Latest news with #Matryoshka
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Pro-Kremlin bots announce "execution" of Moldovan president on social media within smear campaign
Matryoshka, a pro-Kremlin bot network, has launched a campaign on Twitter and BlueSky against Moldovan President Maia Sandu. Source: The Insider, a Russian news outlet, as reported by European Pravda Details: Since 16 April, bots have been posting fake graffiti depicting Sandu's "execution" – by hanging, shooting or electric chair – and promising to "end" her on 1 June. It was not clear from the numerous posts what exactly was supposed to happen on that day. On 30 May, the website of the Fund for Combating Repression, founded by the late Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, published a fake investigation about Sandu's alleged involvement in the trafficking of Ukrainian children, supposedly to the West and for paedophile networks. The fake story claimed that Sandu, through the mediation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wife, was supposedly organising the sale of Ukrainian refugee children. The authors cited an anonymous Polish activist and an article from the website A disinformation researcher and founder of the X-account Bot Blocker (antibot4navalny) noticed the fake campaign. They compared its scale to the information operation carried out by the Storm-1516 group before the 2025 Bundestag elections, in which more than a hundred pseudo-news sites took part. Analysts have no direct evidence that Storm-1516 is behind the attack on Sandu, but they note similarities in the tools used: fake sources, "witnesses", disinformation via English-language resources, the use of AI, and the Fund for Combating Repression platform. According to The Insider, the fund has no legal status, and its head, Mira Terada, is linked to other pro-Kremlin structures. Background: Earlier, AFP, citing data collected by antibot4navalny, reported on the Matryoshka bot network, which spreads anti-Ukrainian propaganda on social media: they not only spread disinformation, like other pro-Kremlin bots, but also directly contacted Western journalists asking them to verify some of these fakes. French services believed that Russia was behind the operation. Recently, the administration of the President of Moldova had to refute a fake news story about expensive clothes from Sandu's wardrobe that was spread on Telegram channels. Also in Moldova, unknown individuals sent out a mass mailing purportedly on behalf of the tax service, urging recipients to support President Sandu's party and donate 2% of their income tax to it. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Euronews
3 days ago
- General
- Euronews
Euronews targeted by anti-Moldova disinformation campaign
More false videos alleging criminality and health issues in Moldova and attributed to Euronews are circulating online, with some even being posted by accounts posing as Euronews staff. One video claims that Moldova ranks first in the number of STD carriers in Europe, while others talk of waves of illegal immigration flowing from Moldova into the European Union, particularly Italy. Rome has seen a rise in the number of criminal gangs making false documents for immigrants from Moldova, according to one of the fake videos. All of them use Euronews' graphics and branding and many have been shared by accounts on TikTok and X purporting to be current or former Euronews journalists, including one which claims to be the channel's former CEO. They've received thousands of views and likes as of the time of writing, but Euronews did not produce these videos. Our graphics and format were copied and used without our consent and our teams are working to ensure the video is removed from all social platforms. The accounts posing as Euronews staff feature profile pictures that appear to be AI-generated. One supposedly belongs to a man called Brandon Goyce, who claims to be Euronews' former CEO. However, no such person has ever served as the channel's CEO and online searches yield no trace of anyone who bears that name and works in the media. Other profiles contain similar uncanny avatars and the same bio: #Euronews or #Euronews rep. They have also all only posted a single video each, all related to the same subject matter about Moldova and follow no other accounts. The false videos and accounts appear to be part of the Matryoshka campaign, a coordinated pro-Russian operation known among fact-checkers for spreading false news reports stylised as material from international media outlets, academic institutions and government agencies. The campaign often targets EU and NATO countries, as well as Ukraine, seemingly in an effort to weaken alliances and discredit Western democracies. EuroVerify has already debunked other false videos attributed to Euronews as part of the disinformation campaign. A fake video posted on Russian Telegram channels claimed that corruption had pushed Moldova to become one of the biggest black markets for arms sales. It also attributed a false quote to a Romanian minister. Another alleged that Romania cautioned French authorities over interference in the Romanian presidential election runoff. In both instances, Euronews and national authorities in France and Romania fully denounced the videos and their contents.
