What Telegram channels write about Dnipro politicians
The audience of the top ten Telegram channels in Dnepr today is almost two million users. The most popular topics in the information space of a city with a population of over a million are expectedly war and the security situation. At the same time, Dnepr Telegram channels also write about local politicians; there are even tandem messages, when one note talks about several at once.
Most of all the officials of Dnepr, Telegram channels mention the head of the Dnieper regional military administration Sergei Lysak, mayor Boris Filatov and chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk regional council Nikolai Lukashuk (however, about the last two - three times less).
Quite often they write about officials even when it does not concern their direct duties, and this has the appearance of ordinary political PR. At the same time, the Dnipro City Council alone spent almost 40 million UAH on advertising on the Internet and social networks over the past year.
The “Honestly” movement examined how the ten most popular Telegram channels of Dnepr interact, how they cover the activities of the mayor and local politicians.
Advertising for budget funds
Some messages in Dnipro Telegram channels are published along with the logo of the Dnipro City Council. It is possible that channel administrators use it at their own discretion, or it can be provided for free at the City Council press office. However, only in January 2024, the Department of Local Government of the Dnipro City Council ordered services to “improve the awareness of Dnipro residents” on Facebook and Telegram in the amount of UAH 4.8 million.
It is noteworthy that Elena Sergeeva, who provided information services to the Dnieper City Council, ran for the post of mayor of Dnieper in 2020 as a self-nominated candidate. In addition, according to investigative journalists, it registered as a sole proprietor in September 2020, and since January 2021 has already received a number of contracts from the Dnipro City Council and the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council for UAH 11.29 million.
In total, according to Prozorro, we see that the amount for advertising the City Council on the Internet and social networks from January 1, 2023 to February 20, 2024 is UAH 39.5 million. The service includes posting information messages and explanations about the work of local governments, announcing programs of events in which the city council, its divisions, etc. participate.
Among others, the “Dnepr Operational” resource, which includes the “Dnepr Operational” Telegram channel, appears in procurement for advertising orders. The cost of one publication on the site, according to documents, ranges from 4900 to 5940 UAH. The number of messages in contracts varies from 30 to 750. Usually, when ordering advertising in online media, the publication is automatically duplicated on pages on social networks, thus increasing the readership. The standard cost of advertising on the “Dnepr Operative” channel is 4,000 hryvnia per broadcast.
Note that, according to the Law “On Media”, social advertising must be marked in a certain way - unlike ordinary news. However, neither on the Dnepr Operative website nor in any of the mentioned Telegram channels is there any marking of advertising content. Only isolated cases of the appearance of the logo and signature of the city council.
Note that Telegram channels are not yet subject to the law, however, publications paid for from the local budget must be designated accordingly, since we are talking about public finances.
To the request “Honestly”, the Dnieper City Council sent only an act of services provided, which indicated the number of publications in Telegram - 60.
The City Council refused a detailed report, citing the fact that the information is confidential and intended for use exclusively by the parties to the contract.
Politicians in the Dnieper canals
The audience of the most popular local Telegram channels in Dnepr today amounts to almost two million subscribers. The most popular of them, “KhDnipro ua,” has an audience of almost half a million, followed by “Dnepr Operational War” and “Truha Dnepr,” which is part of the largest Telegram network in Ukraine.
Of all the local politicians, Telegram channels mention the Chairman of the Dnieper Regional State Administration Sergei Lysak the most - more than 1000 times over the past six months. Let us note that Lysak, in February 2023, according to the decree of President Vladimir Zelensky, replaced Valentin Reznichenko in this post.
But the mayor of the city of Dnepr, Boris Filatov, and the chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk regional council, Nikolai Lukashuk, are remembered three times less by the city’s largest Telegram channels.
For example, Sergei Lysak is most often mentioned by the channels “Dnepr Now: News” (37% of all mentions on channels), “Fucking Dnepr | Dnepr” (34% of mentions), “Truha Dnepr” (11% of mentions). But on the “Dnepr Operational” channel, the mayor of the city Boris Filatov (51% of mentions) has the most mentions, and Nikolai Lukashuk – on the “Dnepr Now: News” channel (87% of mentions).
