Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Lokalkosmopolit/Archive

Lokalkosmopolit (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

Suspected sockpuppets

• Patriot Donbassa (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

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User:Patriot Donbassa is a brand new account, created May 23, which immediately began editing articles related to the conflict in Ukraine ((2014 Ukrainian revolution) in a WP:BATTLEGROUND manner (note, even the username is battleground-y). Lokalkosmopolit edited the same articles, with the same POV, before they were blocked, then indeffed banned [1]. It's obvious Patriot Donbassa is not a new user. In their first ten edits they visited Wikipedia:Edit_filter/False_positives/Reports [2] to get some edit of theirs which didn't pass the filter (even guessed a plausible reason for it!), mentioned "pov pushing" [3] (i.e. well aware of and using Wikipedia lingo) and referenced "Wikiquette" [4].

Additionally, in this edit summary Patriot Donbassa quotes Goethe's "Sorcerer's Apprentice". This is a thinly veiled reference to the fact that the two users in dispute on that article have known each other on Wikipedia for a long time (one cannot "control" the spirits they unleashed). Hence, Patriot Donbassa is very very familiar with esoteric Wikipedia history. And in this comment [5] Patriot Donbassa says "Shall you discuss the issue on Gadu-Gadu? ". This is also a thinly veiled reference to little known Wikipedia history - it refers to an ArbCom case from 2007 (!) or so, where some users made the allegation that Piotrus (the user being falsely reported here) was using "Gadu-gadu" (Polish IRC) to discuss Wikipedia matters.

There's no way in heck this is a newbie.

The rhetorical style of the two accounts is the same. Additionally both accounts claimed knowledge of both Russian and German (Lokalkosmopolit: [6] [7], Patriot Donbassa [8], [9] (in edit summary)).

And on top of that Patriot Donbassa was able to pull out a diff by Lokalkosmopolit almotst LITERALLY like a needle from a haystack [[10]] in just a few minutes. How would he find this diff? Unlike the other diffs he's providing this wasn't a noticeboard discussion (and it's a good question how he found those so quickly). I guess he could've looked through my edits, somehow found me replying to Lokalkosmopolit, and then decided to check the initial edit by Lokalkosmopolit out of curiosity, but... I've made hundreds of edits since then and there's no obvious reason how he would have and could have found that one particular edit (by a different user!) out of hundreds so quickly. In a similar manner, Patriot Donbassa noticed within seconds that I made an edit which reverted a particular edit of Lokalkosmopolit [11] (which he refers to as "a constructive edit of a now banned editor") suggesting he's already got that article watchlisted.

There's also other behavioral evidence. Both Lokalkosmopolit and Patriot Donbassa, in addition to sharing a particular POV on articles related to the Ukrainian conflict, also have an interest in European "far-right" politicians and parties - although they both edit(ed) to change the "far-right" designation to stuff like "nationalist", as well as sorting out which of these are "statist" and which are "liberterian". Lokalkosmopolit: detailed comment on how political affiliation should be put into infobox, "EDL is not far right", change "right wing" to "nationalist" for Russian politicians and a ton of other similar. Patriot Donbassa: change "far-right" to "pro-Russian", change "extreme right wing" to "ultra-nationalist"

Given the references made by Patriot Donbassa to very old, obscure, Wikipedia history it's obvious that they go way back and they're mostly a sock of a banned account which edited before Lokalkosmopolit. Hence Lokalkosmopolit was most likely a sockpuppet himself (most likely of topic banned User:Estlandia, who shared the exact same interests with these two, but I believe that account is stale now) Volunteer Marek (talk) 13:58, 1 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Bbb23, the behavioral evidence includes Patriot Donbassa's ability to find a very obscure diff - seemingly by magic - of a comment by Lokalkosmopolit left on an article's talk page months ago, both user accounts making the (false) allegation that reverts of their contributions constitute "revenge reverting", the fact that they share the same POV on 2014 Ukrainian revolution ([12]), that both accounts claim fluency in both Russian and German, and that both accounts go around changing "far-right" or "extreme-right" to "nationalist" in certain parties' and politicians' infoboxes (this is also the main similarity with User:Estlandia, along with Lokalkosmopolit's anti-Islam edits). I think the first one of these is the smoking gun give away, the rest support the connection.

