Thank you, maahs.deviantart.com
I’ve noticed an uptick in people hitting my site having searched for ‘Jed Sunden’ lately.
“Great,” I thought, “He’s back in the news.” So I did a ‘Google News’ search on Jed and came up with a surprising result. I think the story that’s prompting people to search for Jed is actually about someone else altogether: Zhanna Kobylinska.
Zhanna Kobylinska is a Ukraine-based PR pro who started her own blog in 2012; this is what Jed Sunden’s former asset, The Kyiv Post, says about Ms. Kobylinska’s new media project:
Editor’s Note: Kyiv public relations specialist Zhanna Kobylinska’s “Good News Ukraine” blog sticks to uplifting news and steers clear of controversy. Readers can send news items to Kobylinska at positiveukraine@gmail.com
The Kyiv Post lets Ms. Kobylinska write her own articles promoting her own blog which is called ‘Good News Ukraine‘. Tagline: “The greatest Ukraine’s treasure is people loving and respecting the country.”
Kobylinska’s biographic blurb states:
Kyiv resident Zhanna Kobylinska initiated the Ukrainian public project ‘Go Ukraine! Let’s Go!, which can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/positiveukraine/.
Zhanna Kobylinska’s avatar for her Kyiv Post series on rainbows and unicorns.
‘Good News Ukraine’ is filled with sunshine-y tidbits like international youth meet-ups, music news, and numbered lists about feel-good topics à la BuzzFeed. ‘Good News Ukraine’ reminds me of ZunZuneo, USAID’s political psy-op in Cuba, which aimed to worm its way into the Cuban public’s trust with feel-good, gossipy news stories and then surreptitiously insert anti-Havana political propaganda.
Is that what ‘Good News Ukraine’ is about too? A Ukraine-targeted ZunZuneo?
Ms. Kobylinska’s blog is getting press attention again for some reason– take this Swiss puff-piece, for example.
It’s not a good sign that The Kyiv Post, American agent Jed Sunden’s old baby, is giving Kobylinska a weekly microphone. But where does Ms. Kobylinska come from? What is her history?
I can’t definitively answer those questions, but I can tell you that the first reference I’ve found online about Zhanna Kobylinska comes from a blurb in The Kyiv Post on April 8th 2011: (You can click on it to make the text a little larger.)
From the April 8th 2011 Kyiv Post.
Note that Zhanna worked for the “SBU state security service of Ukraine” for ten years before she was a church spokesperson. Weird enough? The Embassy of God church in Kiev is supported by former mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, and appears to be a Christian Zionist organization judging by their press in CharismaNews.com. The church has been accused of having ties to organized crime.
Zhanna Kobylinska’s next *probable* appearance happened through a 2012 post on BYUkraine.com: a ‘Zhanna Kobylinska’ wrote this cheery piece about Easter eggs which is also great PR for the Ukraine.
BYUkraine.com is the address of ‘Blue and Yellow: Life in Ukraine’ and is run by a Brit called Ian Bearder. ‘Blue and Yellow’ provides internet content about Ukraine and was started in late 2011, about the same time Jed Sunden would have begun his latest Ukrainian internet content company, ‘Internet Investments’. (Jed Sunden has removed information about ‘Internet Investments’ from his LinkedIn page since I last wrote about him.)
Ukraine-minded Brit Ian Bearder.
When Ian Bearder isn’t running ‘Blue and Yellow’, he’s campaigning for a seat in the European Parliament! From his Facebook profile:
Ian Bearder is a Liberal Democrat candidate for the 2014 European elections. His unique European expertise and his strong commitment to regional development make him an excellent candidate for the South East region.
And…
Born in Hertford Heath in 1978, Ian grew up in Oxfordshire. After studying Software Engineering Management at Bournemouth University, he split his time between his work as an IT consultant and travel. Between 2003 and 2009 he visited all 49 European countries, an experience which sparked a deep interest in European affairs and international politics.
Ian has been a long-time Liberal Democrat campaigner, standing as a candidate in Oxford in 2004, 2006 and in 2008. For the past five years he has represented the UK Liberal Democrats at the annual pan-European Liberal Democrat (ELDR) party congress and is a co-opted member of the national European Liberal Democrats (LDEG) executive.
After completing a masters degree in European Politics in Hungary in 2009, Ian spent two years living and working as a broadcast journalist in Ukraine.
It should surprise no one that Mr. Bearder’s ‘Blue and Yellow’ site is extremely supportive of the Maidan revolution in Ukraine; Ian’s Facebook page is very critical of Putin.
Bearder’s “IT consultant” experience includes working for ERTICO, a partnership of big-name American and European multinationals:
ERTICO – ITS Europe represents the interests and expertise of around 100 Partners involved in providing Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS). It facilitates the safe, secure, clean, efficient and comfortable mobility of people and goods in Europe through the widespread deployment of ITS.
Here’s a list of ERTICO “partners”, which include companies like IBM.
Ian Bearder, the Brit who just happened to alight in Eastern Europe after a whirl-wind tour of the continent, is a creature of UKUSA. If his publication was an early sounding board for happy-smiley Zhanna Kobylinska, then we know what she is too.
Ian Bearder has one more *possible* connection to Jed Sunden. In late 2010, RosUkrEnergo co-owner Dmytro Firtash filed a libel lawsuit against The Kyiv Post which resulted in the website denying access to UK users for some time. An ‘Ian Bearder’ from Oxford wrote a letter to the editors of The Kyiv Post full of righteous indignation about Firtash’s actions and advice as to how The Kyiv Post should restore website access to UK readers. Read the full tirade here.
If our two Ian Bearders from Oxford are the same, they’ve been invested in The Kyiv Post’s agenda for some time.
I think it’s painfully obvious that Zhanna Kobylinska is backed by Jed Sunden’s patrons and The Kyiv Post’s creepy new owner, Mohammad Zahoor. I’ve provided circumstantial evidence that she’s connected to Ian Bearder and that Ian Bearder is aligned with Sunden/Zahoor. I suggest that these three are a pathetic troika of weak propagandists who are trying to pin a smiley face onto Anglo-American adventurism in the Ukraine.
Poor show.
P.S. For a little Saturday fun, check out this review of Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, which also speaks to US propaganda efforts across the globe! Attention James Clapper: you should get ‘GaryReviews’ to preview + approve your projects prior to the $$$. Best. Contractor. Ever. Will save billions on ‘hearts and minds’!
