Dismissing Ukrainian statehood through selective losses and contemptuous labels

What it claims

Contemptuous labels and a selective tally of losses are passed off as the balance sheet of Ukrainian statehood: the country is portrayed as hopelessly declining and something to turn away from. War, destruction, losses, and people leaving are reduced to a verdict that the state will inevitably disappear. Discontent with officials is extended to everyone who supports Ukraine, while the country’s complex history is explained by its leadership’s self-interest.

Target audience

Examples (paraphrased)

We paraphrase rather than quote: propaganda's exact wording is built to spread, so we carry the claim and not the craft. Each example cites the post it came from.

• Over the decades, Ukrainian independence has supposedly turned an industrial country into a state without a future, controlled by a narrow circle of self-serving politicians.

  Евгений Мураев, 24 Aug 2026

  t.me/murayevUA/1262

• Everyone who supports the Ukrainian state deserves only insults and contempt.

  ОЛЬГА ШАРИЙ, 18 Aug 2026

  t.me/OlgaSharij/9584

We link archived copies rather than the posts themselves, so that checking our work sends no traffic to the source. Where a platform cannot be archived, we print the post's address instead of linking it.

Goal

To push Ukrainian civilians and Russian-speaking people abroad toward disengagement from Ukraine, contempt for its statehood, and distrust of those who support its resistance.

Techniques used

• Name Calling or LabelingSupporters of Ukraine are collectively branded with insults instead of having their arguments addressed.
• Exaggeration or MinimisationWar losses and development challenges are presented as proof that the state and nation will inevitably disappear.

The real grievance it exploits

War, deaths and injuries, the destruction of homes and businesses, family separation, and uncertainty about the future give rise to painful questions about the authorities’ responsibility and the country’s path.

How to counter

• Technique exposure: Notice the substitution: a list of painful consequences of war is not evidence that a state or society is doomed. When an author replaces analysis with insults, it removes discussion of causes, responsibility, and possible solutions.
• Reframe: Painful questions about losses, reconstruction, and officials’ responsibility can be asked without turning them into contempt for people or a denial of the country’s right to a future. Criticising state decisions does not require accepting sweeping claims about Ukraine’s “hopelessness.”

Sources (all time)

• FREE KHERSONTier 38,678 subscribers
  4 posts · 5–6 Sept 2026

  • 6 Sept · t.me/free_kherson_z/18231
  • 6 Sept · t.me/free_kherson_z/18225
  • 5 Sept · t.me/free_kherson_z/18217
  • 5 Sept · t.me/free_kherson_z/18214
• Евгений МураевTier 184,240 subscribers
  3 posts · 23–24 Aug 2026

  • 24 Aug · t.me/murayevUA/1262
  • 23 Aug · t.me/murayevUA/1260
  • 23 Aug · Archived copy
• ОЛЬГА ШАРИЙTier 1111,393 subscribers
  3 posts · 18 Aug – 3 Sept 2026

  • 3 Sept · t.me/OlgaSharij/9589
  • 18 Aug · t.me/OlgaSharij/9585
  • 18 Aug · t.me/OlgaSharij/9584