Here is another piece of evidence. Patriot Donbassa and Lokalkosmopolit share an interest in Alexander Prokhanov, a Russian politician and writer, and his far-right (which Patriot Donbassa changed to "ultranationalist") and anti-semitic publication Zavtra. Here is Patriot Donabassa on English Wiki [13]). Here is Lokalkosmopolit on Russian Wikipedia [14]. This is a pretty narrow and obscure topic and it's unlikely that it would be shared among two random editors, especially ones which look so similar in other respects.Volunteer Marek (talk) 15:58, 2 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I also find it curious that in his comment below Patriot Donbassa does not even bother to argue (not really) against the notion that he's Lokalkosmopolit but rather starts arguing that ... Lokalkosmopolit is not Estlandia's sock puppet. If someone says "X is a sockpuppet of Y, and Y might be a sockpuppet of Z" and then X shows up and says "no, no, no, Y is not a sockpuppet of Z!" that's just strange. I guess if you want to protect the master account or something, or maybe genuine outrage at having your sockpuppetry misattributed...Volunteer Marek (talk) 16:02, 2 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't file an SPI for Estlandia and Lokalkosmopolit. I filed an SPI on Lokalkosmopolit and Patriot Donbassa. It's strange that you seem so intent on arguing about the former (which I said is only a possible connection).Volunteer Marek (talk) 18:19, 2 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

That's an interesting case. Wouldn't it have been common courtesy for mr Marek to inform me of the request at my talk page? A few questions: if I am Lokalkosmopolit and Lokalkosmopolit in turn is ″most likely a sockpuppet himself″ of Estlandia, then how come Lokalkosmopolit joined Wikipedia earlier than Estlandia? Other things are questionable, too, though not so outrageous. I've never edited anything remotely related to European 'far-right' parties apart from the few Russian ultranationalist ones. As for this Alksnis where I agreed Lokalkosmopolit's editing was constructive and Marek's was not, it's dishonest to claim he or me ″edit(ed) to change the "far-right" designation to stuff like "nationalist"″ where misleading 'right-wing' was changed into more descriptive 'ultranationalist' (comparison for Marek: Samoobrona can be seen as 'ultranationalist', but it's misleading to describe it simply as 'right-wing'. The case is comparable. You don't have to be a political scientist to know that. I am, Marek surely isn't. And if you don't understand elementary things like that, do not edit war in politics topics. Try e.g. Pokemon instead. In fact, despite his excellent command of English, I highly doubt he even has higher education at all. The way he behaves here. Donbass Patriot Man (talk) 14:30, 1 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Second comment by Patriot Donbassa - just noticed Bbb23's query at Seewolf's talk on DE-Wikipedia. It seems that not only am I a sock puppet by Estlandia, but also of a certain Boris F. from Karlsruhe:

It is pretty obviously Boris f., some of his ranges (Vodafone DSL, located near Karlsruhe) are documented here. --Seewolf (Diskussion) 10:56, 2. Jun. 2014 (CEST)

[15]

Lol. ″Pretty obviously″ a sock. Am I a centipede? Mr. Seewolf seems to be an important functionary of German Wikipedia. He believes to have the right to permaban an editor after a single (!) edit. And then justify this with absurd nonsense (I don't live even remotely close to Germany). If anything is ″pretty obvious″, then that is the fact that mr Seewolf should be desysoped for abuse of admin privileges. Sooner, rather than later. Donbass Patriot Man (talk) 15:48, 2 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Third comment re Bbc23's comment here. You are a Wiki functionary, I'm not. It's kinda surprising then that according to the data available thru Wikipedia tools I checked you seem to have got it wrong. Lokalkosmopolit registered before Estlandia [16], [17]. It may be some kind of despicable conspiracy planned well in advance, though, involving all these people or accounts and maybe falsifications of those wiki widgets. Plus this Boris, too, of course. Donbass Patriot Man (talk) 15:59, 2 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Fourth comment re Volunteer Marek's new comments. Do you have some axe to grind with Lokal and Estlandia? I could understand the problem with the first one (he dared to disagree with your POV crusade concerning Ukraine only a couple of months ago), but the latter seems to have left the project half a year ago. Is he some kind of Shaytan of yours?
You claim: ″go around changing "far-right" or "extreme-right" to "nationalist" in certain parties' and politicians' infoboxes (this is also the main similarity with User:Estlandia.″ Where are the diffs showing that? Where has Estlandia ever changed far-right into nationalist in an infobox? What about Lokal? How often did it happen, given that both had really lots of edits? The fun thing is that by adding all kinds of conspiratorial stuff you are essentially sabotaging your own request. Donbass Patriot Man (talk) 18:10, 2 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

  Clerk note:. Just a quick correction. Estlandia created an account in 2008, whereas Lokalkosmopolit did so in 2010. Therefore, contrary to Patriot Donbassa's assertion, Estlandia is the older account.--Bbb23 (talk) 16:40, 1 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Volunteer Marek, even without all the diffs, I get the fact that Patriot Donbassa knows his way around wikipedia. That's obvious. However, I don't see a lot of evidence connecting PD with the alleged master. For example, you say their "rhetorical style" is the same. Behavioral evidence can be compelling, but your only support for that asseertion is that they both speak Russian and German. That could be said for a lot of editors and has little to do with style. You say the two accounts edited the same articles but provide no information as to the articles or the edits themselves.--Bbb23 (talk) 16:46, 1 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• I don't know Bbb--I think Marek makes a pretty decent case, and that spiel involving the Lokal edit referred to as "constructive by now-banned editor" is pretty suggestive. I'd give CU a chance here. Drmies (talk) 20:27, 1 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• I've indefinitely blocked Patriot Donbassa for disruptive editing and not being here to build an encyclopedia. I will independently pursue the issue of whether he is a sock puppet and, if so, who is the master.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:59, 2 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Freisinniger Demokrat (talk · contribs), Danish Infidel (talk · contribs), Put up more flags! (talk · contribs), and Patriot Donbassa (talk · contribs) are all   Confirmed as Lokalkosmopolit (talk · contribs). All of the accounts have been blocked, but it may be helpful to tag them in order to make an explicit connection to the master.--Jezebel'sPonyo^{bons mots} 22:32, 3 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Happy to be proven wrong. Thanks, Ponyo and Jpgordon. Tagged and closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:42, 3 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Suspected sockpuppets

