Fighters of Russian Volunteer Corps prepare for the press conference not far from the border in Sumy ... [+]
Just days after two pro-Ukrainian partisan groups conducted a raid within Russia the paramilitary units held a press conference where they showed off recently captured "war booty" – notably a Soviet-era BTR-82A armored personnel carrier (APC). The Cold War vehicle was reportedly captured near the Graivoron border crossing checkpoint.
Earlier this week, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps had previously shared a video when the vehicle was captured. That 49-second clip quickly went viral, being viewed nearly a million times since the clip's posting on Tuesday morning.
In the joint press conference on Wednesday, the units – made of anti-Putin Russians who have pledged to support Ukraine in the ongoing war, which entered its 15th month this week – said they had managed to enter Russia, briefly seizing at least two villages. They returned to Ukrainian territory with the APC, and claimed to have taken no significant casualties with just two individuals wounded.
The paramilitary forces have employed social media to further share news of their recent exploits, while the Kremlin has also taken to the social platforms with its own claims.
"Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteurs group entered the territory of the Graivoronsk district. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation together with the Border Service, the Russian Guard, and the FSB [intelligence service] are taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy," Belgorod Governor Viacheslav Gladkov said in a statement posted to the Telegram social messaging service on Monday.
Images of U.S. Vehicles
The videos and photos of the Soviet-era BTR-82A APC were not the only images related to the raid that are now trending on social media. On Wednesday, the Kremlin posted images it claimed were of U.S.-made equipment that was reported to have been used in the raid. In the photos a pair green-painted Humvees could be seen in a bomb crater, while a couple of other disabled vehicles were also present.
The location where the photos were taken has not been independently verified.
The U.S. State Department only acknowledged the reports that have been circulating on social media that U.S.-supplied weapons had been used. State Department spokesperson Matthew Millier told reporters "we're skeptical at this time of the veracity of these reports."
That sentiment was further echoed by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). "It's something we're keeping a close eye on," Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Defense Department spokesman, said when asked about the reports of American vehicles being used in this week's raids into Russia. "I don't know if it's true or not, in terms of the veracity of that imagery."
The U.S. has made clear it would not "encourage or enable strikes inside of Russia," Miller added. "But as we've also said, it is up to Ukraine to decide how to conduct this war."
Crowd Sourcing Propaganda
What is especially noteworthy is the response on social media, as numerous individuals have sought to debunk Russia's claims. Commentators have responded that it appeared that the Humvees had taken little damage and appeared to have been lowered into the crater.
It has been suggested that the vehicles were previously captured, and one self-proclaimed photo experts called out some key details: "If these vehicles crashed into position, you would also expect to see dirt on top of the hood, and damage to the front of the vehicles. All you see is broken glass from what appear to be bullets that impacted after the crash. The debris from a headlight also appears to have landed long after the crash."
The conflict in Ukraine has already become the first "social media war," but based on the responses to the photos posted by Russia, it seems that this is also the first conflict where propaganda is also countered via "crowd sourced" means.
"Open source intelligence has become a mainstay," explained technology industry analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics.
Entner suggested that there is good reason for some social media commentators to be skeptical of Moscow's claims.
"The U.S. lost so many vehicles that it is inevitable that some made it to Russia for evaluation," he added. "They might be part of that contingent, they might have been from the pool given to Ukraine. I doubt that they are Ukrainian as this would be the proverbial poking the bear for no apparent gain. The Ukrainians have plenty other vehicles they could give the exile Russians without creating unnecessary complications."
Social media has already been widely employed to track the losses from both sides, and now could be used to counter official propaganda.
"While social media, in recent years, has been used as a platform for misinformation, these same networks have also proven to assist in dispelling fake news," added Jason Mollica, professorial lecturer and program director in the Online MA in Strategic Communication at American University School of Communication.
"In a 2020 study from Statista, it showed that 39 percent of people aged 16 years and over in the U.S. were very confident in their ability to distinguish real news from false information," Mollica continued. "People are much more aware despite the constant trends of news that isn't necessarily true."
