In October 2024, pro-Kremlin media and Telegram channels reported that one of the Ukrainian brigades had a unit of girls providing sex services to the military under the guise of massage. We have verified the accuracy of this information.
The news about the creation of an unusual unit began to spread on Telegram on October 22, the next day there was a note about it released newspaper "Arguments and Facts". The text says that the commander of the 22nd separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel Vladimir Pipka, created a “massage special forces” at the headquarters. “It is clear that 42-year-old Pipka is also being massaged; it is not for nothing that he has officially assembled such a team of young and quite attractive women. Among the “combat massage therapists” there are also several young guys, which is explained by European values, which are not alien to the Ukrainian army,” the author of the note emphasizes. Telegram channel «Ukraine.ru"(110,000 views at the time of writing this analysis) does not resort to euphemisms and directly states that the brigade thus legalized the provision of sex services. She also wrote about “massage special forces” “Public news service", news agency "Power block"and some Telegram channels.
A search for “massage special forces” showed that organization with this name actually exists in Ukraine, but is not part of any army structure. This volunteer association was created in the spring of 2023 by the founder of the concert agency Magic Box Association Sergey Andreev, singer Artyom Pivovarov, as well as an athlete and massage therapist Alexander Lunga. On the occasion of the organization’s anniversary, the “Massage Special Forces” page on Instagram appeared fast, which tells the story of its origins:
“Artyom performed a lot for the military, and on one of these trips we thought it would be nice to add, in addition to the material and musical component of these trips, also a recreational one! Thus, Artyom’s longtime friend, professional athlete and massage therapist Alexander Lunga, joined the visiting team. On May 14, 2023, the first musical and massage expedition of its kind took place in Donbass. To be honest, there was no understanding at all whether this would be in demand by the military, or whether there would be any tangible effect from this initiative. We hoped that perhaps we could help someone relieve physical stress, as well as psychological stress, but we had no idea when we were traveling for the first time how much this activity would be in demand for a huge number of people.”
In July 2024, Ukrainian media wrote, that to the team of volunteers "Massage Special Forces" included 40 professional rehabilitation therapists and massage therapists from different cities of Ukraine. “Most of our specialists have medical education and permanent practice. Our massage “commandos” leave their business and clients and go out to work for the military for a few days,” speaks Andreev. According to him, such trips make the life of soldiers much easier: a standard set of ammunition weighs more than 30 kg, so the military constantly experiences a large load on the spine, lower back and shoulders, and there are not enough full-time rehabilitation specialists in the army.
During one of the recent trips to active troops, Massage Special Forces volunteers visited the soldiers of the 22nd separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which commands Colonel Vladimir Pypka. Information about this was published on the brigade’s verified Facebook page on October 20, 2024. A screenshot of this post was subsequently used by pro-Kremlin Telegram channels in viral publications that distorted the essence of the activities of the Massage Special Forces.
The first such post appeared on October 22 at 10:20 Moscow time in the Telegram channel “Dill fresh"(4300 views), it was also referred to by Ukraina.ru and Arguments and Facts. As before wrote “Verified”, this channel regularly makes up news about Ukraine based on real reports from local authorities and military units.
Thus, “Massage Special Forces” is not part of the structure of any unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and does not provide sexual services. This is a volunteer association that regularly offers Ukrainian military personnel on the front line various types of medical massage and physiotherapy. The original source of the story with fictitious dirty details is a Telegram channel that has been repeatedly caught in such distortion of news.
Cover photo: Facebook page of the 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
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