I was looking back on some of the debates I had on DU regarding the Ukrainian crisis in 2014-15.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

One thing that stands out is that of all the posters at DU who insisted on pushing the official Kremlin line in terms of their talking points, almost all of them have stopped posting at DU.

A few of them were tombstoned, but the vast majority left voluntarily between May and July of 2016. It's uncanny how many stopped posting here at that time.

I'm not insinuating they were all Russian trolls (although a couple I have strong suspicions about), but it's odd how so many of those who were willing to prop up Putin's talking points here have now vanished from our midst.

[JTFrog]

1. Many of them went to JPR.

Following some long timer trolls.

And are still there.

And some of them are still here. But they don't get as many bites when they throw out the bait.

[DetlefK]

2. There was a guy I suspected of being a russian troll. He stopped posting Nov 7th 2016.

He joined DU in late 2015.

[Paula Sims]

3. That was a very painful time in my life

I am first generation Ukrainian, my Mother and her Family fled Stain's regime after betting a knock on the door to get ready for Siberia, my Father went to fight the Nazis and Russians. I am a proud Ukrainian.

During that 2014 period, when Ukraine was savagely invaded and lands stolen, my Father died. So dealing with that and the news was hard enough, but then coming to the DU and reading such horrible things was too much. I had to walk away.

So yes, I believe this lovely place was infiltrated and ultimately let to the break. Glad to see it's back to normal.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. Your family history sounds remarkably similar to mine.

Right now I'm in the middle of reading Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands. It's absolutely chilling what happened to Eastern Europe when two of the 20th Century's most horrendously brutal men decided to fight over the same land and what happened to the local populace because of it.

[Wounded Bear]

14. Yeah, there was little to like on either side of the Eastern Front of WWII...

[Coventina]

4. There were a few I'm convinced were on the Putin payroll.

Most of that group were just useful idiots.
I think that group left when we stopped treating their arguments as worthy of discussion.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. There was one who was simply just a nasty piece of work.

And who loved to talk bad about us behind our back on Twitter all while she tried to dupe DUers into heaping praise on her and turning herself into some sort of martyr.

I don't know if she was a member of the Putin payroll but she did have a disturbing admiring obsession with Putin that came out especially through her Twitter page.

[Coventina]

9. I know who you mean. I think she falls into the "useful idiot" camp.

I think her case was a mixture of having a pre-disposition to blame the US for the state of the world, and so was by default "pro-Russia."

Then, developed a genuine crush/obsession with Putin.

Of course, her constant diet of Russian media made sure she was always at a fever pitch of emotion.

I felt a little sorry for her, but I have to say, I don't miss her.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. Just throwing this out there:

Link to tweet

[Coventina]

12. Jeepers, well, maybe I have to rethink my position!

That's pretty.........damning.......

[dalton99a]

7. Putin's troll farms infiltrated all political forums to misinform and instigate

Clearly DU was on the list

[brooklynite]

8. They weren't trolls; They were "true believers" who went over to JPR

The "it's all the CIA's fault" arguments were exactly the same when any Venezuela story came up.

[snooper2]

11. It is the far left that hates anything "West"

So Maduro and Putin can do no bad...they are anti- West so they are good!

Really simple minding idiots...a lot at JPR now and a number tombstoned as their shitick was figured out like philoslayer douchebag....

[Coventina]

15. Holy Moley! That guy was finally tombstoned?

Darn! I'm so sorry I missed that!!!!

[malaise]

13. My line was simple

WTF was the US doing meddling on Russia's border.

As a non-aligned citizen of the world, I maintain that view.
On the other hand I have serious problems with Russia meddling in US elections.

What remains amazing me is how foreign policy and looting weaker countries destroys empires.

Let me add that I like rule of law.

[yallerdawg]

17. The US, among other nations, promised to defend...

this sovereign, independent nation in return for its massive nuclear disarmament.

Budapest Memorandums on Security Assurances, 1994

[Tommy_Carcetti]

18. Problem was, you had people insisting that Obama had paid $5 billion for a US "coup" in Ukraine.

And the only real evidence they were able to provide out of it was that a State Department official, Victoria Nuland, had visited Maidan protesters and handed out some food to them. And that later she once was recorded saying "Fuck the EU" in a conversation. That's basically the long and the short of it.

Believe me, any meddling that the US had undertaken in Ukrainian affairs was absolutely dwarfed by the amount of overt interference that Russia has had with Russia. Which is proven by the fact that they stole a huge chunk of Ukrainian territory in violation of international law and recognized treaties, and heavily destabilized further portions of Ukrainian land. And that it had run a Russian friendly Presidential candidate advised by Paul Manafort in the hopes of gaining closer relations with Russia, which sounds awfully, awfully familiar now.

[malaise]

19. That was never my position n/t

[Tommy_Carcetti]

21. I know.

And just for the record, I'm not placing you in the camp of people who shamelessly plugged for Putin.

[GliderGuider]

20. I've tried explaining that one can legitimately oppose ALL superpower meddling

But peoples' unexamined belief systems seem to prevent many from understanding that apparently basic truth.

For some, the fact that the US has interfered around the world somehow makes the defense against Russian interference illegitimate. That just doesn't make any sense to me.

[malaise]

22. Some folks have no core beliefs or convictions

Their side is always right.
I object to all superpower interference. I lived it.

[FSogol]

16. I was recently searching for something and came across a thread early in the primaries where I said

something about O'Malley and was accused of being a HRC supporter(?) whose was trying to destroy Sander's chances. About 3/4 of the people in the thread have been PPR'ed or have not accepted the new terms and everyone who attacked me is gone.

There was a lot of serious trollery going on here. It was probably just a combination of regular trolls, some Russian troublemakers, GOP Opposition Research (like You Better Believe It and his new names), and just some conservative fuckwits.