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Олександр КузьменкоWar
18 December 2024, 16:54
2024-12-18
Since the beginning of the Great War, the largest Ukrainian charitable foundations have been attacked 379 times. Among the initiators are Russian structures and supporters of Ukrainian political parties
Analysts at OSINT agency Molfar have published a study on discrediting attacks on Ukrainian charitable foundationsin the media and social networks involving bot farms and opinion leaders. Molfar believes that this could be one of the reasons for the decrease in donations from Ukrainians to charitable foundations from 15% to 40%.
Analysts at OSINT agency Molfar have published a study on discrediting attacks on Ukrainian charitable foundationsin the media and social networks involving bot farms and opinion leaders. Molfar believes that this could be one of the reasons for the decrease in donations from Ukrainians to charitable foundations from 15% to 40%.
Molfar OSINT analysts decided to review all attacks committed from February 20, 2022 to October 2024 (and another one in November 2024) against the five largest Ukrainian charitable foundations that raise funds for the needs of the security and defense forces of Ukraine. Among them:
United24;
«Come back alive»;
Serhiy Prytula Foundation;
KSE Foundation;
Petro Poroshenko Foundation + NGO «Solidarity of Communities».
Molfar found a total of 379 negative posts and articles that participated in attacks on 5 charitable foundations. «It seems that 379 attacks on 5 large foundations over the entire analyzed period is not a lot, but since Molfar analysts started working on the analysis in November 2024, we understand that over the entire period some of these attacks may have been removed by moderators,» the analysts noted. However, some of the removed content is still available in the index of search engines and social networks.
Analysts noted that among the likely initiators of the attacks, in addition to Russian structures, there are also likely supporters of certain public figures or teams with which they are associated, in particular, probably supporters of the parties «European Solidarity», «Servant of the People», possibly individuals associated with support for Rinat Akhmetov, and Alexei Arestovich. Russian structures in the Molfar study include the FSB, GRU and other special services, as well as Russian propagandists and accounts supporting the Russian Federation.
Molfar data and infographics
«Affiliation to a structure means that the authors of the attacks posted some posts in support of this structure and these are conclusions based on the analysis of the authors of the study alone. The probable affiliation to a particular structure is indicated based on the sufficiency of sources confirming this or that affiliation. In some cases, the sources indicated an indirect connection to the structure,» Molfar explained.
In their study, the analysts also pointed to the activities of the Russian «Agency for Social Design» (ASD), which became known when European intelligence services gained access to more than 100 internal Kremlin documents. They reveal the Russian propaganda operations aimed at undermining support for Ukraine in the United States, as well as their scale and methods.
Molfar points out that ASD, to incite disputes on social networks among Ukrainians, uses the personalities of the current President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in comparison with the previous one — Petro Poroshenko, with the Mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko or the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny. From January to April 2024 alone , ASD bots published almost 34 million negative comments on various social networks, under posts of various users.
Molfar data and infographics
The Telegram platform was most often used for attacks on Ukrainian funds, namely in 52% of cases. «If we analyze the alleged supporters of the structures and superimpose the committed attacks on the platforms within which these attacks were carried out, we can trace the epicenters of concentration. For example, Russian structures mainly attack funds on Telegram,» the researchers note.
Molfar concluded that all five analyzed charitable foundations use one basic pattern: attacks aimed at spreading doubts about the integrity and purpose of charitable foundations' funds, and similar narratives.
What methods were most often used to discredit Ukrainian charitable foundations:
United24 — accusations of embezzlement of money, attacks on the head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs Mykhailo Fedorov and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
«Return Alive» — personal discrediting of the director of the foundation, Taras Chmut, accusations of embezzlement of money, statements that the PZH finances the CCC.
Serhiy Prytula Foundation — accusations of embezzlement of money, personal discrediting of the director of the foundation, Serhiy Prytula, attacks on the foundation’s reputation.
Petro Poroshenko’s funds — accusations of misuse, PR based on donations, and war.
KSE Foundation — attacks on KSE President Tymofii Mylovanov, attacks on KSE (Kyiv School of Economics), accusations of wastefulness.
In November, Bloomberg, citing comments from Ukrainian charitable foundations, published an article about a 15%-40% decline in donations from Ukrainians. According to Molfar analysts, this could have been contributed to by media attacks on Ukrainian foundations that work in the long term against the backdrop of a layering of sharp negative moments in the public debate.
