The fall of the Archangel. Who is behind one of the major projects of the Russian IPSO

The “evocation.info” team managed to expose one of the most successful projects of the enemy IPSO – “Archangel Spetsnaz”. The story of lies, betrayal, theft of donates, as well as a complete deanon of the main admin and founder of the project – in our material.

As of July 2024 “Archangel of Special Forces.” with an audience of 1.1 million subscribers, is one of the most influential Russian military-themed channels on Telegram. Present also in YouTube и “VKontakte.

Positions itself as an author’s project of officers of the Airborne Forces, where they show footage of combat operations, publish instructions on military affairs, as well as collections for the needs of about a dozen units, mostly paratroopers.

The main distinguishing feature of “Archangels” from similar projects is that they never show their faces and their authors are only known by their call signs. A flair of mystery coupled with quality edited clips and live “mugs” from the fighters formed an impressive fan-base around the channel.

In their chat room, women virtually fight for unmarried admins, offer impressive sums for their numbers and are ready to support any initiative at their behest: from urgent million-dollar fundraisers and the purchase of “archangels” merch to voting in elections for “the best president” and flash mob in support of the new defense minister.

It is not for nothing that at the beginning of the material we called this project one of the most successful. It is difficult to find axe propaganda and blatant “yipsyatina” on the channel. But upon detailed analysis it becomes obvious that its admins use all the same methods of information confrontation (ICB), about which we detailed in this article. They just do it competently and with good legerdemain.

“Archangel Special Forces” are friends of IPB.

The undoubted trump card of this project, unlike those conducted by IPB units alone, is that most of its admins are active servicemen from the 45th Special Forces Brigade, 98th and 106th Airborne Brigades. And while at the beginning of its existence “archangels” often stole other people’s content, putting their watermarks on it, now it is almost completely exclusive. And it is noticeable that the informers of the Russian Ministry of Defense are also supplying it.

By the way, this is one of the main confirmations of the fact that “archangels” work under the auspices and in the interests of the enemy IPSO. Let’s break them down point by point:

Plums. The channel regularly features allegedly “extracted by hackers” or “passed on by conscious Ukrainians” fake documents that discredit the AFU, mainly the leadership of brigades in key areas of the front. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, personal threats were also published there to the commanders of the most combat-ready units and their families, as well as to the families of the Mariupol defenders. Posting and IPB instructions.

Unlimited access. “Archangels” has the opportunity to make documentaries about the “heroes of the vault”,congratulations in the main temple of the russian federation’s mofi, interviews with Ukrainian prisoners of war (the series “I Chose Life” appeared as a counterbalance to Vladimir Zolkin’s project “I want to live”). The admins are regularly photographed with Airborne Forces Commander Mikhail Teplinsky, who is known for his love of the media, receive thanks from him, and are among the first to publish his congratulations and exclusive shots of the general “at work”.

Financing. The above videos are made by a film crew using professional techniques and editing. The channel itself was “flooded” with subscribers in several stages, it was also advertised on the largest resources in social networks, and its administrators and materials received airtime on the main federal channels. It’s all very costly.

Weathervane. The change of rhetoric on the channel clearly coincides with the emergence of new Kremlin concepts. At first, the “archangels” called the Ukrainian army a bunch of talentless Nazis, called for the killing of prisoners, even disseminated footage of their executions as well as the abuse of civilians. After it became clear that Ukrainians could not be intimidated so easily, the main efforts of the admins were directed at discrediting the military-political leadership, calling for surrender because “the enemy is worthy of respect but is mistaken”, and ostentatious “care” for the civilian population.

Ideology. The project positions itself as a collection of deeply religious fighters, often substituting “divine providence” for rational arguments. On the walls of their dugouts hang Orthodox Christian banners, on the road to combat missions they read prayers, and regularly produce clips from the church and conversations with the priest. This is where Orthodox imperial narratives such as “all power is from God” and other theses that have been successfully exploited by the Kremlin’s top brass for decades to stay in power come from.

