A close associate of the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner used Ukrainian teenagers to spread Russian propaganda. He lured young people with dreams of becoming journalists and hired them to pro-Russian television stations that he opened in the territories occupied by Vladimir Putin’s armed forces.
Televisions open in the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russians
Specifically, Alexander Malkevich, a close associate of Yevgeny Prigozhin, helped establish pro-Russian television stations in key areas captured since the beginning of the Russian invasion launched by Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022.
Through his connection to Prigozhin, Alexander Malkevich has been involved in projects spreading Russian propaganda from Africa to the United States and is under Western sanctions for disinformation.
Alexander Malkevich runs state-funded television from Prigozhin’s hometown of St. Petersburg. But in the summer of 2022, he moved to the then-occupied parts of Ukraine, making the southern city of Kherson his headquarters.
Its main task was to establish pro-Russian television stations in the captured regions from the beginning of the full-scale invasion. He opened Tavria TV in Kherson, Za TV in Melitopol and Mariupol 24 in eastern Donetsk region.
These television stations strictly broadcast the Kremlin’s propaganda accounts. For example, a recent program broadcast by Tavria TV reminded its viewers of the reasons given by Moscow to justify its war against Ukraine.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin says the special military operation was a forced step, because Moscow was left with no other option. Such security risks were created for Russia that no other reaction was possible,” the show said.
Ukrainian teenagers, rounded up for propaganda
A major obstacle Malkevici faced was the acute lack of people willing and able to work for his channels. Thus, in order to train his future employees, he opened a “media school” in Kherson, became the head of the journalism department at the local university, and wrote a manual for aspirants to media positions in the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, entitled “Real Russian Journalism for the New Regions”.
Some of his students joined television before they were legally adults. Two reporters who started working for Za TV and Tavria TV respectively were hired when they were just 16 years old, according to the BBC.
However, Malkevich’s time in Kherson was short. Shortly before the city was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in November, he fled with some of the equipment and personnel. During the evacuation, they were attacked and one staff member, a Russian journalist and former FSB agent, was killed.
One of the teenage reporters who were abducted by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s close friend was injured during the bombings, and later received an Order of Courage from Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Kremlin ceremony.
Alexander Malkevich’s activity in Ukraine did not go unnoticed by the Russian government. In January 2023, Prime Minister Mihail Misušin rewarded him for “organizing TV shows in the territories that are being liberated”.
