“He thought first about a great goal and his brothers, and only then about himself.” How Russian propaganda is trying to defame Ukrainian defenders.

Discrediting Ukraine's defenders has been one of the constant tasks of Kremlin propaganda since the Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine. In order to stop the advance of the Ukrainian army near the borders of Donetsk in 2014, Russia was forced to send its regular troops to help the separatists. And with the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian Armed Forces finally destroyed the narrative of the invincibility of the “second army of the world.” The Russians suffered huge losses in equipment and manpower near Soledar, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and other Ukrainian fortress cities.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine enjoy high trust and support of the Ukrainian people. Volunteer battalions and special forces are under constant attack by enemy propaganda, as they are distinguished by their skill and effectiveness in the war against the Russian occupiers.

“The Right Sector is one of the organizations used by propaganda to intimidate its audience and justify the need to “denazify” Ukraine.
The most common messages used by the Russian media to manipulate the Right Sector in Ukraine are as follows: “the most dangerous radical movement in the history of modern Ukraine, its leaders are the main instigators of the war in Donbas“; ‘its members were behind the murders of pro-Russian activists in Kharkiv and Odesa, prepared terrorist attacks in Crimea and organized brutal reprisals against opposition politicians.’ (”Lenta.ru").
The propaganda outlet says that it is “thanks to the efforts of the radicals that the slogans ”Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!” and ‘Ukraine is above all!’ have gone from being marginalized to becoming the official ideological basis of the state's course.” The hostile publication tries to convince that the war is not beneficial to Russia, but to those inside Ukraine who call themselves heroes but actually dream of power.

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“This myth - about the heroes who fought for Ukraine's independence and about Russia, which is supposedly the sworn enemy of the Ukrainian people - supports radicals who are waiting for the right time.“ (”Lenta.ru").

The particularly aggressive attitude of propagandists towards the Right Sector is explained not only by their ideology, but also by their militant achievements. The Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps has been particularly prominent in the fight against separatist groups in the ATO zone.
After several reformatting, the Right Sector Volunteer Corps in 2022 became the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and fought on various frontlines.
While the DUK was successfully fighting at the front, members of the Right Sector were involved in criminal cases in the rear. Russian propaganda would later use this to distort the image of Ukrainian nationalists.

Dmytro Kotsiubaylo is the most famous fighter of the 67th separate mechanized brigade, commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion.
“Detailed reconnaissance of enemy positions, target practice, adjustments, and long training are the components that made the Da Vinci Wolves effective and efficient. The unit was one of the first at the front to use drones to adjust artillery fire, weighing each shell (because every 50 grams needs to be adjusted). Commanders of different brigades invited us to “give the enemy a nightmare,” Ukrinform tells about the Da Vinci battalion.

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The propaganda outlet Lenta.ru is spreading fakes about the death of Dmytro Kotsiubailo and his comrades, citing the anonymous telegram channel Joker DNR, saying that “Kotsiubailo could have been eliminated by his own people.” They say that the order was given by Zelensky personally.

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“A number of sources confirm the version that Da Vinci's death was the work of Kyiv. They say that they decided to get rid of an influential field commander who began to make too loud statements about the Kyiv authorities and strain them with unpredictable consequences. And shortly after this version was voiced, it became known that five more informal leaders of the battalion were killed.“ (”Lenta.ru").

The hostile outlet suggests that Dmytro's comrades-in-arms “might have known that the Zelensky regime was behind the commander's murder.”

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“[...] the Da Vinci special forces were aware that the Zelensky regime was behind the murder of their commander. And they were already preparing to tell the media about it, or to go to Kyiv and deal with the customer of the murder. It is logical to assume that the “wolf hunt” was organized by Zelensky, who demanded that the brightest leaders remaining in the “pack” be killed immediately.” (Lenta.ru)

Such fakes are a vivid example of how propaganda tries to influence the opinions of Ukrainians and raise protest moods among the population. They are also aimed at discord between the military and political leadership of the state.

Ukrainian photo-documentary filmmakers debunk Russian propaganda not only through photography, but also by their direct presence at the front.
Dmytro Kotsiubailo, commander of the Da Vinci Wolves special forces unit, was killed in the battle for Bakhmut on March 7, 2023. Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov filmed the work of the special unit in the last days of their commander's life.

As Vlada Liberova told the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, it was the period of the fiercest battles for the fortress city: “Da Vinci's battalion solved the most urgent issues and the most difficult tasks. And this was just one of those tasks. “Da Vinci's Wolves had to knock the Russians out of a certain position in order to further strengthen our defense. They went for an assault.”

