When #zelenskyclown is your favorite hashtag. We have discovered another bot farm on TikTok

In June of this year, we noticed that almost identical videos began to appear en masse on TikTok — photographs of children with their parents accompanied by emotional music. The video caption is also designed to evoke emotion: "Daddy won't be coming back. At least return his body." At the end of the video, the caption "Zelensky betrayed those who gave their lives for him" appears. The video was released while POW exchanges between Ukraine and Russia between June 9 and 14. When we started collecting these videos, the channels began to disappear before our eyes. We managed to record 32 accounts and 180 identical videos.

The main goal of these bot accounts is to accumulate a large number of views and make the video go viral. The videos we managed to analyze only got about 10,000 views (not counting the ones that were deleted). It turned out that behind this was a constantly operating bot farm that systematically works against Ukraine.

Why do we know for sure that this is a bot farm?

The accounts that shared the video calling for the return of the father's body are part of a large farm. Let's call it “UA_REVIVAL.” We will explain why below. We found 629 accounts belonging to the farm.

All of these accounts are stylistically similar.

The account IDs are almost identical, differing only in a few characters. All bots had a similar root in their names.

Example of unique IDs used by the bot farm

The avatars were also unimaginative: the same image of an adult was used many times. Some of the accounts promoting videos about "dad's body" used images of children as their avatars. Many avatars were created using AI tools.

Avatars used by the bot farm

Each account shared an average of six videos with identical content but with different overlays. For example, a semi-transparent image was superimposed on top, or the video was rotated diagonally.

Most of the videos had similar hashtags. 2,708 videos were tagged with #zelenskyclown. Some were marked with hashtags that fully reflected the narrative being promoted: #bringourbackhome, #corruption, #missing, and some with hashtags that did not fit the context of the video at all. For example, #winter, #newyear, #snow, #love, #ukrainiannationalteam, #agriculture, #blackfriday. In this way, the bot farm tries to promote other content.

The most crucial evidence was the captions. Almost every video contained a marker for the Telegram channel “UA_REVIVAL.”

There is a channel on Telegram with the identifier https://t.me/ua_revival, which also appears in searches under the name "Revival of Ukraine." The channel has a small number of subscribers (about 1,700), and its description states: "Current information about the Recruiting office, their actions and lawlessness. Useful tips and recommendations." All of the channel's content is focused on countering mobilization in Ukraine.

All this indicates that the profiles are managed centrally.

Each video has an average of about 750 views, which is negligible. However, the bot farm has had some success — some videos have garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

For example, a video on the channel "annvv_findmine" with the caption "Employees of the Recruiting office, on Zelensky's orders, are terrorizing people even in villages" has garnered almost 370,000 views. The same video on the chrisewnddq_goalbond channel has 215,000 views. Video with the text "Men from Kharkiv have demonstrated the strength that there is no reason to catch us like dogs" (means actions of the Recruiting office during mobilization) on the monicbaz1gd_boltmine channel has more than 160,000 views.

Content

The videos promoted by the bots are similar in nature and convey specific messages — from conspiracy theories about Zelensky carrying out the will of the Jewish lobby to fake news about the Recruiting office is killing people.

We managed to group them and divide them into conditional categories depending on the specific narratives being promoted.

The largest number of posts attempted to discredit Volodymyr Zelensky. In 1,452 videos we identified, the following messages were promoted: "Zelensky is responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians," "Pensioners are dying of hunger because of Zelensky," "Zelensky's regime is worse than Russia's," "Zelensky does not want to end the war," "Zelensky is not evacuating people because he wants to use them as a human shield," "Zelensky is killing Ukrainians for money," and "Zelensky is implementing the plans of the Jewish lobby." We also included videos discrediting Olena Zelenska, First Lady of Ukraine, in this category. In total, such videos were distributed by 275 bots, with a total of about 780,000 views.

1,084 videos were about discrediting the entire military and political leadership: "Russians are freely occupying Chernihiv region," "Women will be forced to do military service," "The military protects the government, not the people," "Women and men over 60 will be mobilized," "Those mobilized will be kept in trenches, limiting their actions," "The leadership is stealing money from the military," "Return my father's body." Such content was distributed by 190 accounts, with a total of over 520,000 views.