• Advice Polack (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

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The following has been cut and pasted from this malformed report:

User:Advice Polack, [18], aside from the purposefully obnoxious and offensive username looks like a pretty obvious match to User:Lokalkosmopolit and their sock User:Patriot Donbassa. Both edited the New Russia Party article, pretty much in the same way [19], same interest in non-mainstream European political parties [20] [21]. The account also engages in the same trolling behavior as the previous two accounts, for example here.

Also, I don't know what the relation of this account User:Ksiądz Tadeusz [22] is - Advice Polack removed his comment from his talk page [23] [24] with edit summary erased troll post, which is true enough, KT was trolling AP. I'm guessing this is two people who know each other off-Wiki messing around with each other and others. Volunteer Marek  18:53, 17 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have added it here so that the confirmed socks can be added to this report and it can be archived properly. Jezebel'sPonyo^{bons mots} 20:05, 17 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Response from accused party has been cut and pasted from this malformed report:

Please forgive me my child. I will pray to Our Lady for forgiveness too. It was only a little wisful thinking that caused me to make those contribution and register those socks. The blessings of the Almighty to you and yours. +++ Patriot Donbassa aka Advice Polack (talk) 19:00, 17 September 2014 (UTC)][reply]

I have cut and pasted it here so that the report can be properly archived.--Jezebel'sPonyo^{bons mots} 20:08, 17 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Advice Polack (talk · contribs) and Ksiądz Tadeusz (talk · contribs) are both   Confirmed and have been blocked and tagged.--Jezebel'sPonyo^{bons mots} 20:10, 17 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Suspected sockpuppets

• Phil070707 (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

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Basically as evidence I just need to repeat pretty much what I said in the last Lokalkosmopolit SPI, for the User:Patriot Donbassa sock [25] as well as the ones for User:Advice Polack. The pattern is exactly the same. It's a loud quackin' duck. Let's go through the checklist (some of the diffs are repeated because they illustrate different aspects of the same pattern):

• Newly created account: yup, less than 20 days ago [26]
• Interest in European political parties, especially those which are somewhat fringe: yup, [27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32]
• Arguing over and changing political labels for parties: yup, [33], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38]
• Arguing over whether extremist Russian parties are "far-right" or "far-left", removing sourced information: yup, [39], [40], [41], [42] (compare these to the edits by the sock Patriot Donbassa [43]) and more. Or compare this comment about Alexander Prokhanov to this edit (and related ones) by the Patriot Donbassa sock; same thing.
• Interest in obscure fringe Polish nationalist parties (see the User:Advice Polack sock puppet account): yup, [44], [45]
• Jumping into arguments over the Ukrainian-Russian conflict with exactly same POV as Lokalkosmopolit/Patriot Donbassa, and with the same type of arguments: yup, [46], [47], [48], etc.

That's in terms of topic overlap - please check the archived cases for Lokalkosmopolit and the other socks. If you look at the archived SPIs these are EXACTLY the same interests/topics that Lokalkosmopolit and their socks devoted themselves to: European political parties, especially fringe ones, the labeling of parties' ideologies based on the user's own OR, arguments over how to describe Russian nationalist parties, obscure Polish nationalist parties and disruptive participation in discussions about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. You know, one or two out of five would make me suspicious, but this is like a quintafecta (or whatever you call it).

Oh wait, one more. Arguing over "islamization" and whether parties where "islamist". Here's Lokalkosmopolit: [49], [50], [51]. Here's Phil070707: [52], [53]. Apparantly in their incarnation as Phil070707 Lokalkosmopolit hasn't had the chance to really develop this aspect of his interests.

In terms of tone and style, first note the personal attacks, insults and belligerence of the the other accounts:

• Lokalkosmopolit: [54]
• Patriot Donbassa sock: [55]

Here is Phil070707 making similar kinds of personal attacks:

• [56] [57]. Same tone, same style.

Also, best as I can tell, prior to comments made by User:Toddy1 on AN/3RR yesterday, Phil070707 had no prior interactions with Toddy1. Yet, in that report they talk about Toddy1 as if they knew him well [58]. Why? Well, because at least two of Lokalkosmopolit's socks had a run in with Toddy1 previously: [59], [60] and [61], [62].

