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“So as not to be brainwashed”: the headquarters of the “troll factory” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was liquidated

In the Kiev region, as a result of a special military operation carried out by Russia, the building of the headquarters of the 72nd Center for Information and Psychological Operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) was destroyed. figured out what this unit was doing.Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military special operation to demilitarize Donbass, stressing that its goal is to protect people, and Russia’s plans do not include the occupation of Ukraine.

“I have decided to conduct a special military operation. Its goal is to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years. And for this we will strive for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. Our plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories. We are not going to impose anything on anyone by force,” Putin said in his televised address.

The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said that the Russian military, following the results of the first day, destroyed 74 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine, including 11 airfields and the naval base in Ochakovo. Also, 18 radar stations (RLS) of the S-300 and Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems were destroyed, a combat helicopter and four Bayraktar TB-2 attack drones were shot down.

According to a number of Russian media, among other things, the headquarters of the 72nd Center for Information and Psychological Operations was destroyed. It was created back in 2004 in Sevastopol, after 2014 it was relocated to Brovary near Kiev.

“In the context of Russia’s conducting a special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, this center is a legitimate military target. This unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was engaged in the implementation of cyber operations against Russia, various kinds of disinformation activities. An absolutely logical clear decision was made to disable this center, which was carried out using strikes of high-precision Russian weapons. In Ukraine, there are several similar units in the structures of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, the SBU and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Depending on the situation, decisions will probably be made to suppress the activities of these structures by the Russian military leadership,” said Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, director of the Center for Analysis of the World Arms Trade (TsAMTO).

According to the former head of the 4th Directorate of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Rear Admiral Mikhail Chekmasov, the 72nd Center was engaged in "processing the brains" of citizens of Ukraine and Russia and "forming a negative attitude towards Russia that was beneficial to the Ukrainian government."

“Such structures are kept in any army for a reason. This is an organization for working with brains, especially through the Internet. In the event of hostilities, such facilities “are to be closed” first, so that they do not zombify and brainwash,” Chekmasov said.

According to Ukrainian media, the center was engaged in psychological and information operations in the Donbass. Thus, the publication STRANA.UA, citing sources in the General Staff of Ukraine, reported that “in 2019-2020, the center came up with reports about the death of civilians as a result of shelling from the structure of the DPR and LPR.” Portal LB.ua, referring to unnamed "high-ranking sources", wrote about the "information special operation" that led to "a conflict in the leadership of the DNR"

Political scientist, military expert Valery Volkov claims that the Center “acted as the main troll factory of the Ukrainian army.” “The fakes that they launched. were directed not only against the DPR and LPR, but also against Russia,” Volkov says.

In 2018, the Major and General Telegram channel reported that the 72nd Center allegedly also launched misinformation about “hundreds of corpses” after a fire in the Zimnyaya Cherry shopping and entertainment complex in Kuzbass. According to Krymskaya, the Center "launched fake news about corruption and ethnic tensions in Crimea."

“The United States and Britain were engaged in equipping this Center and training its specialists. This is not an easy organization. How a fake appears: a message is written, the program duplicates it on behalf of many fake accounts and uploads it to the network. Both real people and bots work. By the way, this center also recently disseminated a message about the mining of several buildings in the DPR, ”said the editor of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, military expert Alexei Leonkov.

“Such centers are the primary target for destruction, because now the information war is no less important than the real one. Sometimes it's more important to declare victory now than to actually win it. So that Ukraine does not report on the monstrous losses of the Russian army, which do not exist in reality, so that it does not sow other disinformation, this Center was logically chosen as a target,

– concluded Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis.

“So as not to be brainwashed”: the headquarters of the “troll factory” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was liquidated