Original article (in B/C/S) was published on 6/2/2024; Author: Amar Karađuz
The section “Russian News” on the web portal Lajk is filled with articles equipped with clickbait headlines and videos containing parts of texts already published on Serbian web portals.
The section “Russian News” on the web portal Lajk (.rs), which publishes the “latest Russian news from various social spheres”, is full of sensationalist clickbait headlines. The articles in this section are not journalistic texts in the classic sense, since they consist of titles and videos from the YouTube channel Serbia Online, without featuring proper text.
These videos, mirroring the articles’ titles, employ a female voiceover to narrate texts previously published on other Serbian web portals. Both the Serbia Online YouTube channel and the videos it hosts describe themselves as informative platforms, offering daily updates on current events both domestically and internationally.
The following headline was published in “Russian News” section on January 30, 2024:
A NEVER SEEN BEFORE DRAMA IN GERMANY! Putin caused FEAR and PANIC with one sentence! Berlin is STUNNED from shock! (VIDEO)
This title is used for a video from the YouTube channel Serbia Online, which was also published on January 30 and has over 11,000 views. The video states the following:
The German television channel N-TV published an article about President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Baltic shipyard and the construction of new Russian icebreakers, emphasizing the names “Leningrad” and “Stalingrad”. As N-TV notes, the Russian leader has high goals in the Arctic. The icebreaker fleet should strengthen the country’s capacities in the region.
“Russia, which has the largest fleet of icebreakers in the world, claims the right to mineral reserves in the Arctic”, the article states.
On Friday, Putin participated in the laying ceremony of Leningrad, the fifth serial universal nuclear icebreaker of project 2220. Stalingrad will be laid in 2025. As the Russian head of state pointed out, the powerful fleet of icebreakers is a huge competitive advantage for Russia in the world.
Project 2220 nuclear icebreakers with a power of 60 megawatts are the largest and most powerful in the world. Their length is 173 meters, width – 34 meters, displacement – 33.5 thousand tons, reports Informer.rs.
In the aforementioned video clip, there are no details about the “never seen before drama in Germany” nor which Putin’s sentence caused the “drama”, although this information was sensationally announced in the title.
On the web portal Informer, which is listed as a source, there is an almost identical text to the one read in the video, also published on January 30. The title of that article also suggests there is “drama in Germany”.
Drama in Germany! Putin’s message caused fear and panic! Look at how he named the new ships, everything is clear!
These texts refer to an article by N-TV, published on January 26. From the title of this article, it can be concluded that Informer’s statements about fear and panic in Germany are a free interpretation:
Icebreakers with big names
Putin is arming for the Arctic
Therefore, we rate the titles found on web portals Lajk and Informer, as well as the video clip from the YouTube channel Serbia Online, as clickbait.
“Terrible massacre”
On January 30, “Russian News” also published the following title:
TERRIBLE MASSACRE! Such a BRUTAL attack was never recorded at the front! The Russians DEMOLISHED the stronghold… (VIDEO)
From the text featured in the video on the Serbia Online YouTube channel, no information can be found about the scale of the massacre and the brutality of the attacks on the front that were announced in the title.
Tragedy in the trenches and ruins: the 247th Airborne Regiment destroys the fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the village of Verbove.
On the Zaporizhia Front, the paratroopers of the Stavropol Guard from the “Klen” battalion relentlessly continue with air attacks and offensive operations.
In the new footage, operators of the FPV (Photo Assault Airborne) forces destroy the fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, breaking the defence line. As a result of such attacks, armored groups and assault units launch a decisive attack, writes Informer.rs.
Informer’s article has an almost identical title. Again, even from the video itself, it is not possible to conclude anything about the scale of the massacre and the brutality of the attack.
What a massacre! This kind of attack has not yet been recorded on the front: the Russians demolished the stronghold of the Ukrainian army (VIDEO)
Since the articles do not contain information about the scale of the attack, which is presented as a massacre in the title, we rate the article titles of the web portals Lajk and Informer, as well as the name of the video from the YouTube channel Serbia Online, as clickbait.