Grid. Capitalizing on the popularity of the project, the “archangels” have helped launch and maintain a number of IPb projects. Among them are the channels “Enot from Kherson”, “Krylatye”, “Dniprovsky Frontier”, “Masha from Makeyevka”, “All.RF” and others. It is also noteworthy that the civilian admin of “Archangels of Spetsnaz” with the nickname “Foma” simultaneously runs the NE.SAKHAR millionnik together with admins of several dozens of similar projects working in the interests of the IPB, such as “Belarusian Silovik”, “Observer”, “Wagner’s Orchestra”, etc.

Details. In addition to being among the first to launch IPSO projects like “Call Out the Volga,” the Archangels of Spetsnaz have on several occasions published evidence of participation in IPb field operations, e.g. with the using a special mobile complex “Linguist”. It is also noteworthy that the project received a commendation from konashenkov for “informational support of the rf army”, and the chief admin for running the channel – the combat award “For Services to the Fatherland II degree with swords”.

The Archangel “Special Forces Fire Department”.

I guess The most important value of the Archangel of Spetsnaz project for the rf Ministry of Defense is its ability to put out information “fires” for the internal audience. Defeats of the All-Russian Army at the front, discontent with mobilization, Prigozhin’s revolt, change of military leadership, increase of military-technical support to the AFU – “archangels” always come to the rescue.

When protests against mobilization and open anti-war demonstrations began in Russia, the admins branded their participants “traitors”. At the same time, they urged “real men” to go to military enlistment offices, published instructions for those mobilized and promised support during KMB and distribution to units.

They deliberately downplayed the successes of the AFU during the counteroffensive in Kharkiv and Kherson regions, throwing in a lot of misinformation about the present state of affairs and censoring in the chat room the real participants of those events. When it became apparent that the front lines were indeed sprinkled, the “archangels” switched to the mantra of “there is a controlled withdrawal to more favorable lines” and “it’s all part of a bigger plan.”

PMC “Wagner” admins called their good comrades and praised in every possible way, but when it came to the “March of Justice”, they began to call on the fighters of the All-Russian Federation to distance themselves from politics and discredit the “Wagner”. They paid special attention to the fact that to bring out of disgrace his patron, Airborne Forces Commander Mikhail Teplinsky and other generals who were not quick enough to support Putin’s regime in this story.

The “archangels” deliberately did not comment on the corruption scandals at the top of the military-political leadership, simply ignoring the high-profile news. But when it became clear that a change in the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense was inevitable and authorized personally by Putin, the first to launch a flash mob “You can be wrong, you can’t lie” in support of the new minister, Andrei Belousov.

When the average Russian citizen stopped believing the promises of “victory in three days” and became alarmed by the growing support of the West for Ukraine, the “archangels” were called in to this direction as well. Their channel was flooded with clips of the destruction of Western equipment, awards for supposedly distinguished calculations, myths about foreign mercenaries, the weakness of NATO and the leadership of Western countries.

The propaganda effect on domestic Russian audiences from this work should not be underestimated. At least the hosts of the “archangels” from the Kremlin and Znamenka are clearly satisfied with it. By a strange coincidence, messages about the next awards for “Archangel Special Forces” admins appear exactly after another successfully extinguished information “fire”.

What do the “archangels” themselves get except promotions, awards and the opportunity to shoot propaganda videos instead of risking their skin in battles? One of the admins honestly admitted in the chat room that “it’s an opportunity for extra income.”

It’s not hard to see that “archangels” have two main triggers. When their rebuked for the pure form in the frame because it proves that they are practically not involved in combat, usually after that there are specially filmed videos with mud, swamp and blood. And the fate of donations.

If at first the admins tried to justify themselves somehow and even published reports with checks several times, now they simply block those who dare to ask where the money goes. That said, they don’t shy away from collecting on the most expensive sets of Crye Precision uniforms, Carinthia clothing, top headphones Sordin and Peltor, Lowa boots from the new line and other – maybe not very practical, but definitely the most fashionable things.

“The Archangel of Spetsnaz” team deanon.

Lastly, the most “tasty” part. We have already found out how the Archangel Spetsnaz project managed to gain popularity, funding and patronage from high offices. But who is hiding behind the branded bafs of the admins, posing as “humble heroes of the vault”?