Basically, this duck is quacking so loudly that a check user is not even needed. However, looking at some of the articles that this sockmaster frequently edits, in particular Novorossiya_(confederation) and Rodina_(political_party), it looks like there's quite likely a few more accounts around. Note that previously, Lokalkosmopolit used several socks simultaneously. Volunteer Marek (talk) 20:19, 23 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Based on diffs provided, it appears highly likely that User:Phil070707 is the same as User:Patriot Donbassa and User:Advice Polack. Should this new account by the same person be blocked since it was used for edit warring on the same or similar pages? My very best wishes (talk) 02:37, 24 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

  Clerk note: As far as I can tell, Volunteer Marek, there is no account to run a CU against, so I have declined the CU request. I didn't review all the contributions of all the blocked accounts, so if there is an account that contributed more recently (e.g., to their Talk page), please let me know. It has to be within the last 90 days.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:43, 23 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I've indeffed and tagged the account, partly based on VM's evidence and partly based on my poking around on my own (it would have been helpful if VM had included more comparison diffs - he did so in a couple of spots, but most of the diffs were just of the puppet with the implication that I needed to look at the history myself). My poking confirmed that stylistically the new puppet is similar to the master and the confirmed puppets. It also confirmed the obvious similarity in interests, the combativeness, the mockery of other editors, and the obvious fact that the puppet is not new to Wikipedia (I know he claimed he had been editing as an IP before creating the account, but ...). One rather unusual detail that I will highlight: this edit by Patriot Donbassa that has the word "su8bject" in the text and this edit by Phil that has the word "u8nsourced" in the edit summary. I realize that the u and the 8 are close on a keyboard, but I've never seen that particular slip by anyone before.

As for sleepers, if VM believes that other editors are puppets based on the contribution history of two articles, he needs to present evidence of that, not just call for a sleeper check. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 05:16, 24 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Suspected sockpuppets

• Mondschein English (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
• Звонок Путину (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

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User:Lokalkosmopolit and his confirmed puppet User:Patriot Donbassa have strong interest to 2014–15 Russian military intervention in Ukraine and Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. So does User:Mondschein English and User:Звонок Путину. All four share an obsession with User:Volunteer Marek up to the point that Mondschein English asks him quite personal questions closing to outing, note that User:Volunteer Marek was instrumental in filling sockpuppet reports about User:Lokalkosmopolit. I have also noticed that some sockpuppets of Mondschein English as the first edit start their userpage with a greeting on their supposedly native language, e.g. First edit of Patriot Donbassa, First edit of Advice Polack. The same pattern is here the third edit of Mondschein_English, Second edit of Звонок Путину. Alex Bakharev (talk) 09:29, 11 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• Spacemonks (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

Sleeper account Spacemonks whose only previous edits were three in March 2009, has reappeared to support Mondschein English in Talk:2014–15 Russian military intervention in Ukraine

• Mondschein English 12:45, 10 June 2015 says "This article is mostly propaganda. No wonder English Wikipedia has a horrible reputation. Some say it is because NSA agents control the most sensitive articles."
• Spacemonks 20:24, 11 June 2015 says "gree about this page, its desinformation from whole press agences (usa, ukranian, russian) rewriten into a wikipedia to learn ? Learn what a lies?. I dont want to learn or read a lies . And about NSA agents - USA have insiders , Russia have it, china have it. Its a informations wars. Its normal. Everyone in 2015 know that wikipedia is not the ultimate first source of information for the true "

Note this tactic of using sock accounts to provide the illusion of several people supporting an account was also used by the Mondschein English and Звонок Путину accounts in the article on Black Sun (occult symbol) on 10-11 September 2014.-- Toddy1 (talk) 07:14, 12 June 2015 (UTC) -- Toddy1 (talk) 07:14, 12 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

So, basically, if User A does not like User B, when User B makes a statement, User A can create a sock account that agrees with User B, that way making it look like User B created a sockpuppet to have it agree with him/herself... I wonder if this might have happened with Volunteer Marek (User A) and me (User B). IP addresses will prove my innocence, but will they also maybe prove Marek's guilt? Can y'all investigate into that? Because I have been receiving a lot of unsolicited help from people I have never even talked with... --Mondschein English (talk) 16:14, 14 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Звонок Путину and Abdurrahman Muslim are both indefinitely blocked. Whether they are socks of Lokalkosmopolit is not going to make much difference.

However there is good reason to think that Special:Contributions/Mondschein English may be the same person as Звонок Путину. The main activity of the Звонок Путину account was to support Mondschein English in an edit war over the article on Black Sun (occult symbol):

1. Mondschein English 18:06, 10 September 2014 introduced paragraphs claiming that the Black Sun is a Nazi symbol used by Ukrainian soldiers loyal to the government in Kiev.
2. Mondschein English 21:29, 10 September 2014 reverts Volunteer Marek's deletion of the paragraphs
3. Mondschein English 08:11, 11 September 2014 reverts Volunteer Marek's deletion of one of the paragraphs
4. Звонок Путину 16:09, 11 September 2014 reverts Volunteer Marek's deletion of one of the paragraphs. This edit is needed to create the illusion of support for Mondschein English.
5. Звонок Путину 17:01, 11 September 2014 reverts Darkness Shines's deletion of one of the paragraphs.
6. Mondschein English 17:43, 11 September 2014 reverts Darkness Shines's deletion of one of the paragraphs. Note the misleading edit summary by Mondschein English.

