Foreign "journalists" with ties to RF were among the "international observers" at the sham referendum – list

Photo: Reuters

Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, posted the list of "international observers" who "observed" the sham eferendum in the occupied territories.

He says it is important to know the names of those who are helping the aggressor state, "legitimizing yet another lie."

He and his team used open source intelligence to analyze the people whom Putin had involved in "observing" these "votes."

"For the most part, these 'referendum observers' are long-time stooges of the Kremlin. We can see that, compared to 2014, it is increasingly difficult for Russia to find those who would look respectable and be ready to cooperate with an aggressive and terrorist state," Dmytro Lubinets wrote.

IMI would like to draw attention to the fact that the published list includes several media persons, political observers, editors, and journalists. Or at least that is what they call themselves.

Dmytro Lubinets added that he had decided to contact the Security Service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to him, these departments should respond to the fact that:

• the foreigners crossed the border illegally;
• were in the temporarily occupied territories;
• took part in an illegal "referendum" that calls the territorial integrity of Ukraine into question.

"It is necessary to demand that the governments of other countries make their citizens face responsibility, namely political and legal. I also consider it necessary to include these persons on the list of persona non grata both in Ukraine and in other democratic countries," said the Human Rights Commissioner.

List of the sham referendum "observers:"

• Belarus
  Siarhey Lushch, leader of the pro-Russian organization "Rus Molodaya," which works with the support of the Russian state fund "Rossotrudnichestvo."
  Vadzim Hihin, historian and publicist, editor-in-chief of the "Belaruskaya Dumka" magazine, was banned from entering EU countries in 2010 for participating in propaganda and justifying mass persecution of the civil society in Belarus.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Oleg Soldat – it is stated that he is a well-known historian, about whom Google knows little, in his spare time he gives lectures such as "Parachute, dance and choir: Russia in the world's culture" for the Russian World Foundation in Banja Luka.
  Slobodan Soja, former ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Egypt, now a regular participant in the "observation" of elections in Russia.
• Brazil
  Vanessa Silva – there is no open source information about this "observer" not her achievements in the field of election observation.
  Enrique Domingos, a youth activist who, likes to visit forums for the youth in Sochi and attend the youth's meetings with Putin in his free time.
  Guarulius Devanir Cavalcante de Lima, a politician who also likes to visit Russia. For example, during the presidential elections in 2018 or the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2021.
• United Kingdom
  Vanessa Beeley, editor of the 21st Century Wire website. The website has content denying the existence of the coronavirus, mentions of the war that the United States is waging in Ukraine, and a tweet from May that speaks of Zelensky as a politician who exterminates his people.
• Venezuela
  Dia Nader de El-Andari – at the age of 17, she came to the USSR to study at the Patrice Lumumba University of Peoples' Friendship. She worked as a diplomat in Syria and Serbia.
  John Keiler Jimenez – Russian media reports that John represents the election monitoring NGO Social Project, but no mention of such an organization in Venezuela could be found.
  Janlisbert Velasco, head of the election monitoring NGO Social Project. Velasco has already "observed" in the temporarily occupied Crimea in 2021, but the occupying administration themselves complained that she was no observer, but a "People's Friendship University student."
• Egypt
  Ismael Refat, a political columnist.
• Zimbabwe
  Tapiwa Masenda, external relations coordinator of the youth wing of the political party "Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front."
• Italy
  Eliseo Berliosi, a representative of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Geopolitics and Auxiliary Sciences and a correspondent for the Rossiya Segodnya news agency.
  Vito Grittani, founder of the International Diplomatic Observatory. The organization's website states that "the referendum is being held in the separatist regions of Ukraine."