Those who supply the main “combat” content for the channel are ordinary military personnel who are given branded clothing, patches and chevrons to emphasize their involvement in the project. They are unlikely to have anything to do with drinking budget funding and donations, and they do it purely at the behest of their commanders, who, in turn, help to fulfill the plan of the IPB and the information officers of the MoRF.

The very makeup of Archangel Special Forces admins has undergone several rotations already. What is remarkable is that as soon as one of them gets too popular and starts competing with the founder of the Athlete Project, he immediately “leaves for another division” or “another area of responsibility”. This was the case, for example, with the fighter with the call sign “Yantar”, to whom we express our special thanks for his help in preparing this material and de-anonymizing the main admin.

Evgeny Mikhailovich Zhulidov (call sign “Athlete”). Serves in the 45th Airborne Special Forces Brigade. Started a channel on Telegram back in 2021. He published mostly photos and videos of his training under the pseudonym “Borz”, motivational quotes, pictures and music, occasionally reprints of news about the Airborne Troops and OMON.

From the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by rf into Ukraine, the information support of “svoy” began. The funny thing is, in the first one. WarGonzo Channel interviewwhere Zhulidov positioned himself as one of the admins of the “Archangel Spetsnaz” with the call sign “Angel”, he pretended to be a participant of the “Gostomel Troop”. He actually went to Ukraine
he didn’t arrive until the late spring of 2022 and began his “combat journey” with the battles for Popasnaya.

Served as ground control for artillery and ATGMs, also conducted reconnaissance and drone drops. He did not take part in assault operations, although for a long time he positioned himself as a “universal soldier” – posing as a sniper, mortar gunner, storm trooper, fpvshnik, medic, etc. at the same time.

When subscribers noticed the inconsistencies in his “heroic stories”, he was forced to share the glory and introduce new characters to the channel, some of whom later became admins. To maintain the heroic image on November 6, 2023, Julidov’s faked his own injury.

By the way, Zhulidov got used to impersonating other people since he was a young boy, and then he organized his first personal bot farm. In 2017 got into a high-profile scandal, according to eyewitnesses, in the center of the city of Vladimir during the clarification of relations he assaulted his ex-girlfriend. To change public opinion in his favor he used several fake accounts.

It’s the same technique he still uses today. While the “Athlete” positions himself as a silver-hearted man absorbed in spiritual matters, his alter ego with the nickname “Archangel” in the channel chat pretends to be a leg-lost “hero of the Swo” who defends admins from attacks and their right to misappropriate donations.

By the way, collections “for the development of the channel” Zhulidov spends on his personal card. And here is “to help the fighters” – on the card of his mother’s colleague from Vladimir OMON Sbitneva (Balashova) Svetlana Valeryevna.

Zhulidov’s digital split personality essentially borders on schizophrenia. In an interview about his project he stated the following: “The name was born very spontaneously. I am a man of faith and my mother has been putting icons of Archangel Michael on me since childhood. I named it “Archangel of Special Forces. Sounds cool.”

Whether Zhulidov himself believes in his new image as an Orthodox fighter against Nazism who is looking for the one and only is not known. But the fact that he was a longtime admirer of Hitler and Satan, as well as the many stories of his romantic adventures and violence toward women, can still be read today
on his page on Ask.fm.

At the moment, instead of fighting, Zhulidov is fully engaged in producing propaganda content and trying on a new image – a combat medic. He’s obviously going to have to say goodbye to mystery once we’re exposed. Although there is an obvious advantage in the concept of a “masked hero”, he can be replaced at any time by a more opportunistic one, as Zhulidov’s handlers from the IPB and the Airborne Forces Command are likely to decide.

In that case, the entire “Archangel Special Forces” admin team would have to be changed as well. Specifically:

• Aleynik Yevgeny Stanislavovich, 15.11.2000 (call sign “Vnuk”),
• Aksyonenko Tatiana Arturovna, 18.06.1992 (call sign “Gaika”),
• Yulia Borisovna Matveeva, 12.04.1986 (call sign “Flower”),
• Liankevich Olesya Gennadyevna, 06.05.1982 (call sign “Duchess”).

The fighter with the call sign “Demidov” can’t be changed. The facts of his involvement in the torture and abuse of Ukrainian prisoners were of great interest to the relevant authorities, to whom we gave all his personal data and location.

To be continued.