Yuri Kotenok is the editor-in-chief of the Segodnya.ru news and analysis website and also works as a war correspondent, covering combat operations on the Russian side. He created a new YouTube channel called “Voenkor Kotenok,” which covers openly informational support for the Russian Armed Forces’ attack on Ukraine. He was head of the Media and Public Affairs Section at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS). In October 2015, he was awarded the medal “In Commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Republic of South Ossetia” by the self-proclaimed head of the unrecognized state of South Ossetia, Leonid Tibilov, whose activities are controlled by the Russian special services.
Ironically, Yuri Kotenok was born into a journalistic family. His father, Kotenok Petro Rodionovich, was also a military journalist, and at the same time graduated from the faculty of journalism of the Lviv Military and Political School (LWPU) and, by correspondence, from Lviv State University. Peter Kotenok did his military service in the newspaper of the Precarpathian Military District “Motherland’s Glory”, taught in the LWVPU, performed international duty in Cuba. He also worked in various positions in the editorial office of the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, and was involved in the preparation of the publication The Last Letters from the Front. After retiring with the rank of colonel, Pyotr Kotenok continued his journalistic activities as Deputy Secretary of the Central Magazine of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Orientir.
Yuri Kotenok followed in his father’s footsteps, using his corrupt connections and opportunities, and received a higher education at the Higher Military Political School in the “military journalism” department.
Unlike his father, Yuri Kotenok, working as a war correspondent, promotes war and the violation of its laws and customs. Repeatedly covered the commission of war crimes by the Russian Armed Forces and pro-Russian fighters. Yuri Kotenok was commissioned by the Kremlin to cover the first and second wars in Chechnya, Georgia, South Ossetia and Donbass. He worked as a member of one of the Chechen special forces units in Tskhinvali.
On one of his business trips to Artsakh on October 8, 2020, Yuri Kotenok was seriously wounded by an Azerbaijani drone strike on a temple in Shushi. That time he worked with Levon Arzanov – special correspondent of “Officers of Russia”. After being wounded, Yuri Kotenok tries to avoid the hottest spots and prefers to conduct his propaganda from quieter places.
Since the beginning of Russia’s so-called special military operation in Ukraine in his telegram channel “Voenkor Kotenok” Yuri Kotenok supports the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, genocide of Ukrainian citizens under the guise of “denazification”, violations of the Geneva Convention with respect to prisoners of war.
In his materials, Yuri Kotenok describes the “atrocities” of the AFU, not being shy in his statements about Ukraine, the military and political leadership of the country. It is hard to find so much misinformation, fakes and outright lies in the materials of anyone else.
It is an interesting fact that every time Yuri Kotenok ended up exactly where Russia was up to something. This was repeatedly seen in the temporarily occupied territories, when he posted videos or photos of shelling immediately after the arrivals, and each time, of course, Ukraine was the culprit. Even after it turned out that it came from the other side.
At the same time, due to sanctions, the Kremlin’s funding of Yuri Kotenok’s propaganda activities has significantly decreased, forcing him to ask for financial assistance from ordinary Russians on his personal Sberbank card 2202 2003 9659 7450.
Read also
