Russian propagandists manipulated correspondence from the Forward Observation Group on Instagram, where photos of military personnel in the Kursk region were published. They claim that this is supposedly evidence of the participation of “militants of an American private military company” in the operation.

But Forward Observation Group is not actually a private military contractor. As the Center for Countering Disinformation explained, FOG is a security and tactical training consulting company that sells tactical gear. Representatives of the company shoot videos from different places where fighting continues in order to promote their own brand.

This is not the first time that Russian propaganda has tried to portray the Forward Observation Group as “a private military company whose mercenaries fight in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces”. Thus, former US military man Derrick Bales and the owner of this consulting company already came under the close attention of Russian propaganda after his trip to the front lines of the Ukrainian military to film a documentary about the war in Ukraine. Russian media wasted no time in using his presence as evidence that “American mercenaries are training Ukrainian soldiers”. At the same time, stories are also being circulated by alleged residents of the Kursk region, who claim that they allegedly saw foreign mercenaries among the Ukrainian military.

Derrick Bales himself was also accused of participating in hostilities as a “foreign mercenary”. In response, the American veteran told VICE News that he was not using his military skills to make money in Ukraine.

Russia continues to try to convince the world that it is allegedly at war not only with Ukraine, but also with “the entire NATO bloc”. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian army. Moreover, it also shows Russia’s desire to justify its own failures on the battlefield and spread the narrative of “external control” in Ukraine.

On August 19, Detector Media already wrote about Russia’s message that the United States was allegedly involved in the operation in the Kursk region.