consensus on Ukraine. 3/6
Read 6 tweets
Apr 8
Ukraine’s security and intelligence agencies, in coordination with their Polish colleagues, executed a complex counterintelligence operation resulting in the detention of Kyrylo Molchanov, a Russian intelligence asset operating under the guise of a political commentator. 1/7 Image
Molchanov was reportedly active on behalf of both the Russian FSB and SVR. A key figure in Kremlin-aligned media linked to Viktor Medvedchuk, he played a role in disinformation efforts targeting Ukraine and its international partners. 2/7 Image
On 31 March, Russian sources reported his detention in Poland. On 1 April, Ukrainian services confirmed: Molchanov had been extradited to Kyiv - the first EU handover of a Russian agent in the information domain since the 2022 invasion. 3/7 Image
Read 8 tweets
Apr 8
Russian internet users searched for “Michael Stürzenberger stabbed” before the knife attack on him in Mannheim, Germany, in May 2024. 1/5
Russians also accessed a live webcam feed of Mannheim’s town square shortly before the stabbing, suggesting possible foreknowledge. 2/5
This incident aligns with earlier reports, which revealed Russian agents researched fire protocols at a Berlin defence factory just before a suspicious blaze, pointing to hybrid warfare tactics. 3/5
Read 6 tweets
Mar 28
Just before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) shipped over €9 billion in cash to Russia. At least 10 shipments arrived on or after 24 February, boosting liquidity as Russian forces attacked Kyiv. 1/5
Recipients included TBSS, a firm linked to Russian government agencies. Experts say the influx of foreign cash likely supported Putin’s war effort, even if RBI insists it only dealt with banks. Cash can buy loyalty – and fund war operations. 2/5
RBI, unlike most Western banks, remained in Russia post-invasion. It earns a third of its profits there and continues to pay millions in taxes to the Russian state, indirectly fuelling the Kremlin’s war machine. 3/5
Read 6 tweets
Mar 23
It is a legitimate point that the idiocy of Steve Witkoff’s recent comments on Ukraine stems from his complete lack of knowledge about Ukraine, or Russia, or politics in general. 1/9
After all, Witkoff has spent his entire life in real estate investment — he is simply unqualified for the role Trump has assigned to him. 2/9
True, but I think the issue runs deeper. 3/9
Read 10 tweets

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