Religious Demonization and Labeling the Ukrainian Government as “Satanic”

What it claims

The Ukrainian state is portrayed as an anti-Christian and “Satanic” force that has supposedly occupied ancestral Russian lands and persecutes the faithful. By using religious imagery and the label “Bandera scum,” the propaganda attempts to frame the invasion as a “holy war” for moral values.

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.

• Participating in a religious procession today is an act of courage and an open statement of resistance against the Satanic government in Odesa.

  Лохматый Z Николаев, 6 Aug 2026 · Archived copy

• Residents of the former Ukrainian SSR are under temporary occupation by the West and Bandera scum who are destroying Russian culture.

  Лохматый Z Николаев, 6 Aug 2026

  t.me/L0HMATIY/37551

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Goal

To provoke religious strife within Ukraine and justify collaboration as a “struggle for the faith.”

Techniques used

• Loaded LanguageUse of terms like “Satanic government,” “Bandera scum,” and “temporary occupation by the West.”
• Name Calling or LabelingLabeling representatives of Ukrainian government agencies as “monsters” and “enemies of civilization.”

The real grievance it exploits

Anxiety among believers over changes in church life and fear of state pressure on religious communities.

How to counter

• Technique exposure: The use of religious rhetoric is a classic manipulation tool to radicalize the population and justify war crimes with a “higher purpose.”
• Reframe: Ukraine protects freedom of religion for all denominations against an aggressor state that uses the church as a tool for its intelligence services.

Sources (all time)

• Лохматый Z НиколаевTier 135,143 subscribers
  7 posts · 6–13 Aug 2026

  • 13 Aug · t.me/L0HMATIY/37640
  • 11 Aug · t.me/L0HMATIY/37613
  • 10 Aug · t.me/L0HMATIY/37607
  • 10 Aug · t.me/L0HMATIY/37603
  • 9 Aug · t.me/L0HMATIY/37602
  • 6 Aug · Archived copy
  • 6 Aug · t.me/L0HMATIY/37551
• Open Ukraine| Открытая УкраинаTier 1181,484 subscribers
  1 post · 16 Aug 2026

  • 16 Aug · t.me/OpenUkraine/101365