An agency disguised news from Ukraine as pirated movies for Russians

Most Russians don't know what's going on in Ukraine, thanks to media controls imposed by their government. So, Ukrainian agency Nebo is contributing to the country's war effort with an innovative idea that disguises news as entertainment content. 

Kyiv-based Nebo saw an opportunity when Russia legalized piracy as a way to get back at countries for placing sanctions. So, together with support from 72andSunny Amsterdam, it created "Torrents of Truth" to counter misinformation within Russia about the war in Ukraine and bypass Russian censors. 

The campaign disguises content from eyewitnesses and news reports about the war in Ukraine as pirated blockbuster movies, popular TV series, software or music and uploads them to Russian pirate sites using the file-sharing process known as torrenting.

When a Russian internet user downloads a file and clicks on it to play, their viewing will be interrupted by the message: “This isn’t what you expected to see. But this is something that you should see. The truth.” 

That truth is then relayed in videos, embedded in the entertainment content, presented in Russian by Ukrainian journalists, who give harrowing personal accounts of the brutal reality of the Russian invasion of their country, interspersed with footage of the war.

“Most Russians don’t know what is really going on in Ukraine–even if they are doubtful about what they are told, it is impossible for Russians to find out the truth, in a country where the truth has been banned from TV channels and newspapers by the Kremlin," said Guillaume Roukhomovsky, associate creative director at 72andSunny, in a statement. "Torrents of Truth’s purpose is to create a new, mass undercover channel that re-empowers journalists in face of the information war.”

“Working through the war made us stronger. If we are capable of doing this, there is no project to scare the Nebo team," said Olga Kokoshko, owner and CEO at Nebo. "We are proud to create such an impactful project in collaboration with 72andSunny. It shows that we are ready to join the international creative community and do beautiful work together. I believe that we have a unique perspective that gives a great cultural impact to any project. The war didn't just hurt us, it also gave us a superpower to see the beauty of life.”