The Age
30-05-2025
- The Age
Giant dolls, an empty theme park and semi-trailers: The tourist trap that's now a lifeline for Russia
What in the World, a free weekly newsletter from our foreign correspondents, is sent every Thursday. Below is an excerpt. Sign up to get the whole newsletter delivered to your inbox. Manzhouli: Visiting the Chinese border town of Manzhouli, on the remote fringe of the country's northeastern Inner Mongolia region, is like stepping into a 'made in China' Russian outpost. On the highway linking the small airport to the city, two enormous Matryoshka nesting dolls tower over the horizon, rising almost absurdly out of nothing but the vast, flat steppe that sweeps across the border into Russia. The dolls are actually hotels and connected to a Russian-themed amusement park featuring Kremlinesque buildings topped with brightly coloured onion domes and spires in a pastiche of Moscow's Red Square. Arriving at night, as my translator and I did earlier this month on a flight from Beijing, is to be treated to a glittering vision of the city, its skyline of Russian gothic and European-style buildings lit by golden lights after sundown each evening. The mystique abruptly ends about 9.30pm, when the town's facade plunges into darkness, as though a city official has pulled the cord on a giant electrical plug. Manzhouli in the harsh light of day is a hustling township on the 4209-kilometre border between China and Russia, near the juncture with Mongolia. Its identity is split between being a Russian-themed tourist trap for Chinese travellers, and its foremost purpose as China's largest land port and economic lifeline to Russia. The best place to witness this stark juxtaposition is in a dusty carpark near the border checkpoint, where dozens of Russian and Belarusian trucks are stationed each day waiting for customs clearance under the gaze of the Matryoshkas looming in the distance.
Sydney Morning Herald
30-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Giant dolls, an empty theme park and semi-trailers: The tourist trap that's now a lifeline for Russia
What in the World, a free weekly newsletter from our foreign correspondents, is sent every Thursday. Below is an excerpt. Sign up to get the whole newsletter delivered to your inbox. Manzhouli: Visiting the Chinese border town of Manzhouli, on the remote fringe of the country's northeastern Inner Mongolia region, is like stepping into a 'made in China' Russian outpost. On the highway linking the small airport to the city, two enormous Matryoshka nesting dolls tower over the horizon, rising almost absurdly out of nothing but the vast, flat steppe that sweeps across the border into Russia. The dolls are actually hotels and connected to a Russian-themed amusement park featuring Kremlinesque buildings topped with brightly coloured onion domes and spires in a pastiche of Moscow's Red Square. Arriving at night, as my translator and I did earlier this month on a flight from Beijing, is to be treated to a glittering vision of the city, its skyline of Russian gothic and European-style buildings lit by golden lights after sundown each evening. The mystique abruptly ends about 9.30pm, when the town's facade plunges into darkness, as though a city official has pulled the cord on a giant electrical plug. Manzhouli in the harsh light of day is a hustling township on the 4209-kilometre border between China and Russia, near the juncture with Mongolia. Its identity is split between being a Russian-themed tourist trap for Chinese travellers, and its foremost purpose as China's largest land port and economic lifeline to Russia. The best place to witness this stark juxtaposition is in a dusty carpark near the border checkpoint, where dozens of Russian and Belarusian trucks are stationed each day waiting for customs clearance under the gaze of the Matryoshkas looming in the distance.
New York Times
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How ‘Government Cheese' Creates a Dream World in the Valley
In a scene early in the Apple TV+ period comedy 'Government Cheese,' the show's Chambers family watches an episode of 'The Addams Family' in which a neighbor remarks, 'Addamses, you are kooks!' The sentiment applies to both clans, as well as to the family upon which the Chambers are based: that of Paul Hunter, a creator and showrunner of 'Government Cheese.' 'They called us odd,' Hunter said in a video interview from Mexico City. 'They said, 'Oh, you guys are always in the clouds. Do you know what's going on?' We knew what was going on. We just really were in our own world.' Set in the late 1960s San Fernando Valley, 'Government Cheese' follows the Chambers, a Black family pursuing idiosyncratic interests — inventions, pole vaulting, eagle feather hunting — with little concern for the realities of the outside world. (The title, taken from the processed foodstuff once distributed to low-income families, also refers to the delicious sandwiches Hampton's mother made from it, and to the sense of invention and aspiration they embodied.) Matthew J. Lloyd, the show's cinematographer, called the Chambers family — the parents, Hampton (David Oyelowo) and Astoria (Simone Missick), and sons, Einstein (Evan Ellison) and Harrison (Jahi Di'Allo Winston) — and their adventures a 'fable-ized version' of Hunter's upbringing. Magical, fantastical things happen to Hampton, in particular, and the audience is asked to believe them. Aeysha Carr, the other creator and showrunner, described the show's comedic language as 'absurdist, amusing, amusingly absurd.' The world of 'Government Cheese' is also distinctive and fanciful, steeped in the rich olive green, mustard yellow and pumpkin orange palette of the '60s. 'The foundation of it comes from a place that's all built on true feelings,' said Hunter, who directed four of the 10 episodes. 