The foreign influencers helping Russia sell its occupation
On the social media accounts of a group of young foreign visitors touring the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, the war-ravaged region is presented as an appealing travel destination. In Instagram videos, the visitors release white doves — symbols of peace — into the sky and stroll through the Mariupol Drama Theater, rebuilt after Russian forces destroyed it during the 2022 siege. But…
A group of 15 young people from various countries were invited to the Russian-occupied region of Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine as guests of the International Festival of Youth, a Russian state-backed event. The festival aimed to showcase life under Russian rule in a carefully staged manner, presenting the occupied territories as appealing travel destinations and ignoring Russia's repression and the devastation of cities and loss of thousands of civilians.
The participants, including Nor Arif Prastyo from Indonesia, Baiel Abdybekov from Kyrgyzstan, and Peter Vesko from South Africa, were tasked with portraying an idealized image of the region on social media, releasing white doves and visiting historical sites, while ignoring the reality of the ongoing conflict. The International Festival of Youth, funded by the Russian state, brought together around 10,000 participants, half of them from abroad, and featured entertainment, political messages, and even an exhibition on Ukrainian neo-Nazism, which has been a staple of Russian propaganda since 2014.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Independent's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
