# State-controlled outlet recycles 2014 images to claim American mercenaries are in Ukraine

An article in fondsk.ru, an outlet recently tied to Russian intelligence-operated outlet Strategic Culture Foundation, claims mercenaries in Ukraine ready "for war with Russia."

Hoaxlines • Feb 21, 2022

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An article intended for the domestic Russian audience attempted to associate Ukraine with the Islamic State and Neo-Nazi fringe groups using [years-old](https://archive.ph/h8imJ) [articles](https://archive.ph/lu3nQ#:~:text=The%20Sheikh%20Mansur%20battalion%2C%20named,blind%20eye%20to%20their%20activities.) and [pictures](https://gyazo.com/af495734d860500abf2788f43affd549). It claims that “[high-ranking](https://archive.ph/ebi3f#:~:text=Among%20the%20mercenaries%2C%20high%2Dranking%20military%20personnel%20from%20the%20United%20States%20and%20Canada%20were%20seen.)” American and Canadian Military officials have been seen on the ground in Ukraine. Neither country has sent troops to fight in Ukraine, and US President Biden [addressed](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/02/15/remarks-by-president-biden-providing-an-update-on-russia-and-ukraine/#:~:text=While%20I%20will,5%20is%20sacrosanct.%C2%A0) US involvement on February 15:

> While I will not send American servicemen to fight Russia in Ukraine, we have supplied the Ukrainian military with equipment to help them defend themselves. We have provided training and advice and intelligence for the same purpose.
>
> And make no mistake: The United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power. An attack against one NATO country is an attack against all of us. And the United States commitment to Article 5 is sacrosanct.

False claims about secret American forces on the ground come amid [escalating attacks](https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-russia-united-states-europe-black-sea-a4e14d1b12c119c81d07dd3876cb057b) [on Ukraine](https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/02/17/ukrainian-kindergarten-and-school-hit-as-russian-hybrid-forces-escalate-hostilities-all-over-donbas/) by Russian hybrid forces. The Kremlin has promoted no fewer than [ten false flag](https://medium.com/dfrlab/how-ten-false-flag-narratives-were-promoted-by-pro-kremlin-media-c67e786c6085) narratives about the situation.


Narratives and pro-Kremlin outlet coverage. ([Source](https://medium.com/dfrlab/how-ten-false-flag-narratives-were-promoted-by-pro-kremlin-media-c67e786c6085#:~:text=Table%20shows%20mentions%20of%20each%20narrative%20by%20Russian%20Kremlin%2Dcontrolled%20and%20pro%2DKremlin%20media%20outlets.%20(Source%3A%20Ggigitashvili_/DFRLab)): Ggigitashvili\_/DFRLab)

Associated Press [reported](https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-coronavirus-pandemic-health-moscow-media-ff4a56b7b08bcdc6adaf02313a85edd9) in February 2022 that the Strategic Culture Foundation controls Fondsk.ru. Miburo, a consulting firm that counters malign influence, [wrote](https://clintwatts.substack.com/p/russias-propaganda-and-disinformation?utm_source=url#:~:text=Fondsk%2C%20the%20Russian%2Dlanguage%20version%20of%20the%20SVR%2Dlinked%20Strategic%20Culture%20Foundation%2C%20is%20also%20under%20Maksimenko%20and%20Strategic%20Culture%20Foundation%E2%80%99s%20control%2C%20tying%20it%20to%20Russia%E2%80%99s%20SVR%20as%20well.) on February 15:

> Fondsk, the Russian-language version of the SVR-linked [Strategic Culture Foundation](https://www.state.gov/russias-pillars-of-disinformation-and-propaganda-report/), is also under Maksimenko and Strategic Culture Foundation’s control, tying it to Russia’s SVR as well.

On February 21, 2022, Fondsk.ru [claimed](https://archive.ph/ebi3f) “hundreds of mercenaries are arriving these days in Ukraine to take part in the ‘war with Russia,’” adding “Italians are coming too.” While it isn’t possible to disprove such a claim, Russia has a history of making similar claims.

In 2014, pro-Kremlin outlets [circulated](https://gyazo.com/614ab55f1707cb89e3c44e928d80000a) [stories](https://gyazo.com/ae56979cb280cacf39e9a1896841c15a) about mercenaries from [Blackwater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_(company)), a private rent-a-military company. In 2022, Russia is using the alleged presence of US-affiliated mercenaries to [portray](https://web.archive.org/web/20220201053032/https://www.globalresearch.ca/blackwater-donbass-azov-battalion/5768869) the US as provoking Russia. Pro-Kremlin websites started promoting the mercenary narrative no later than [January 27](https://gyazo.com/0bba9966995881da4b513506bb1e278f).