The bot farm also actively reacted to the scandalous vote on changing the subordination of Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities (NABU & SAPO) — 715 videos were published on this topic. Most of the video content in this category concerns Vitali Klychko, Mayor of Kyiv. The bot farm spread the idea that Klychko supported the people and took part in the protests against the authorities (we will explain it later), and that the authorities were preparing to arrest Klychko and Poroshenko, ex-President of Ukraine and active politician now, in connection with the protests.

One of the tactics of Russian disinformation is to radicalize the views of supporters of various Ukrainian politicians, pitting people against each other and turning parts of society against each other. We cannot determine who ordered the videos featuring the Mayor of Kyiv. Still, it is clear that they fit into the broader logic of dividing society, which is driven by Russian influence.

The 181 videos claimed that Maidan 2.0 had begun, that Zelensky was corrupt and a second Yanukovych (Ukrainian pro-russian President, whose decisions led to Maidan), and that the adopted Law No. 12414 (About NABU & SAPO) now allowed people to break into houses. Videos in this category garnered a total of nearly 390,000 views.

It should be noted that Russian propagandists who conduct disinformation campaigns closely follow internal Ukrainian news and always join internal discussions, trying to ride the current wave and promote their goals. Therefore, both the authorities and the opposition need to be cautious in their actions and words.

However, the videos that discredited the Recruiting office received the most views — 256 videos garnered almost 920,000 views. They claim that "the employees of the Recruiting office have gone wild," "killed the mother of a mobilized soldier," "the Recruiting office and the police are evaders," "villages are being devastated by the actions of the Recruiting office," "my father died in the Recruiting office," and "women and the elderly are forced to defend themselves against the Recruiting office." There are also videos encouraging the beating of Recruiting office employees.

Let's look at a few specific examples.

(Accounts that promoted the corresponding video are highlighted in red)

Most of the videos that bot farms spread on TikTok focus on news stories that affect Ukrainian society. They react quickly—new channels appear a few days after an event, fill the information space with disinformation content for a while, and then disappear.

Fake news about the death of the mother of a mobilized soldier by employees of the Recruiting office

One such news story was an incident in the Kharkiv region, which was caught on camera by passersby. In the video, a woman screams and tries to stop a bus of Recruiting office, where her son has been "brutally mobilized" . A few minutes later, an employee gets off the bus and tries to push her away. The woman runs away and falls, and the bus drives off. The video ends there.

The “brutal mobilization" of a man, a poor mother trying to stop a minibus, and falling to the ground — ideal content for bot farms. However, this was not enough for them. Russian media and anonymous Telegram channels spread the fake news that the woman in the video did not just fall, but died. Some claimed that she was in an ambulance, while others said that she fell to the ground dead, never getting up.

"His mother had a heart attack because of this, <...> and died. Her son will also die soon. There is no family left, think about it,” wrote one anonymous Telegram channel in Russian language.

It was this statement that the bot farm began to promote. A week later, dozens of accounts began to spread this video criticizing the mobilization, the actions of the authorities, and Zelensky. 

In total, we recorded 36 such videos. Still, there may be many more, because bot farms mimic very quickly: some accounts are deleted, and new ones are created in a matter of minutes. If you come across a video from such a bot in the morning, there is a high probability that by the evening, neither the account nor the video will exist, and new ones will appear in its place.

In reality, the mother of the mobilized soldier did not die. Neither at the scene of the incident nor in the ambulance. The 71-year-old woman was taken to the hospital with bruises. She refused hospitalization but filed a police report against the Recruiting office employees for causing her injuries.

We are not whitewashing the Recruiting office employees and their actions. However, the fact of the death of the mobilized soldier's mother is fabricated, and it is unknown where it came from. Russian media refer to unknown "Ukrainian sources," and Telegram channels do not refer to anyone at all. After all, bot farms do not need to do so.

Olena Zelenska is far from the pain of ordinary people

The bot farm sometimes acted even faster, creating new accounts and videos the very next day after the news broke.

On July 10, 2025, First Lady Olena Zelenska took part in the International Conference on the Recovery of Ukraine in Rome. News of her visit spread in Ukrainian media, although nothing special happened — it was just a routine diplomatic visit. But our bot farm decided to dig deeper.

The very next day after the event, dozens of videos appeared online showing a clip of Olena Zelenska smiling alongside German Chancellor. The bot farm insinuates that Zelenska's smile shows that she is far removed from the pain of ordinary people and does not understand them, while ordinary people live in fear of becoming "human shields."

