To see some of the horrors Russia’s war has brought to Ukraine, one just has to click on the #RussiaIsATerroristState hashtag on social media.
Given the scale of Russia’s ongoing attacks, which have left entire cities blacked out and destroyed, and thousands of people killed, the hashtag is used daily by hundreds of people, including Ukrainian and Western officials.
But not many know that the person who launched the viral campaign promoting the hashtag back in 2022 was Ukrainian social media influencer Ihor Lachenkov.
He began to gain followers on the eve of the full-scale war when he founded the Lachen Pyshe ("Lachen (short for Lachenkov) is typing") Telegram channel (@lachentyt) to share the latest developments – often accompanying the news with his own comments.
More than two years into the full-scale invasion, Lachenkov, now 24, has become more than just a social media influencer. Apart from running one of Ukraine’s most popular Telegram channels, with nearly 1.5 million followers, Lachenkov has raised millions of dollars for Ukrainian soldiers and directed the glare of publicity to crucial issues such as corruption in the Defense Ministry.
“My priority has always been the interests of the country, first and foremost,” Lachenkov said in an interview with the Kyiv Independent.
Becoming famous
Everyone seems to know who Lachenkov is when he walks into a bookstore in downtown Kyiv these days, but few would have recognized him before the full-scale war.
A native of the central-eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, he studied law at the local university and earned a living by creating "turnkey" Telegram channels, as well as running social media accounts about his hometown. He often posted memes and news about Ukraine on his personal Instagram account and had gained nearly 50,000 followers there by 2022.
Lachenkov first experienced the effects of war when he spent summer holidays at his grandparents’ home in Lysychansk, Luhansk Oblast, which was occupied by Russia for three months in 2014. The city again came under Russian military occupation in July 2022, during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"I've been following the events closely since 2013, including the Revolution of Dignity and the war in the Donbas," Lachenkov told the Kyiv Independent.
“I knew that Russia was the aggressor state and that the revolution was one of the pivotal moments that helped us become a free country, rather than following Russia's path.”
"But my problem was that I believed that Russian liberals, the Russian opposition, and people who were against the annexation of Crimea and Putin were good Russians."
"After Feb. 24 (2022, the start of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine), I realized this was far from the truth."
With the threat of a full-scale Russian invasion looming over Ukraine in late 2021 and early 2022, Lachenkov decided to create a Telegram channel to share the latest news with his own comments. He named it “Lachen Pyshe (Lachen is typing).”
"When someone writes to you in a Telegram chat, it displays 'is typing' at the top," Lachenkov explains the name, adding he thought that only people from his circle would follow the channel.
But to his surprise, it gained 6,000 followers on its first day. By Feb. 23, 2022, he had 70,000 readers – nearly 20,000 more than his personal Instagram account. The next day, as Russia began heavily bombarding cities across Ukraine, Lachen Pyshe’s audience skyrocketed to over 200,000.
Lachenkov himself was in Dnipro when the full-scale war began. He did not sleep for the first few days, monitoring and posting news around the clock.
Although he had never chased popularity in Ukraine, having many friends in the military and deeply caring for his country made him realize he had no choice but to accept his new-found fame and continue working harder than ever.
A voice as a weapon
Lachenkov runs the channel with two friends who remain anonymous, making him its face.
He said he understands the high level of responsibility for using the power of Telegram – a messenger created by Russian-born entrepreneur Pavel Durov – to help Ukraine.
Durov left Russia in 2014 and currently lives in Dubai. While he claims that Telegram defends freedom of speech and "has no equipment, employees or companies in Russia," he refuses to comment on Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, saying that it's important for the world to "retain Telegram as a neutral platform." The Kremlin has tried to block the messenger in Russia several times.
Telegram is now among the most popular messengers in Ukraine and Russia, with strongly pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian channels available to users in both Ukraine and Russia. It is a go-to source of breaking news, though Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) recently said Telegram also poses threats to the country's security.
Lachenkov, however, says Telegram is a great tool in fighting Russian propaganda – when used wisely. Around two months into the full-scale war, he helped ban a Russian FSB-linked Telegram propaganda channel in Ukraine: "There have now been lots of small cases like that," Lachenkov said.
"So much can be accomplished through Telegram, and it’s a tool to be utilized rather than restricted."
Lachenkov uses his powerful social media voice not only to fight Russian propaganda but to draw public attention to other important matters in Ukraine, like battling corruption: In early January, he issued an emotional statement regarding a recent procurement scandal involving Defense Ministry contractor and Lviv businessman Ihor Hrynkevych.
Hrynkevych is one of five suspects, including his son Roman, who allegedly supplied Ukraine's Defense Ministry with low-quality military clothing, causing the ministry Hr 1.2 billion ($31 million) in losses.