• 20:30, 11 September 2014 Jpgordon (talk | contribs) blocked Звонок Путину (talk | contribs) with an expiry time of indefinite (account creation blocked) (Abusing multiple accounts: User:Abdurrahman Muslim)

Note that Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Abdurrahman Muslim was never created.-- Toddy1 (talk) 20:16, 11 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Vanjagenije - Lokalkosmopolit's editing interest were/are fascism, European political parties, Ukraine-Russia conflict and anti-Islam. That fits with Abdurrahman Muslim. His sarcastic/trolling style - where he pretends to genuinely support what he really opposes but in a over the top, exaggerated manner so as to ridicule it - also fits in with both Abdurrahman Muslim and Mondschein English (again, not the trolling on my talk page [63]).Volunteer Marek (talk) 07:23, 12 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I will keep it very brief: Marek trolled my page first and accused me of being a sockpuppet and a troll. Check the dates. I am ready to bet any amount of money that I have no connection to any of the contributors listed here. --Mondschein English (talk) 20:32, 12 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know if the user in question is a sockpuppet or not, but the fact that part of Ukrainian forces are using Nazi symbolism is a reliably sourced information(which recently was even condemned in US House of Representatives) and pointing this in an article is no indication of sock-puppetry, nor should be ground for removal of this information.--MyMoloboaccount (talk) 22:45, 13 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No, MyMoloboaccount, please desist with using this a venue for content disputes you're involved in as regards the use of 'Nazi symbolism'. Volunteer Marek has not lodged this SPI over a single instance, but as the result of patterns in behaviour displayed by Mondschein English pre-dating your personal interest in this user. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 05:39, 21 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• I was notified, today June 20th, 2015, on my talk page that there is a "sockpuppetry" investigation against me... Is there a new one or is it still this one, i.e. about Lokalkosmopolit (not lokomotiv apparently)? Confused regards, --Mondschein English (talk) 22:40, 20 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Are y'all getting anywhere with this? Because to be accused of being the sock puppet of a white supremacist is insulting beyond belief for someone like me who has relatives who got taken to Auschwitz by the Nazi scum. So, either y'all come up with something incriminating or y'all come up with a nicely written apology. Ticked off regards, --Mondschein English (talk) 17:15, 2 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• It is quite probable that Abdurrahman is also a sock of Lokalkosmopolit. See comments by Volunteer Marek above. Alex Bakharev (talk)

•   Clerk note: @Alex Bakharev: Звонок Путину was CU confirmed as a sockpuppet of Abdurrahman Muslim. Do you think that Abdurrahman is also a sock of Lokalkosmopolit? Please, try to explain more precisely the connection between Звонок Путину and Lokalkosmopolit. Vanjagenije (talk) 10:32, 11 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• As far as the relation between Mondschein English and Spacemonks, it's   Possible. While the checkuser data for most of the other accounts is stale, the relation of these two accounts to the named master account and socks is in the realm of   Possible. There's a small, but consistent element amongst the accounts. However, making a link through behavioral evidence would be preferable. Mike V • Talk 23:38, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
•   Administrator note The behavioral evidence is inconclusive at best, especially when taking note of the different communication style/language usage between Mondschein English and Spacemonks. Closing with no action. —Darkwind (talk) 04:25, 8 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Suspected sockpuppets

• Dorpater (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

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The account User:Dorpater has a very close overlap with that of User:Lokalkosmopolit, who has been sock puppeting fairly regularly ever since their indef ban in April 2014. Lokalksomopolit had 3 main areas of interest: the description of European political parties (for example, whether they should be classified as "far right" or "extreme right" or "centre-right" or some such etc) particularly fringe and far-right ones, Islam and the West, and the Russian intervention in Ukraine (extended to other Russia related topics). These are exactly the same topic areas that User:Dorpater has edited. If it was just one of these maybe I wouldn't be sure, but all three cannot be a coincidence. Furthermore, at least one of these areas, the descriptions of European political parties, is pretty narrow and pedantic - it's very unlikely that any person other than Lokalkosmopolit would devote themselves to such miniutae. If there is a fourth topic area for BOTH accounts it can be roughly described as "following Volunteer Marek around Wikipedia and inserting themselves into any kind of discussions they're involved in to cause drama". Here are the diffs:

Descriptions of European political parties/interest in European fringe/small political parties

For Dorpater

• [64], [65], [66], [67], [68], [69] (non-European but same idea), [70], [71], [72], [73], [74], [75], [76], [77], ... and so on and so forth

For Lokalkosmopolit

• First, see the comments and diffs in previous SPI from June 2014 for User:PatriotDonbassa, one of Lokalkosmopolit's socks [78]. In particular these diffs [79], [80], [81], [82]. While these are different articles the topic and the nature of the edits are exactly the same as what Dorpater has been doing.
• Also see the comments and diffs in the Sept 17 SPI for another of Lokal's socks, AdvicePolack [83]. In particular these diffs [84], [85]. Again, doing the same thing Dorpater is doing.
• Then there's the March 2015 SPI for yet another of Lokal's socks [86]. Here are the relevant diffs [87], [88], [89], [90], [91] and ton others.

