The war they play: Russia’s militarization of Ukrainian children

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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

Articles

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Jan. 27, 2025.

For Putin, history is a weapon — and Ukraine is the target

by Martin Fornusek
In July 2021, Putin penned a history-laden pamphlet arguing that Ukrainians and Russians are kindred nations, artificially divided by outsiders. The cherry-picked historical narratives and outright distortions were Putin's casus belli for an all-out war. Seven months later, Putin's Russia was bombing Ukraine, illegally "annexing" large swathes of territory while killing untold thousands of people in the name of historical revisionism. Since then, the Russian leader has continued to draw on pas

Analysis: After two oil refinery blasts, Russian propaganda reports a fake one — then blames Ukraine

by Martin Fornusek
Editor's note: This article was published as part of the Fighting Against Conspiracy and Trolls (FACT) project, an independent, non-partisan hub launched in mid-2025 under the umbrella of the EU Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). Click here to follow the latest stories from our hub on disinformation. With Ukraine heavily reliant on Western backing, Russian disinformation is laser-focused on driving a wedge between Kyiv and its allies. After explosions at Russian-linked refineries in Romania and