"It’s an incredible level of nastiness," Lachenkov wrote on social media about the case. He continued publishing updates about it, calling on law enforcement to find Roman after he had been declared wanted. His aim was not to let society and authorities forget about the scandal.
Lachenkov said the Hrynkevych family even contacted him, attempting to "bury" the story: "They wanted to pay me to forget about them," the influencer said.
"The next day, I published another post." "I wanted it to be an example. I wanted to make the Hrynkevych case into a precedent. I wanted to show that the media, public attention, and societal buzz around a particular case can resolve the issues."
The investigation into the large-scale defense procurement corruption scheme is ongoing, with a Kyiv court recently extending the detention of Roman until April 17.
The #RussiaIsATerroristState hashtag campaign is also a great example of the power of "societal buzz." Lachenkov and his team launched the hashtag campaign after a particularly brutal Russian attack on Kyiv on June 26, 2022, when an apartment building and a kindergarten were hit by Russian missiles.
If the terror of the Russian Federation remains unpunished, you will see its repetition all over the world - President Zelenskyi#RussiaIsATerroristState pic.twitter.com/2qABr6PaBC
— Ihor Lachenkov (@igorlachenkov) July 13, 2022
"We launched this hashtag on Twitter," Lachenkov said. "We had a designer who made black posters on which 'Russia is a terrorist state' was written in red letters. It gained a lot of traction, but a lot of people don't even know where it comes from."
However, others had indeed noticed, and Lachenkov was among a group of Ukrainians invited to the European Parliament when it awarded the Sakharov Prize to the Ukrainian people in December 2022. He says he initially didn’t understand why he’d been invited.
"But I understood it when I met with a member of the European Parliament who had lobbied for them to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism,” he said. “I was invited there to get acquainted, to talk about declaring Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, what further actions would be taken, and what to do about it."
Lachenkov said he believes he attracts social media followers because of his active stance and independence. He says he has "no political ambitions."
And despite now having a large audience and recognition, Lachenkov remains modest and humble, always trying to shift the focus from himself to what is important to him – Ukraine.
“We (the channel) don't engage in politics. We’re independent. We don’t promote harmful things, including casinos. We don’t have sponsorships," Lachenkov said.
"We follow issues in the country. We address important questions. If someone asks us for help, we help."
No time to stop
Much of that help goes to the Ukrainian military. Lachenkov had friends in the military even before the full-scale war. He has also lost some of them.
"Many of my friends continue to fight," he said. "The thought that you don’t know what will happen (to them) tomorrow affects (me) a lot."
His first fundraising campaign was launched five days before the full-scale war, when he quickly raised Hr 80,000 ($2,000) for his friends in the military. As of the beginning of 2024, Lachenkov has helped raise over Hr 2 billion ($51 million) through his channel to support Ukrainian soldiers.
While he has teamed up with Ukrainian foundations and activists supporting the army many times, one fundraiser in particular stands out.
In November 2022, Lachenkov joined forces with Come Back Alive, Ukraine's biggest civilian fundraising trust for purchasing military items, to raise Hr 230 million ($5.8 million) for undisclosed equipment that would "reduce Russia's offensive capabilities."
The equipment was requested by Ukraine’s military intelligence, Lachenkov says. It took them around a month to close the fundraiser.
A year later, the military finally revealed what the mysterious equipment actually was the Ukrainian-made Beaver attack drone, which can fly up to 800 kilometers. According to Lachenkov, in one attack the drone hit a Russian plant producing electronics for Russian X-type missiles. In total, the drones caused over $900 million worth of damage to Russia in the first eight months of 2023, according to Lachenkov.
To extend support to the military beyond material assistance, Lachenkov recently launched a YouTube channel featuring interviews with soldiers. He also plans soon to help a friend create a memorial for fallen Ukrainian servicemen.
Lachenkov said he would "breathe a sigh of relief" when Ukraine finally receives the aid package from the U.S., which has been delayed since the fall of 2023 amid political fighting in Congress.
"I will understand that at least we have military aid, and this is very important for us," he said.
"Nothing separates you from those already killed by Russia. You have no guarantees that tomorrow Russia won't kill you, as they have already killed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. Not just in the last 10 years, but already over a hundred years."
"It’s now at the stage of either we kill them, or they will kill us."
Note from the author:
Hi! Daria Shulzhenko here. I wrote this piece for you. Since the first day of Russia's all-out war, I have been working almost non-stop to tell the stories of those affected by Russia’s brutal aggression. By telling all those painful stories, we are helping to keep the world informed about the reality of Russia’s war against Ukraine. By becoming the Kyiv Independent's member, you can help us continue telling the world the truth about this war.
Masha Lavrova
