Inside the pro-Russian propaganda network: Using false news about the rape of Ukrainian women as "bait" to attract traffic
Author, Sandro Gvindadze
Role, BBC Monitoring and BBC International Global Disinformation Unit
Author, Diana Kuryshko
Role, BBC Ukrainian correspondent
and
Author, Yaroslava Kiryukhina
Role, BBC Russian correspondent
Published September 4, 2026
Reading time: 4 minutes
[Warning: This article contains content that some readers may find uncomfortable. 】
When Keti Leshkasheli, a Georgian medic who served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, returned from the front lines about three years ago, her cellphone rang almost constantly.
Friends and family wanted to make sure she was okay because they had seen posts on Telegram claiming she had been captured and raped.
She told the BBC: "I learned that someone had posted a video claiming that I and some girls had been caught. They attached a link to a Telegram channel saying that we were being 'punished'."
She recognized herself in the photo immediately.
It was a photo taken of her wearing military uniform in the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka many years ago. Today, the city is occupied by Russia.
"They wrote all kinds of horrible things about me," she said. "It makes me angry, but I can't do anything."
The post was part of a larger network of deceptive Telegram ads.
Skip hot reading and continue reading
hot reading
End of Hot Reading
These advertisements fabricated news about the rape of Ukrainian women and claimed to have relevant video evidence to attract users to pro-Russian channels.
The BBC found that images of more than 20 women, many of whom were serving or had served in the Ukrainian military, were used as "bait" in the campaign. The BBC spoke to seven of the women.
Operating formula
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, thousands of posts have appeared on Telegram groups and channels, claiming to provide videos of the rape and murder of Ukrainian female prisoners of war.
Telegram is a messaging app that allows users to join large channels or groups to share and discuss content. Posts in these spaces often contain advertisements, links to other channels, private groups or external websites.
This model is ideal for building an audience, as Telegram is the most popular communication platform in Russia; and for Ukrainians, it is also one of the main news sources according to a 2025 national poll.
The BBC used analytical tools to search for recurring wording and fictitious names in the Telegram posts and found more than 6,500 sexual assault-related ads.
These ads are posted by about 1,700 small channels with various themes, ranging from "18+" adult content to war, finance and memes.
Collectively, these posts have received more than 65 million views.
Most of the posts followed the same formula: use photos of real women, falsely claim they had been captured and raped, and include a link purporting to watch a video of the incident.
This is a method of deliberately creating shock, using the gimmicks of violent films to attract audiences.
Some posts also claimed that the women had abused Russian soldiers or "called for Russian children to be burned alive." The relevant statements are also mixed with insulting remarks against ethnic groups and genders.
But after the user clicks on the post, the promised content does not exist at all. Related links instead take users to a private Telegram channel filled with pro-Russian war content.
These posts aren’t just circulating on Telegram, either. Videos on TikTok and YouTube, as well as posts on the Russian social network VKontakte, also claim to provide relevant content while promoting the same private Telegram channels.
Valentyna Shapovalova, a researcher who studies gendered disinformation, said the campaign "uses promises of sexual violence as entertainment" to "grab users' attention and profit from it."
She noted that even if the posts were not directly produced by the Russian government, they still served the Kremlin's war goals because the content humiliated Ukrainians and "normalized sexual violence against the 'enemy.'"
Change name, delete posts, sell ads
By identifying patterns between posts and tracking the links between different posts, the BBC gradually mapped out a network of channels that profited from related "drainage" activities.
Six of the channels have exceeded 1 million subscribers.
The BBC analyzed three of the largest channels. All three channels were established within 72 hours of the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The "Pryamoy Efir Novosti" channel appeared in more than 1,000 related posts analyzed by the BBC. The channel currently has close to 4 million subscribers, more than most prominent pro-Kremlin commentators, as well as many Russian state media outlets.
The channel bills itself as a news channel, but its original name was "MVD 18+", which pointed to adult content. During the height of this traffic diversion campaign, most of the channel’s historical posts had disappeared.
Today it looks like other pro-Kremlin Telegram news aggregation channels, publishing dozens of posts a day citing Russian state media and accepting ads.
One of the advertisers is Alfa-Bank, one of Russia's largest private banks. The bank is subject to UK, EU and US sanctions. The bank did not respond to BBC inquiries.
All three channels quoted heavily from Russian state media and took editorial positions consistent with the Kremlin.
They describe the Russian military advance as "liberation", paint the EU and Britain as aggressors, and celebrate Ukrainian military casualties. Two of the channels frequently used ethnic slurs against Ukrainians.
To find out how much these channels profit from pro-Russian war content, the BBC contacted them as potential advertisers.
"Pryamoy Efir Novosti" told the BBC that the minimum charge for each advertisement is 500,000 rubles (US$5,700; 38,400 yuan; NT$181,000). Two other channels said they charged about 40,000 rubles per ad; both channels published posts with insulting remarks and violent content.
"Pryamoy Efir" did not answer any questions raised by the BBC. In a message, the channel called the BBC a "provocateur and political propagandist" and said the information provided by the BBC was "inconsistent with the facts."
Of the more than 6,500 bait posts currently identified by the BBC, nearly 5,400 have been deleted. But new posts keep coming.
Some of the articles showed signs of automation: the content was exactly the same, right down to the spelling mistakes, and it was posted to multiple accounts at the same time.
"I reported these accounts and blocked them, but there were too many of them," said Yuliia Mala.
"The number of these fake posts just keeps increasing."
Complaints filed after the women's photos were used in violent posts mostly had no real effect.
Oleksandra was a Russian citizen who volunteered to fight on the Ukrainian side.
Telegram did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
Still, the measure did little to curb Telegram usage. Russian users can still log into the platform through a virtual private network (VPN).
Photos of Chernivtsi local councilor Lesia Palahniuk were also used in posts with obscene remarks. Such exposure, she said, burdens women with shame they don't deserve.
"For a woman, it's very difficult to see these pictures," she said. "Women need to know that they are not alone and they have support. They have done nothing wrong."
