Russians first created a fake account for the President of Ukraine and then falsely claimed that Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, blocked it
Russian media outlets, Telegram channels, bots on X (formerly Twitter), and Russian bloggers on Weibo are spreading claims that the Office of the President of Ukraine allegedly tried to register an official account for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Douyin – the Chinese version of the social network TikTok – in an attempt to promote their narratives to a billion-strong audience.
However, according to propagandists, these pages were soon blocked. As “evidence,” they are sharing screenshots of supposedly banned accounts and posts from “Chinese” bloggers on local social networks. In this way, they claim that the Chinese authorities and moderators of Douyin prevented “attempts to promote Ukrainian propaganda” in China.
This claim is false.
First, the source of this information is an anonymous Russian pro-war blogger on the Chinese social network Weibo, using the nickname “Earth Lens A.” This individual published the screenshots but later deleted the post.
The blogger’s profile states that they are a military enthusiast and amateur photographer. However, an analysis of their page shows that it exclusively promotes Russian propaganda.
On “Earth Lens A’s” Weibo page, the Russian-Ukrainian war is portrayed solely from the Russian perspective. The content mainly consists of videos of combat operations and disinformation about Ukraine, often sourced from Russian pro-war Telegram channels.
Additionally, the profile picture of “Earth Lens A” is a cropped version of the cover of the Russian propaganda project “Personal Photo Chronicle. Anatoly Lebed.” This project was dedicated to a Russian terrorist who fought in Chechnya and participated in the occupation of Georgia. The individual died in 2012 in a road accident.
Thus, “Earth Lens A” is clearly part of a Kremlin propaganda initiative designed to spread disinformation about Ukraine and perpetuate myths about a “strong” Russian military.
Secondly, in the global version of TikTok, there is an official account for Volodymyr Zelensky that has not been banned.
Russian propagandists created fake accounts for Zelensky, falsely labeled them “official,” and claimed they were deleted to discredit the Ukrainian government.
Furthermore, Douyin hosts videos featuring Zelensky and Ukrainian bloggers discussing the war in Ukraine, none of which have been removed.
These fabrications aim to discredit the President of Ukraine, particularly in China, by falsely suggesting that his official account was blocked as if it were just an “ordinary” bot.
Russian propaganda has previously created fake stories, such as the claim that over 80% of Ukrainians watched a “direct line” with Putin.
Andriy Olenin