  Gianfranco Vestuto, editor-in-chief of the Russia News publishing house.
  Gianantonio Micalessin, author of the film "Ukraine, the Hidden Truth," journalist. In his "work", he talks about the alleged Georgian snipers on the Euromaidan, bringing the legitimate Kyiv regime of Yanukovych to collapse.
  Marco Pata – calls himself a lawyer and an expert in geopolitics.
• Cameroon
  Mireille Mouel, Cameroon's Youth Attaché.
• Latvia
  Alina Gerlinya, deputy editor-in-chief of Russia Today's "Baltnews" project. Born and raised in Riga. Entered MGIMO, got into the "Mentoring" program, took part in the "Leaders of Russia" contest.
• Mozambique
  Jose Matemulane – lived in St. Petersburg for several years. Denies any connection with Evgeniy Prigozhin. Last month, Matemulane told the New York Times that AFRIC had been launched a year ago with the support of a St. Petersburg businessman he refused to name. AFRIC, which calls itself a non-governmental organization (NGO), conducts a variety of activities, including election monitoring; they only receive donations in cryptocurrency and participated in the pre-election poll. The AFRIC Facebook page has been shut down in late October. According to Facebook, AFRIC was linked to Prigozhin and tried to interfere in the internal politics of African countries.
• Netherlands
  Sonja Van Den Ende, a Dutch journalist deployed to follow the Russian troops in southeastern Ukraine. "Multiple villagers in Henichesk told me that when the Russians had entered their town, they had left everything intact. I've heard this many times. No damage, no dead, no wounded. According to them, most people are glad to have Russians there," the journalist writes.
• Germany
  Thomas Röper – lives in Russia, runs his own blog Anti-Spiegel, targeted at German-speaking users. In his articles, he adhered to the pro-Russian narrative, which earned him the reputation of one of the most radical supporters of the Russian government. At the same time, Anti-Spiegel's author has been repeatedly accused of distorting facts and covering events one-sidedly.
  Stefan Schaller, manager of Energie Waldeck-Frankenberg (EWF), an energy supply and transport company majority-owned by a municipal association and Thüga Holding.
  Christoph Hörstel, German journalist and politician, a frequent guest of RT programs. Takes an anti-Western and anti-American stance. According to Spiegel Online, Hörstel, who "was once popular as a pundit and journalist," is now "largely discredited" because of his views.
  Patrick Waab – no information except for a mention of him in the Russian media.
• South Africa
  Khulekani Mondli Skosana, chairman of the international relations sub-committee of the the African National Congress Youth League party.
  Ziyanda Ncuru, a member of the Regional Executive Committee of the Young Communist League of South Africa.
• Slovakia
  Lubica Blaškova, president of the Slovak Association of Graduates of Russian and Soviet Higher Education Institutions. Blaškova is a graduate of the Volgograd State Pedagogical Institute and Moscow State Pedagogical Institute.
• USA
  Wyatt Reed, a journalist for the Russian Sputnik agency.
• Togo (West Africa)
  Kuku Mavule Khugblaim is a member of the Union for the Republic party, an observer at the 2018 parliamentary elections in Togo.
• Uruguay
  Sebastian Lopez, presented as a member of the International Association of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean.
• France
  Andre Michel Claude Chanclu, president of the French NGO Le Collectif France-Russie. Leader of the France-Russia Association who criticized the sanctions imposed on Russia after the annexation of Crimea.
  Emmanuel Leroy, a French political scientist, one of the owners of the French-language website Stop Russophobia, declares in his interviews that "Russia is the last country that is still free."
  Antonin Burat and Luc Ortel, journalists.
  Arnold Devali – says that he is a lawyer with a license in Washington and France.
  Estelle Mose and Thierry Saint-Hermes.
• Czech Republic
  Jaromyr Vasek, public figure, head of the public organization "Society of Friendship of Quasi-Republics"
  Roman Blaško, a Czech journalist of Haló Noviny, criticized the Czech government for spoiling the relations with Russia due to the "Vrbetice sabotage" being a "stretch."

Learn more about how the Russians were preparing the people for the illegal "referendum" in IMI's article "With Russia Forever:" How the "L/DPR" Groups Are Preparing the Region For Joining RF.