Lightning-fast action – unknown location
Also on January 30, the web portal Lajk published a headline about a lightning-fast Russian action in which a very important target was hit.
THE SKY IS BURNING OVER UKRAINE! Lightning-fast action of the Russian “HURRICANES”! A VERY IMPORTANT target in Ukraine was hit! (VIDEO)
However, the YouTube video published in the article states that the location of the attack is unknown.
Powerful “hurricanes” hit the cluster of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
For now, the location of this attack is not known, and the Ukrainian side has not yet announced whether there are any victims or the amount of material damage. Let us remind you that the fighting on the Ukrainian front is going on in several directions, and in the previous period, the Russian army was constantly on the offensive.
The new multi-barrel missile system “Hurricane-1M” began to be transferred to the Special Military Operations zone. This model was demonstrated for the first time in 2020 at the military-technical forum “Army 2020”.
It is the modernized Soviet multi-barrel rocket launcher “Hurricane”, which was used in Afghanistan, reports Alo.
The title on the web portal Alo, which was covered in the video, states the following:
THE SKY IS BURNING OVER UKRAINE Russian “Hurricanes” in lightning-fast action, enemy cluster hit (VIDEO)
Accordingly, we rate the title on the web portal Like along with the name of the YouTube video as clickbait.
The man who opens the door to Europe for Putin?
On January 30, “Russian News” published a headline about the man who will “open the doors of Europe” to Putin.
TOTAL VICTORY AND TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF EVERYTHING! THIS MAN will open the doors of Europe to Putin?!-Lajk.rs (VIDEO)
The video from the article, with an identical title, does not bring the name promised in the title.
After the long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive failed and with the reduction of Western military support, there are now real fears that Vladimir Putin could win and destroy Europe, writes the Daily Mail.
A Russian victory would not only mean the destruction of Ukraine and its people, but it would be a disaster for the West and would overturn the global world order.
Indeed, a Russian victory against Ukraine would “undoubtedly” result in the collapse of NATO, “economic carnage” for the West and the rise of enemies including China, Iran and North Korea, retired US general Ben Hodges tells Mail Online.
The core of this is the fact that Russia and the Global South would see the Ukrainian defeat as a military loss for the West – it would show the world that NATO, led by the United States, is capable of sacrificing a European nation to avoid a nuclear conflict. Read more about it on the Blic web portal.
Only in the text of the web portal Blic, which was published on January 29 and was partially featured in the video, is it stated that this man is, in fact, Donald Trump.
We also rate these titles on the web portal Lajk and YouTube channel Srbija Online as clickbait.
“Kyiv is panicking”
The headline published on the same day in the “Russian News” section announced an “article” about Putin’s instilling fear and panic in Kyiv.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END! Putin instilled FEAR IN THEIR BONES! Disastrous news for Kyiv! Kyiv IS PANICKING-Lajk.rs (VIDEO)
The text featured in the video contains the following statements:
As the American magazine Military Watch writes, the American A-10 attack aircraft did not perform well as it was shot down several times by Iraqi short-range anti-aircraft defence systems.
The United States wants to avoid ruining the reputation of its weapons by carefully controlling where it is sent, and since the German Leopard 2 and British Challenger 2 tanks suffered heavy losses in Ukraine, the American M1 and Abrams tanks have not only been delivered much later than they were withdrawn and far from the front line, the paper states.
The authors of the text also point out that for the same reason, the USA delayed the decision to deliver F-16 fighters to Ukraine for a long time, Serbia Danas reports.
From the text featured in the video, it is not clear in what way Vladimir Putin “instilled fear in the bones”, since he is not even mentioned. The text is about the alleged American avoidance of ruining the reputation of its weapons, not about how “Kyiv is in a panic”.
Searching the web portal Srbija Danas, which is mentioned as a source in the video, we were unable to find these allegations, but they were published on Sputnik on January 28. Sputnik, on the other hand, did not mention any “panic in Kyiv” or “Putin’s instilling of fear” in the headline.
Following the above, we rate these titles of the web portal Like and YouTube channel Serbia Online as clickbait.