The above establishes that Lokalkosmopolit, before he was banned (for harassment, incivility, POV pushing etc), made a lot edits which changed the political description of (mostly) European political parties. These are fairly pedantic changes, like changing "centrist" to "centre-left" or "far-right" to "nationalist". After getting banned, they continued to do make edits of exactly the same nature with their sock puppets, until these were caught, at which point, Lokal would move on to the next sock puppet. The above also shows that the account Dorpater is making exactly the same kind of edits, which shows pretty conclusively that this is just the latest in a series of Lokalkosmopolitan's socks.

• Ok, but I know what you're saying. That's pretty convincing, but is there a "smoking gun". Sure. Here:

Dorpater: [92]

Previous Lokalkosmopolit sock puppet AdvicePolack: [93]

Previous Lokalkosmopolit sock puppet Patriot Donbassa: [94] (and several other instances)

So Lokalkosmopolit has used (at least) two previous sockpuppets to make essentially the same edit and has now come back to restart the same edit war with his latest sockpuppet account Dorpater. Since this edit makes it so obvious that Dorpater is AdvicePolack is PatriotDonbassa is Lokalkosmopolit I think what happened here is that Lokal/Dorpater realized that he was about to be reported for sockpuppetry (I mentioned it to the Dorpater account) so he figured he might as well get his reverts in before being caught.

But that's not all.

Eastern European politics and Russia

The second area of interest for both Lokalkosmopolit and Dorpater is Eastern-European politics, in particular Russia and its neighbors. For the previous accounts - Lokalkosmopolit and his previous socks - I will just refer you to the previous SPI reports as linked above since these establish this area of interest and Lokal's particular POV (pro-Putin, anti-Ukrainian, anti-Polish, anti-anyone-who's-critical-of-Russia's-foreign-policy) pretty thoroughly.

• Here is a sample of corresponding edits from Dorpater: [95], [96], [97], [98], [99] (sample, from many edits to the article), [100], [101], [102], [103] etc. etc.

I can also point to similar edits to topics related to political-Catholicism in Poland done by Dorpater and by Lokal and his socks. One of Lokal's previous socks was User:Ksiądz Tadeusz - which is a reference to Father Tadeusz Rydzyk ("ksiadz" is Polish for "priest"), the head of the controversial far-right Catholic radio station Radio Maryja. Sure enough, Dorpater shares this interest [104] (several other edits).

There is also a lot of over lap between Lokalkosmopolit + previous sock puppets and Dorpater when it comes to the topic Islam, usually - but not always - how it relates to Europe. Again for Lokal + previous refer to the SPIs above. For Dorpater here's a quick sample showing the same interest [105], [106], [107], [108], [109], [110] [111] (these are mostly minor edits but they do show that Dorpater shares this interest too - making it a perfect 3-for-3 match) with the other sockpuppets) but what I've provided above should be more sufficient. In fact, I could really sit here all day and provide diffs because the overlap between the sock master and the account Dorpater is so close, so almost any edit by Dorpater can be shown to be similar to some edit from the other accounts. Another big piece of evidence, on top of all this other stuff, is that the account Dorpater, just like all the previous incarnations of Lokalkosmopolit sooner or later begins to follow my edits around and try to pick fights. With this account he waited a bit longer than usual, but the pattern is the same. If you really need me to I can keep going with the diffs but this should be enough. Basically it's hard NOT TO find evidence of sockpuppetry with these accounts. Volunteer Marek (talk) 20:48, 28 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

A revenge request due to the AE I filed against Volunteer Marek today. It seems VM is keen on claiming anyone who opposes him is a "sock puppet" of the banned user Lokalkosmopolit (he most recently filed a request on 11 June 2015, fortunately closed with no action).

"So almost any edit by Dorpater can be shown to be similar to some edit from the other accounts". Yeah, right. According to this "brilliant" logic everyone could be accused of any crime, like in Stalinist Russia. I have taken a very cursory look right now, but based on technical tools available here this suffices to say that the only topic that I apparently share with Lokalkosmopolit or his alleged sock puppets is European politics. VM himself has the same interest, so?

If you look at the tools intended for finding overlaps of interests, you will notice there is very little common between me and Lokalkosmopolit [112]. Is THIS supposed to indicate I have "a very close overlap with that of User:Lokalkosmopolit"? Yes, there is Party of Regions indeed but that's about it and given that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis remains such a hot topic this is hardly indicative of anything sinister.

