Posted on 09/05/2022 4:06:17 PM PDT by Widget Jr
I had a happy accident today, so I thought I would share it. I found a intersting way to find pro-Russia trolls on social media, especially on Telegram.
First off, this post is not about the pro-Ukraine/pro-Russia fighting on the forum. This is about finding truth amid all the lies. When finding the truth amid lies from liars, its dealing with liars who lie no matter what. My view is as bad as the US and Western press is, the Russian press is far worse. I'm siding with Ukraine. Others disagree, I get it.
Now on to today's Fake Account Detection class.
Clue #1 is there are a bunch of "pro-Ukrainian" Telegram accounts, that supposedly post juicy insider details about what goes on in the top of the Ukrainian government while making them look bad and Russia look good. Pretending to be a inside ally leaking details that make the boss look bad and other side look good is the first clue the account is a Russian troll.
Clue #2 is more interesting. It is that the Russian and Ukrainian alphabet use different letters.
Russian uses the letters Ёё, ъ, ы and Ээ.
Ukrainian uses the the letters Ґґ, Єє, Іі and Її.
Search the Telegram, Twitter, or Facebook post for the differences in each alphabet.
If a "pro-Ukraine" "Ukrainian" account uses the Russian alphabet, its a Russian propaganda account.
There’s an English alphabet full of Ukraine trolls...
ABC
CBS
CNN
FOX
MSNBC
NBC
Etc.
You omitted Free Republic. com. Worshipers of George Soros and Lying Joe Biden, judging by their posts are well represented here.
Go to https://www.pravda.com.ua Ukrainian Pravada.
"Укр" is the Ukrainian version, using the Ukrainian alphabet.
"Рус" is the Russian version, using the Russian alphabet.
The Ukrainian pages uses "Є", the Russian uses "Э".
As a matter of fact, most Ukrainians, including nationalists, aren't fluent in Ukrainian, using Russian keyboards instead.
languages of Ukraine: 67.5% Ukrainian, 29.6% Russian.
Russia and Ukrainian are similar yet distinct languages.
I'm pretty sure that no matter the keyboards, most Ukrainians speak and write in Ukrainian, not Russian.
That would be fine, but the people posting pro Russian propaganda here on Free Republic are not making policy arguments, or engaging in discussion. They are just posting Russian propaganda talking points.
There actions are not any different than somebody who might have been opposed to the US actions in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Syria posting material from ISIS or al qaeda.
Article 5 is in effect.
Telltale signs of a paid operative, or pig-headed, jingoistic Russian nationalist (Vatnik), are predictably repetitive:
https://twitter.com/hashtag/NaFo
Here is the Defense Minister of the Ukraine, sporting a T-Shirt, with a characteristic NAFO Shiba Inu Dog "Fella" on it.
Really? And I guess most Italians are not fluent in Italian either.
Claiming that Ukrainians aren't fluent in their own language is ridiculous.
Take what they say with a grain of salt.
Kind of like what many people do when they read the Twitter or Telegram posts of somebody who says they are a Democrat, love the View, think MSNBC is the most accurate news source, and list AOC as their favorite congress person.
Notify NAFO. Invoke Article 5. (See post #26)
Yep - it’s shocking how many pro-Russian trolls there are here on this old platform. particularly odd since it doesn’t have anywhere near the user base as the major social media platforms - doubt it justifies significant Russian troll resources...
Then again - the pro-Russian trolls here are probably just folks who have a man-crush on Putin...
So - a “study” done, based only on a running count of #hashtags within a limited list is suppose to prove the bot count? Intresting. It didn’t analyze the tweet content, but instead made assumptions based on said hashtags. So if I posted something related to “#standwithUkraine”, I would be counted in that “study”, despite being very much a human being... But the thousands of hashtags that include all sorts of wicked terms and Zelenskyy as a hashtag were not counted (neither, apparently, was “#PutinWarCrimes”). Really, the “research” were high school sophomore-level (at best) and demonstrates ignorance of how the platform operates.

Praise be to Saint Javelin, Patron Saint of NAFO. 🤪
Back to reality.
Russia has spent a lot of time and effort on its propaganda justifying invading Ukraine. The Rand corporation had a study titled The Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model. Russia just constantly spews fake stories to justify its actions, across multiple channels, just to drown out the opposition. Recognizing it, what and who the channels a re, is part of countering it.
Ukraine is being invaded, of course they are going to make things up and embellish stories. They are being invaded! With all the social media and Open Source Intelligence, figuring out what is really going on in the Ukraine side is easier than for the Russian. The Russian side is just constant nonsense. Like stealing French Caesar howitzers to Russia right after Ukraine started using them, or destroying so many HIMARs there aren't any left in all of Europe.
Take what Ukraine says with a grain or sack of salt. Assume Russia is lying until proven otherwise as far as I'm concerned.
Not all Ukrainians speak Ukrainian, many speak only Russian, but still consider themselves as Ukrainians.
True that
Well, you'd be "pretty sure" wrong.
Tell me you've never been to Ukraine without telling me you've never been to Ukraine.
Even Zelensky's first language is Russian. He learned Ukrainian much later as an adult. His popular TV show was filmed in Russian. All popular media is in Russian. Ukrainian pop singers sing in Russian. Ukrainian movies and TV shows are in filmed in Russian. To assume that because one is speaking in Russian, that it is pro-Russian, is total ignorance.
I have a Ukrainian refugee living in my home with my Ukrainian wife. Guess what language they speak? Russian. This past weekend I went to a fundraiser for Ukraine. Guess what language everyone was speaking? Russian.
Often, they just throw out personal insults, in an attempt to fluster or dissuade people from engaging, or to try to bait them into saying something that will get them banned.
Just stay calm, and troll them back. They deserve it.
NAFO is there to help. Just the sight of a NAFO shiba inu Fella suited up for meme war, will often send them scurrying back under their rock for cover.
Not really ridiculous if you know what you are talking about. The fact that one claims that his first language is Ukrainian and that he tries to speak some sort of Spanglish doesn’t make him a Ukrainian speaker.
The original poster said he just ignores them after the mental effort to examine them.
Thank you!
Its not hard to find if you ignore the MSM.
The truth is 30% of Ukraine is Russian.
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