Lighting context
Posts with reference to the head of the OVA Lysak almost all relate to the security situation in the region and the consequences of rocket attacks. Publications mentioning Filatov and Lukashuk cover a broader topic and have both positive and negative context. For example, the channels “Dnepr Operational | War” and “Trukha Dnepr”, if they mention officials, they do so critically.
In total, Mayor Filatov has been mentioned more than 330 times in the most popular local Telegram channels over the past six months. It is noteworthy that the audience of channels that speak negatively about the mayor of Dnepr is twice as large (1.1 million versus 500 thousand) as the audience of channels that write positively.
For example, in a negative context, six of the ten most popular channels wrote about the mayor of Dnepr, namely: “Dnepr Operational | War”, “Trukha Dnepr”, “KhDnipro”, “Good evening, we are from Dnepr”, “Fucking Dnepr | Dnepr”, “Real Dnepr News”.
The messages, in particular, related to scandalous budget purchases, corruption issues, the mayor’s communication style on social networks, and the like. Almost all top channels mentioned the mayor when he appeared in scandals - about his arrest in absentia by a Moscow court, the mayor’s exposure of a bribe from ex-People’s Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Maxim Mikitas on the construction of the metro in Dnieper, etc.
In addition, in the fall of 2023, Filatov attracted the attention of a number of Telegram channels with scandalous statements about participants in the “Money for the Armed Forces of Ukraine” campaign. Local Telegram channels published emotional comments from citizens under the Facebook message.
Also, references to Boris Filatov and Nikolai Lukashuk on the “Dnepr Operational War” channel are mostly negative, in particular in the context of the City Council’s wastefulness on tiles or the analysis of Nikolai Lukashuk’s declaration.
But in a positive context, the Telegram channels “Dnepr Operational”, “Dnepr Now: News”, “Real Dnepr News” wrote about Filatov. For example, “Dnepr Operational” recalls the mayor almost every day, and half of the messages do not directly concern the situation in the city. For example, the channel quotes his personal thoughts on political news and highlights his “philanthropic generosity.”
Also, “Dnepr Operational War” and “Dnepr Operational” remember Filatov as a political blogger and mayor who actively helps the army.
The head of the Dnepropetrovsk regional council, Nikolai Lukashuk, who is often mentioned by “Dnepr Now: news,” has a similar context. The channel publishes his video messages, as well as messages about meetings with foreign partners, congratulations to the military, and the like. In addition, the channel quoted Lukashuk in the context of Ukraine’s sporting victories at international competitions.
It is interesting that in the Telegram channel “Dnepr Operative” there are tandem publications where Boris Filatov and Sergei Lysak are simultaneously remembered at joint celebrations. For example, when officials reward rescuers of the Dnepropetrovsk region, open a “Transparent Office” or hand over the keys to new apartments to military personnel and their families.
“Leaders in helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine”
One of the key and constant messages of Telegram channels is “Dnepr is the leader in helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” On the “Dnepr Operational” channel, publications about the city’s support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are regular, and it also accounts for almost half of all mentions of the mayor of Dnepr.
In addition, in January of this year, the channel had a number of messages about Boris Filatov’s personal meetings with the military and the transfer of equipment to the front, gratitude from the military and the presentation of symbolic gifts. For example, in just two days, January 24-26, 2024, the channel wrote three times about Filatov’s meeting with famous military personnel and the commander of the aerial reconnaissance unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Madyar. The total reach of these messages reached 155 thousand readers.
Messages about Filatov’s daily communication with the air defense forces appeared on January 6, 2024, almost simultaneously on three channels: “Dnepr Operational”, “Dnepr Now: News” and “Good evening, we are from Dnepr” - with reference to the mayor.
The same channels published various ratings, where Dnepr is the leader in providing assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular from the business publication Forbes and the public procurement system Prozorro.
The head of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Council Nikolai Lukashuk is also mentioned in the topic of helping the military. The “Dnepr Now: News” channel published messages of gratitude from military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and about the transfer of fighters to Ukraine. They also remembered Lukashuk well: “Fucking Dnieper | Dnepr” and “Real Dnepr News”.