Now, if you look further at the articles of interest to either users, then hardly any of the around 25 articles I've already created, the creation of which takes most of my time here on-Wiki, has anything to do with the intrerests VM attributes to User:Lokalkosmopolit on numerous occasions ("particularly fringe and far-right [parties]"). Yes, I make small corrections to articles on political parties, but this is pretty much a sidejob and my main "project" right now is to start articles on Orientalists of the former USSR (but to some extent on other historians/linguists).(True, as far as starting articles is concerned, it seems Lokalkosmopolit initiated only one article: [113].

As for the reference to Tadeusz Rydzyk, then this is hilarious: VM accuses me of creating the sock puppet Ksiądz Tadeusz (a clear vandalism only account) whose name supposedly refers to this priest he mentions. The diff he presents to prove I "share this interest" makes no sense, as I touched Rydzyk nowhere with this edit and I've never ever heard of this figure!

Then we have "Lokal's particular POV (pro-Putin, anti-Ukrainian, anti-Polish, anti-anyone-who's-critical-of-Russia's-foreign-policy)".

There's not a single edit, not a single diff that would support the allegation that I'm "anti-Ukrainian" (no idea if Lokalkosmopolit was, apparently he edited the topic), "anti-Polish" (??? - I've hardly even touched Poland-related articles) or indeed "pro-Putin". It was in fact criticism of Russia's stance that brought me serious "warnings" on Russian Wiki [114]. I'd challenge VM to find real support for such accusations of national bigotry by me or withdraw those baseless claims.

Enough for today. And admin scrutiny is welcome. Dorpater (talk) 21:39, 28 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Dorpater, you know VERY WELL that this isn't a "revenge" filing - rather your WP:AE report was "preemptive". I pointed out that your were a sockpuppet of Lokal BEFORE you filed that WP:AE here. And I stated that I was going to file an SPI. So it seems you went running to WP:AE and quickly filed a spurious report against me... so that you could claim I was filing an SPI in "revenge"? Pretty sneaky. Unfortunately like the diff I just provided shows I said you were a sockpuppet BEFORE your report and clearly stated my intention to file this SPI. Nice try. It gave me chuckle.Volunteer Marek (talk) 22:00, 28 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

And come on, you're going to claim that [Editor Interaction Analyser] clears you? YOU MADE THE SAME TYPE OF EDITS. You just made them to different articles - in particular, articles for different political parties. Small ones, fringe ones, of which there is a ton in Europe. You were going through a list of'em as Lokalkosmopolit, you got banned, you continued going through the list as AdvicePolack and whatever accounts you had, and then you continued going through the list as Dorpater. So yes, the account "Lokalkosmopolit" and the account "Dorpater" edited different articles (at least as far as political parties are concerned, on the Russia-related stuff, it's the same ones) but they made the same edit to these different articles. Please don't insult our intelligence.

Oh and perhaps I wasn't clear on the KsiadzTadeusz/Tadeusz Rydzyk thing. Your previous sock puppet was named "KsiadzTadeusz", a reference to a fairly obscure, Polish right wing priest Tadeusz Rydzyk who runs Radio Maryja. As Dorpater you made several substantial edits to Radio Maryja, no? I mean, seriously, how many of these instances are you going to claim are a coincidence? It's like I complete a jigsaw puzzle (my evidence above) and you show up and claim "these pieces all fit together only by chance". Really? Volunteer Marek (talk) 22:07, 28 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

And I love this part. You say someone is a sock puppet ... and then they don't even deny it, they just try to explain away the evidence ("oh it's a coincidence I just happen to make exactly that edit") but don't unequivocally state they're a different person. Which you know, when people are accused of something false, usually the first thing they do is deny it. I've been (falsely) accused of sock puppetry and the first think I always say is "this is stupid, I'm not that guy". But in every single successful SPI I've seen where a sock master got busted... they never bother denying it (until you remind them that this would probably be a good idea). So take that as advice for when you come back with your next sock puppet.Volunteer Marek (talk) 22:12, 28 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

"Your previous sock puppet was named "KsiadzTadeusz", a reference to a fairly obscure, Polish right wing priest Tadeusz Rydzyk who runs Radio Maryja" - Once more, until your edit I had no idea, who this Tadeusz Rydzyk was (though I obviously know what Radio Maryja is) and I most certainly did not register this ridiculous hooliganistic account you refer to here or for that matter any other account you mention in your reports!Dorpater (talk) 22:16, 28 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

And oh yeah, you say that I, that is me, Volunteer Marek, " most recently filed a request on 11 June 2015, fortunately closed with no action". This is also strange. First, why "fortunately", are you rooting for Lokal or something? Second, no, this isn't true. I didn't file that request (see, that's how you deny something). That report was filed by User:Alex Bakharev. I am not Alex Bakharev. And it was not closed with "no action", pretty much all the listed accounts were banned, because they were all sockpuppeting but it was unclear who was connected to who. Funny you bring up THAT particular SPI out of all the ones you could have brought up. I think you're starting to trip yourself up.Volunteer Marek (talk) 22:22, 28 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Yes, this is probably the same user. Dorpater created a number of stubs on barely notable people. Lokal created only one page, but it was very similar (a small, poorly written page on a barely notable person). My very best wishes (talk) 13:16, 29 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Based on the checkuser logs, the IP Dorpater is using is the same IP used by Phil070707 (talk · contribs · count) in March 2015.--Bbb23 (talk) 14:51, 29 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Given the behavior evidence and the supporting technical evidence, I have blocked Dorpater as a proven sock of Lokalkosmopolit. Mike V • Talk 16:19, 29 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• 77.93.29.14 (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

