Wikipedia ignored demands to censor coverage of the invasion of Ukraine, and Russian authorities found wikipedians for hire to manipulate the information directly. We have evidence that numerous wikipedians, including old-timers and administrators, agreed to cooperate because of political views or financial gains.

Corrupt editors approach war-related articles in different ways. We remove misinformation inherited from pro-Russian sources or publications by biased “experts” who spread conspiracy theories. We also remove the wrong context that creates an incorrect perception of war-related events and concepts.

Many anti-war wikipedians have burned out, developing reliable coverage of war crimes, consequences of the Russian aggression, and other morally challenging topics. But someone has to be ready to repel the next waves of Russian propaganda.

Runet is dominated by state-owned and state-dependent media that spread lies and conspiracy theories about war, Ukraine, and the West. Google unconsciously helps Russian propaganda by providing Russian speakers globally with links to RT and other Russian outlets. Wikipedia articles typically top search results, meaning we have an upper ground against propagandists.

Our long-form explainer-style Wikipedia articles provide an accurate overview of events and the necessary context to understand complex and sensitive topics. We use numerous reliable sources to make our texts comprehensive and more detailed than any publication in traditional media.

Our articles are stable-by-design: the structure, the sources, and the wording are thought out to make it impossible to inject misinformation quietly. Due to many improvements, our articles are well-received by the community, and other editors help us to keep them neutral and updated.

Russian authorities have put over 100 Wikipedia articles on the “forbidden materials” list and demand their removal from the encyclopaedia. Under military laws, people are persecuted for telling the truth about the war. We have to be careful and discrete and can’t call the names of our team members or name the articles we have been working on.