At least 59 videos were published on the first day, and the campaign with the narrative about Zelenska lasted a total of three days.

Russian disinformation does not necessarily require dramatic events or emotionally charged content. It can use ordinary videos and photos, take them out of context, and change their meaning.

And for some "operations," the events themselves are not even necessary — they use evergreen topics that affect Ukrainian society during the war. We wrote more about this tactic here.

This works best with topics such as mobilization, actions of the Recruiting office, and women's service in the army.

Military service for women

On May 7, 2025, Oksana Grygorieva, advisor to the Armed Forces of Ukraine on gender issues, stated during a conference organized by the media outlet hromadske that she supports conscription for women.

"I am, let's say, in favor of reinstating conscription. Let these girls undergo this training even abroad. NATO will help us here. But they need to be prepared," she said.

Two days later, this news item was picked up by member of Ukrainian Parliament Honcharenko. In his TikTok video, he criticizes the spokesperson's statement, doing so quite emotionally and using profanity. Bots then take and spread Honcharenko's emotional appeal, but only a month and a half later, in mid-July.

The dissemination of statements by politicians that are beneficial to the Russian disinformation machine is a common practice. We suspect that politicians who make such statements are aware of the possibility of their words being used by Russian propagandists and even hope for such an effect, pretending not to understand the mechanisms of information warfare. This applies to representatives of various countries, not just Ukraine. Such actions do not necessarily indicate direct or indirect cooperation with the Russians. Rather, they are an attempt to gain publicity. However, playing with the devil always ends in victory for the dark side.

In total, we found 92 videos with manipulations about women's military service.

And, of course, the excerpt from the statement by the Armed Forces' advisor on gender issues was also partially taken out of context. She stated that Ukrainian society is not yet ready for compulsory mobilization and will not accept it.

Elimination of the independence of NABU and SAP

Some news stories receive more attention from bot farms. When Ukrainian Parliament voted for the controversial bill to strip NABU and SAPO of their independence, the creators of the bot farm immediately saw this as a gold mine for the development of their network.

The day after this decision, dozens of videos appeared on social media. In total, the bot farm distributed at least 568 videos from several dozen accounts over the course of a week.

After the elimination of the independence of these bodies and protests in Ukrainian cities, bot farms began to actively expand and create accounts with new IDs. Therefore, it is very difficult to determine their actual scale.

Much attention in the new disinformation campaigns was paid to the mayor of the capital, Vitalii Klychko. A few days after the Parliament's vote, videos of Kychko at protests in Kyiv began to spread across the internet. In total, at least 292 such videos were created.

A video clip of Klychko at rallies in Kyiv was accompanied by the caption "Standing with the people!" and then the call "Let's support our people. Let's go out tomorrow and the day after tomorrow!"

However, such ardent love for Klychko is not limited to these videos.

Another Ukrainian politician, Poroshenko, quickly joins Klychko. The bot farm uses both of them to accuse Zelensky of illegal actions — allegedly preparing to arrest Poroshenko and Klychko. The bot farms put forward several reasons for such an arrest — from eliminating the opposition to participating in protests against the liquidation of the independence of NABU and SAPO. In total, we found 140 such videos. Interestingly, several videos talk about Poroshenko's mysterious participation in the protests and present this as a reason for his arrest.

However, the former president of Ukraine was not present at the rallies in the capital or in other Ukrainian cities.

How bad is it?

Russian disinformation is very active on TikTok. They use any excuse to discredit Ukraine and its leadership. Their main goal is to sow discord among Ukrainians and weaken our country's defense capabilities. That is why they create fake news and spread rumors that discredit the mobilization campaign and the employees of the Recruiting office of Ukraine.

Between July 23 and 27 alone, 127 new accounts were created, which we managed to identify that attempted to polarize Ukrainian society by hyping up events surrounding the NABU and SAPO. They distributed 715 videos inciting anti-government protests. The videos garnered about 390,000 views.

And it's easy to run such campaigns. TikTok allows you to create accounts without much effort, which farm operators actively take advantage of. This requires a considerable number of mobile numbers, email addresses, or Facebook profiles (the three main ways to create an account on TikTok). Theoretically, one person can create three different profiles without much effort. For 2000+, you'll have to put in some work, but it's not a big deal; there are ways to automate it.

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