Patrick Lancaster is an American former member of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

turned

vlogger A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...

podcaster A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...

and

influencer A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...

. Although described as pro-

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

, Lancaster has been referred to as a

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

, with his videos covering the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

while apparently attempting to spread

Russian propaganda The propaganda of the Russian Federation promotes views, perceptions or agendas of the government. The media include state-run outlets and online technologies, and may involve using "Soviet-style 'active measures' as an element of modern Russi ...

regularly revealing compromising Russian military information, which has been successfully used against Russia by Ukrainian forces, Western

intelligence agencies An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of inf ...

, and

Western media Western media is the mass media of the Western world. During the Cold War, Western media contrasted with Soviet media. Western media has gradually expanded into developing countries (often, non-Western countries) around the world. History T ...

. Lancaster is known for filming staged scenes in his videos and attempting to pass them off as real, and has often been called a fake master (maker of staged videos). Lancaster's videos have also both promoted and caused internal conflict in Russia. In addition, Lancaster has been called a 'provocateur', and accused of stealing

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

intended for

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

Biography

Early life and US Navy

Lancaster is originally from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

.Martin Fornusek
Meet the foreign journalists promoting Russia’s war propaganda
2022/09/01 From 2001 to 2006 he was a sailor in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

specializing as a

cryptologic technician Cryptologic technician (CT) is a United States Navy enlisted rating or job specialty. The CT community performs a wide range of tasks in support of the national intelligence-gathering effort, with an emphasis on cryptology and signal intell ...

and rising to the rank of

petty officer third class A Petty officer third class is a non-commissioned officer in some navies and coast guards. By country United States Petty officer third class is the fourth enlisted rank in the United States Navy, U.S. Navy and the United States Coast Guard, ...

. He sailed on the

USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) USS ''Kitty Hawk'' (CV-63), formerly CVA-63, was a United States Navy supercarrier. She was the second naval ship named after Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the Wright brothers' first powered airplane flight. ''Kitty Hawk'' was the fi ...

from 2002 to 2006.

Ukraine and Russia

According to Lancaster, he arrived in Ukraine in March 2014 to cover the aftermath of the

Maidan revolution The Revolution of Dignity (), also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capit ...

, settling in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

later that year after meeting the woman who would become his wife. In the early days of the

War in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

, Lancaster worked for several

-backed media outlets, including RT and Zvezda. From 2014-15 in Donbas, Lancaster worked as a cameraman for British journalist Graham Phillips. Writing of Lancaster in 2022, Phillips stated he is an “illiterate, grifting charlatan, with a journalistic acumen and ability lower than a potted plant.” In 2025 Phillips accused Lancaster of having stolen humanitarian aid intended for Donbas. From 2015 on, Lancaster has primarily created videos for his own YouTube channel. Lancaster's videos apparently attempt to promote

, yet they have purportedly repeatedly exposed information of

Russian war crimes Russian war crimes are violations of international criminal law including war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide which the official armed and paramilitary forces of Russia have committed or been accused of committing sinc ...

, revealing locations, identities of perpetrators, and sensitive Russian military information. In the early days of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group (film and TV production); Vice TV (a joint venture with A&E Networks, also known as Vicelan ...

and

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

described him as the most popular of the pro-Kremlin influencers spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Despite this, in his videos, Lancaster refers to the Donbas,

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

, and

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

regions under Russian occupation as being 'part of Ukraine'. Lancaster's videos from Ukraine gained considerable attention until July 2022, when Lancaster's output became sporadic, he then left Ukraine for an extended period, occasionally posting videos from

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. In October 2022, Lancaster returned to Ukraine, posting videos to his YouTube channel, and doing podcasts and interviews. In June of 2023, Lancaster did a video report from

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

, where he expressed his support for the

Wagner Group rebellion On 23 June 2023, the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, staged an uprising against the Russia under Vladimir Putin, Russian government. It marked the climax of the Wagner Group–Russian Ministry of Defence conflict, Wagner Grou ...

against the Russian Government taking place at that time. Lancaster continued blogging from Russia, and

Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine The Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine are areas of southern and eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the ongoing invasion. In Ukrainian law, they are defined as the "temporarily occu ...

in July, and August of 2023, before returning to Armenia in September for an extended period. In late 2024, Lancaster went to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

to do videos on the protests there. In the Kursk region in March 2025, in the context of the

Kursk offensive (2024–2025) On 6 August 2024, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, part of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched an incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast and clashed with the Russian Armed Forces and Russian border guard. A stat ...

, Lancaster recorded a video which sparked a conflict in Russia between prominent Russian tv presenter Vladimir Solovyov and representatives of the

Chechen Republic Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and share ...

in Russia. Lancaster's videos from Russia's Kursk region also showed local residents speaking positively about the

Ukrainian army The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...

. In late April 2025, Lancaster gave an interview to

Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American conservative political commentator who hosted the nightly political talk show '' Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. Since his contract with Fox News was term ...

where he dismissed claims of North Korean troops in Russia, stating that he had not found them 'not for the lack of trying'. However shortly after, both North Korea and Russia confirmed that North Korean troops had indeed been deployed in Russia.

MH17

Lancaster has created and published multiple videos connected to the tragedy of

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian-backed forces with a Buk missile system, Bu ...

, and has received strong criticism for his actions in relation to MH17. In 2017 Lancaster claimed to have found skeletal remains of victims of the shoot-down of MH17 and pieces of the wreckage which he, after a request from the

Joint Investigation Team Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) are law enforcement and judicial teams set up jointly by national investigative agencies of European Union (EU) member states to handle cross-border crime. Joint investigation teams coordinate the investigations and p ...

, turned over to the local mayor with the request to transport them to The Netherlands. After investigation by the

Netherlands Forensic Institute The Netherlands Forensic Institute (Dutch ''Nederlands Forensisch Instituut'') is the national forensics institute of the Netherlands, located in the Ypenburg quarter of The Hague. It is a agency of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security and ...

the remains were found to contain remnants of 7 passengers, 4 of whom were Dutch. Lancaster has been criticised for making propaganda out of the tragedy, insensitivity towards victims, and exploitation of the tragedy for personal gain. The Dutch authorities have repeatedly urged Lancaster to turn over all his findings, but he has yet to do so.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Over the years, Lancaster has sporadically done videos on the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...

for his YouTube channel. Lancaster has been accused of producing

fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

and staged videos on the conflict.

Notes