'Then from there, it wants to express itself from an unusual lens. It captures the spirit of dreamers.' In 'Government Cheese,' there are little, carefully constructed vignettes nested within vignettes like Matryoshka dolls, with nods to the work of William Eggleston, David Lynch, Wes Anderson and others. The attention to detail is painstaking, as it was in selecting that specific 'Addams Family' scene. 'From the composition to the cinematography, everything is very considered,' said Hunter, a former music video and commercial director perhaps best known for his 2001 Nike freestyle ad. 'Nothing is random.' In separate interviews, Hunter, Carr, Lloyd, the production designer Warren Alan Young, and the costume designer Nancy Steiner discussed several scenes from the first episode that illustrate how they built the surreal world of 'Government Cheese.' Fresh out of the slammer When 'Government Cheese' begins, Hampton is in prison for tax fraud. When he is released early in the first episode, viewers get their first look at Hampton as he sees himself. The needle drops on the buoyant 'Hot Fun in the Summertime' by Sly & the Family Stone, and Hampton struts down the hallway, almost catwalk style. It's the fresh fit that sells it. 'One of my favorite looks is when Hampton comes out of jail,' Steiner said. 'It's a green suit with the mustard top. And I loved that suit. And I just loved the swagger of it and the boldness of it.' We don't know exactly how long Hampton has been in prison, but it has clearly been a few years — his clothes feel a twinge dated. But they are still sharp and a little flashy, the dress of a man who lost some time in jail but none of his self-assurance. Much of the show follows Hampton's pursuit of success and riches via the self-sharpening drill he dreamed up in the prison machine shop, and soon he will change into a blue suit, a crisp white shirt and a tie — the picture of a respectable businessman. His get-out-of-jail clothes show us the confidence he will bring to the effort. 'That's the thing about clothing,' Steiner said. 'It's all a facade, in a way. It's what you want to say to the world about yourself.' A chilly homecoming Sly & the Family Stone fade out as Hampton arrives, triumphant and expectant, at the front door of his home. Astoria greets him with a combination of disbelief, disappointment, frustration and resignation. Eleven years ago, Lloyd, the cinematographer, received a cold call from Hunter. They met for breakfast and Hunter handed Lloyd a script for 'Government Cheese' — which was written as a feature film at the time. A few years later they instead made it into a 20-minute short, also starring Oyelowo as Hampton, which they eventually showed to Apple when they were selling the show. 'It really just became about: How do you photograph someone who's coming back into their own space, but now he's alien to it, to some degree, and it's not really his anymore?' Lloyd said. When Hampton heads for their bedroom, Astoria informs him that he'll be sleeping in the garage instead, where all of his things — including a prized Barcalounger chair — have been piled into a heap. Lloyd and Hunter referenced the photography of Eggleston and Stephen Shore in designing the show's visual style, and the carefully composed sequence creates a pungently colorful image of suburban dilapidation. (Hunter even tipped over the patio umbrella for an extra dash of chaos.) 'There's that wonderful image of the garage door flying open,' Lloyd said. 'And the cutting pattern in the scene: They're inside, and the door flies open, you're on his face, and then you just go wide and you see a very Eggleston-inspired image of the garage and the backyard and the umbrella has folded over. It fell together in this wonderful tableau.' Trapped in the Valley Hunter and Young, the production designer, grew up in and around Los Angeles around the same time, and they have 'similar childhood memories of what the sky looked like,' Hunter said. 'How the sun goes down in the San Fernando Valley; what that feels like,' he added. Young remembers when the Valley was still largely rolling orange groves, part of the backdrop of the show. Then neighborhoods like Chatsworth — where the Hamptons live and where Hunter spent much of his childhood — popped up, full of California-style ranch houses. Young surveyed hundreds of these before settling on a house in L.A.'s Northridge neighborhood for exterior shots. The interior of the Hamptons' house was built on a soundstage in North Hollywood. 'What I wanted to do is make sure that we had some vertical lines in the wallpaper in the main area, the living room area, to help remind us that both Astoria and Hampton are seeking to escape from wherever they were,' Young said. 'We tried to put vertical lines around Hampton as much as we could to remind everyone that there's a place he's trying to escape from, but he's still trapped.' Astoria works as a secretary at an interior design firm and aspires to become a designer herself. A bulletin board on the wall doubles as her vision board, collaged with snippets, clippings and swatches in marigold yellows and bright blues. 'She's thinking about things that a lot of people — especially white people at the time — would not think Black people might be thinking about,' Young said. 'Even in the African American community, there are people who would not necessarily be thinking about this, because, hey, that's what white people do.' 'Astoria was clearly on her own planet, and her own person,' he added. 'We worked to really make that clear.' Hunter said the creators' diligence with these individual grace notes amounted to a unified vision for the show. 'It comes together in a really cohesive way,' he said. 'It all feels like one thought.' 'I was thinking of this as a meal,' he added. 'There's just so many levels of taste here that you can enjoy.'
