Russian propagandists are spreading information that the son of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, supports Russia. The so-called “ataman of the Cossack society of Australia” Semen Boikov recorded a video from the Russian Consulate General in Sydney, in which Ivan Syrskyi, allegedly the son of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “congratulated the Russian army on the defeat of the Ukrainian military in Avdiivka”.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Security analyzed this information. In fact, Ivan Syrskyi, who became the “hero” of the video, is not the son of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He is the son of Oleksandr Syrskyi's ex-wife from her other marriage. The commander-in-chief did not adopt Ivan, and broke up with his mother back in 2009.

The ex-wife of Oleksandr Syrskyi left with her children and new husband for Australia 14 years ago. Colonel General Syrskyi does not maintain any relations with her family. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council has already written about this.

In this case, propagandists seek to discredit Oleksandr Syrskyi. In addition, the purpose of such stuffing is to demotivate Ukrainians and make them despair of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Previously, in the Newspeak section, we wrote about how and why the word “virus”  was again remembered in Russia after the appointment of Oleksandr Syrskyi to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.