One of the main organizers and participants of Russia’s information war against Ukraine, Vyshinsky, has died in Russia: Portnikov makes a statement
23 August 2025 13:01
Kirill Vyshinsky, executive director of the Rossiya Segodnya news agency, one of the main organizers and participants in Russia’s information war against Ukraine, a loyal ally of the furious Dmitry Kiselev and former classmate at the University of Dnipro, Vitaly Portnikov, has died in Moscow.
This was reported by journalist and public figure Vitaliy Portnikov on his Facebook page, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“It was me who suggested that Kyrylo pursue journalism in his first year of studying philology. Together, we conducted interviews with famous actors and singers who came to Dnipro and published them in our university newspaper. We continued to communicate-by correspondence-when Kyrylo was mobilized and after he returned from the army. But I was transferred to Moscow, while Vyshynsky remained in Dnipro. Over the years, we saw each other in Kyiv. I could say that he was a completely different person, but that would not be very honest. It’s just that when we met, there was no politics around us. And when we met again, it was political views that determined our worldview,” Vitaliy Portnikov said in his post.
“Therefore, I will not look for the moment when Kirill “changed”. Many may believe that this happened under the influence of Dmitry Kiselyov, who was working in Kyiv at the time. But I am sure that both ‘journalists’ were not just journalists even then,” he added.
According to Portnikov, the moment when Kirill met with those who offered him cooperation will be known only from Moscow archives, if at all.
“We can, of course, think that it happened during his service in the army. But Ihor Lapotenok, the future director of the propaganda film Ukraine on Fire and producer of Oliver Stone, studied next to us, only in the physical education department. Ihor did not serve in the army, but he began to hold similar “views”. And if you look closely at the biographies of both friends of my youth, it is easy to see not so much ideological zeal as the lack of independence of actions that cannot be rid of, this terrible shadow of Moscow,” he emphasized.
“That is why Kirill’s desecrated life and early death is a reminder to all those who still believe in the effectiveness of dealing with their own conscience or are convinced that the absence of such a conscience guarantees a happy, successful life. It doesn’t. Undercover agent activity guarantees you nothing – especially when the price is betrayal of the Motherland,” Portnikov summarized.
As a reminder, journalist and executive director of the Rossiya Segodnya media group Kirill Vyshinsky died in Moscow.