Fondsk.ru invoked a [2015 quote](https://archive.ph/lu3nQ#:~:text=He%20reportedly%20told%20the%20Daily%20Beast%20in%202015%20that%20some%20of%20its%20fighters%20had%20trained%20at%20Islamic%20State%20camps%20in%20Iraq%20and%20Syria%2C%20although%20both%20he%20and%20the%20battalion%20categorically%20deny%20that%20he%20did%20so.) to associate Ukraine with armed militants allegedly trained by the Islamic State. The head of [News Front](https://clintwatts.substack.com/p/russias-disinformation-ecosystem?utm_source=url#:~:text=SouthFront%20and%20NewsFront%20were%20described%20as%20receiving%20%E2%80%9Ctaskings%E2%80%9D%20and%20working%20with%20officers%20from%20Russian%20domestic%20intelligence%E2%80%94the%20FSB.) was quoted in the concluding paragraph.

> Some foreign mercenaries come to Donbass to earn money, others “to satisfy their animal needs and mental disorders.” For example, Polish nationalists visited the Donbass, who came specifically for the purpose of “killing Russians.”

American [Sean Fuller](https://www.stopfake.org/en/fake-us-mercenary-sean-fuller-killed-in-donbas/)—who [served](https://euvsdisinfo.eu/report/mercenary-sean-fuller-from-the-usa-is-killed-in-donbas#:~:text=Sean%20Fuller%20does%20serve%20in%20the%20Ukrainian%20army%20and%20has%20an%20official%20contract%20but%20as%20a%20volunteer%20fighter%2C%20not%20as%20a%20mercenary.%20Fuller%20stated%20%22I%27m%20not%20a%20mercenary.%20Not%20least%20because%20the%20American%20army%20pays%20more%20than%20the%20Ukrainian%20army.%20I%20am%20for%20justice.%22) in Ukrainian forces in a volunteer capacity and thus, is not a mercenary or a representative of the US—is [presented](https://archive.ph/ebi3f#:~:text=Among%20the%20mercenaries,call%20sign%20%22Texas%22.) as evidence of American involvement in the fight. [Russian](https://web.archive.org/web/20200721075536/https://www.donetsk.kp.ru/online/news/3945306/) [outlets](https://web.archive.org/web/20200721075119/https://dnr-pravda.ru/peredannyj-ukrainskoj-storone-pogibshij-diversant-okazalsya-naemnikom-iz-ssha/) [reported](https://web.archive.org/web/20200721075426/https://ria.ru/20200716/1574440353.html?chat_room_id=1574440353) that Fuller died in 2020, eventually leading Fuller to make a [video](https://gyazo.com/b739be31061f93eb557e92a3cf49ac18) refuting the claim posted on social media.

> Among the mercenaries, high-ranking military personnel from the United States and Canada were seen. The DPR believes that these people are directly involved in planning and conducting offensive operations.

Fondsk.ru cites Maria Zakharova, an official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry according to Fondsk.ru, as the source for the claim that “4,000 US military instructors…in the Donbass…are actually acting as mercenaries.”


*Image from the Fondsk.ru article dates back to at least 2014*

Images throughout the piece [show](https://archive.ph/ebi3f/65d356ccf94f13942268058e68336febb58846fe.jpg) [men](https://archive.ph/ebi3f/300165389b656e2f0077293bf5f843788f66800f.jpg) in military garb but lack captions to indicate what the reader is seeing. A possible consequence of this is that the audience may assume that the depicted soldiers are the “hundreds of mercenaries” that “are arriving these days.”

The cover [image](https://archive.ph/wip/Z4q9R) [dates](https://gyazo.com/d94700b6bd15e1af73bcbce248ac6c8a) back to [2019](https://gyazo.com/d94700b6bd15e1af73bcbce248ac6c8a), followed by an image that appeared online in [2014](https://gyazo.com/caa5fcb39cd9459eb27b067a199d4273). Pictures that appeared in 2016 on [social media](https://archive.ph/FQqxN) and in an [article](https://gyazo.com/7c0659c9dc2708b228c206c63c8ca9da) published by another [recently-outed](https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-coronavirus-pandemic-health-moscow-media-ff4a56b7b08bcdc6adaf02313a85edd9#:~:text=The%20editor%20of%20PolitNavigator%20sent%20reports%20of%20published%20articles%20to%20the%20FSB%2C%20an%20official%20said.%20And%20the%20managing%20editor%20of%20Antifashist%20allegedly%20was%20directed%20at%20least%20once%20by%20the%20FSB%20to%20delete%20material%20from%20the%20site.)\-as-[FSB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Security_Service)\-directed website, Politnavigator, also appear in the February 21st article.

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###### tags: `Hoaxlines` `Ukraine` `disinformation`