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Konstantin Liberov witnessed the last assault on Da Vinci, which lasted over an hour. Dmytro and his soldiers stayed with the 110th Brigade until the evening to make sure everything went well.

On March 7, the Liberovs planned to film Da Vinci's trophy “Soncepiek”. An unexpected enemy shelling covered the battalion's positions, causing Dmytro's fatal wound. A fragment from a mortar shell that exploded near Da Vinci hit him in the neck.
“We were getting ready to leave, but a heavy shelling started. We managed to take cover, Da Vinci's comrades did, but he did not. He was always the last one to enter the shelter to make sure his comrades were safe,” says Vlada Liberova.

A month later, five of Da Vinci's comrades were killed while performing combat missions near Bakhmut. The tragic news was reported in the battalion on April 8, 2023.

Propagandists were afraid of Dmytro and his comrades and tried to demonize him.
On April 22, 2021, The New York Times published a story about the Da Vinci Special Forces from Avdiivka. In an interview with the publication, Dmytro told a joke in response to what the Russian media was saying about nationalists.
Here is a screenshot of this excerpt from the New York Times article:

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“In Avdiyivka, a volunteer unit of the Ukrainian ultranationalist Right Sector keeps a pet wolf in a cage near the commandant's office. Commander Dmytro Kotsyubaylo, with the call sign Da Vinci, jokes that the fighters feed the wolf the bones of Russian-speaking children in response to the slander of Ukrainian nationalists by Russian state media.”

To this day, the Kremlin still manipulates this joke to confirm the need to denationalize Ukraine.

It is worth mentioning that when asked by foreign journalists what Dmytro expects next from Russia, he replied: “A full-scale war”.

During the great war, enemy propaganda targeted Dmytro and his battalion. The Kremlin accused the Ukrainian defenders of involvement in the cleansing of civilians suspected of sympathizing with Russia, particularly in the Kharkiv region.

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“Ukrainian and NATO propaganda have created a hero out of Kotsyubaylo. The British newspaper Independent devoted an entire article to him. A Hollywood movie could really be made about Kotsyubaylo.
He is the youngest battalion commander in the Ukrainian army and at the same time a fierce neo-Nazi, one of the leaders of the Right Sector terrorist group. A participant in the Euromaidan, Kotsyubaylo did not even have a university degree. But he was born and raised in western Ukraine, in Ivano-Frankivsk.“ (”Bloknot.ru").

Propaganda tries to tarnish the honor of Ukrainian defenders, to create a picture that our heroes have nothing to do with heroism, but rather that the war continues because Western countries arm Ukrainian radicals.

Since the age of 18, Dmytro Kotsiubailo has been voluntarily defending Ukraine at the front. In 2014, after being seriously injured and undergoing rehabilitation, he returned to the front, where he commanded an assault company in 2015. In December 2021, Dmytro Kotsiubailo became the first volunteer to receive the title of Hero of Ukraine for life.

Vlada Liberova explains the Da Vinci phenomenon: “A tank is a very visible target, there are many anti-tank weapons and, of course, it is a big risk. Dmytro knew how to lead people. He cared very much about his personnel, he cared more about his men than about himself. He thought first about the great goal and his comrades, and only then about himself. For this, he was greatly loved and appreciated.”

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Dmytro died at the age of 27. Thousands of military and civilians came to Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv to pay their last respects to the Hero of Ukraine. They honored the memory of the defender on their knees.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded Dmytro the Cross of Military Merit posthumously. Zelensky handed the award to the mother of the fallen soldier, Oksana. The hero was buried in the Askold's Grave tract.

Ukrainian photojournalist Oleksandr Klymenko, who covered armed conflicts around the world, told the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers about the worthy people he met during the war. Dmytro Kotsiubailo was among them. Oleksandr had known Dmytro since 2015.

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“Da Vinci” fought constantly, his guys had their own armory, their own mortars. He would get on a tank of the 24th Brigade and go shooting. The brigade commanders respected him very much, they were his friends and trusted him. After the invasion, when he became a brigade commander, I did not have a chance to see him,” Oleksandr sadly recalls.

After Da Vinci's death, Konstantin and Vlada Liberov wrote on their Instagram:
“[...] A hero of Ukraine. The best of the best. A warrior. A friend. A legend. We believed to the last. We prayed to the last. You were the bravest, the most desperate person we have ever known. You seemed to be immortal. [...] Until the end of our days, we will be proud to have known you. Heroes do not die”.

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We worked on the material:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Yana Yevmenova
Editorial director: Olga Kovaleva
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladyslav Kukhar