• User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
• Editor interaction utility

Same interests (Ukraine, Polish-German relations, classification of political parties), geolocates to Latvia (see the sock User:Dorpater above), same tone, is not even denying it.Volunteer Marek (talk) 19:21, 16 June 2016 (UTC) Volunteer Marek (talk) 19:21, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

• See below. Also, the IP was blocked by Slakr for 31 hours. Mike V • Talk 20:32, 21 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• 77.93.29.14 (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RBLs · proxy check · block user · spi block · block log · cross-wiki contribs · CheckUser (log))

• User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
• Editor interaction utility

IP geolocates to Latvia, same as the previous IPs used by Lokalkosmopolit. And as admitted by User:Dorpater. Topic areas, and stalking behavior is same as always. No need for check user.Volunteer Marek (talk) 01:45, 21 June 2016 (UTC) Volunteer Marek (talk) 01:45, 21 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Indefinitely blocked, whatever. At least this time you're not trying to insult our intelligence by pretending you're not a sock puppet. And if someone who is not a sock puppet of an indefinitely blocked user wishes to implement your edits, fine. You - you don't get to edit because you've been disruptive, engaged in harassment, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. You know all this already though.Volunteer Marek (talk) 01:51, 21 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Edits like the one I performed here are all constructive, blind reverting [115], [116] to a version with factual errors and poorer linking is close to vandalism. Also, I'm not banned. --77.93.29.14 (talk) 01:47, 21 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Looking at the IP contributions, I agree that there is a similarity in behavior. Since the IP looks to be static, I have hard blocked it for 6 months. Mike V • Talk 20:32, 21 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Paul Keller (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

• User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
• Editor interaction utility

Well, this report is going to be pretty much like all the other reports I filed, because it's the same person doing the same thing. So...

First, the Paul Keller account was started on Sept 17, 2016. It immediately began making edits in Lokalkosmopolit's areas of interest (specified more precisely below): [117], [118], [119], [120] and few others. It was also obvious from the start that this wasn't a new user: [121] (reference to unsourced material, a "lead section"), [122] (reference to reversion of "good faithed edits"), [123] (referencing Wikipedia guidelines), [124] (reference to "consensus"), [125] (arriving at the 3RR admin noticeboard on a report that had nothing to do with him

Additionally here, Paul Keller refers to User:MyVeryBestWishes as my "meat puppet". Only someone familiar with Wikipedia history and various past disputes - disputes in which Lokalkosmopolit's socks were involved in - would make such an accusation. Here he refers to me "and my satellites", which is apparently a reference to the fact that there are people around who appreciate my editing, which, again, shows that this is a person with knowledge of Wikipedia history.

Ok. That establishes that there is no finglin' way this is a new user. At this point I could probably just copy/paste the SPI report I filed for User:Dorpater, the most recent Lokal sock before this one, and just substitute "Paul Keller" in place of "Dorpater", because it's the same thing.

Based on previous IPs he used to sock with, and topic interests/peculiar knowledge, Lokalkosmopolit is, um, "associated", with the Baltic countries, specifically Latvia and Estonia, with some Finland thrown in. Esoteric articles related to these constitute Paul Keller's first edits [126], [127], [128], [129]. Compare to Lokal's edits (listed above in previous reports).

Other than that Lokal has two main areas of interests: far right politics (with a particular emphasis, but not exclusivity, on Islam and refugees/migrants) and conflicts involving Russia.

Here's Paul Keller's edits which match the first one [130], [131], [132], [133], [134], [135], [136] (nota bene, back in the day, long long time ago, Lokalkosmopolit was active on the Angela Merkel article [137]), [138]. Those edits the Pegida article are typical Lokal too - downplaying or white washing the extremism of far-right political parties (and one of his older socks made similar edits there back in March [139]).

Here's Paul Keller's edits which match the second one [140] (Russia's obviously involved in the civil war on Assad's side), [141], [142] (another typical Lokal edit - "correcting" description of a particular Eastern European politician or party) [143], [144], [145], [146], etc.

Then there's the usual pattern in the development of the sock puppet. Lokal always starts off with a few innocent edits and minor corrections, usually on articles vaguely related to politics or Baltics/Russia, then gradually moves into more controversial articles in this topic area and then find a way to insert himself into some discussion where I am present to attack me, disagree with me, or revert me. He did that here, then here and [147]. Hell, that's usually how his sock puppets get busted - if someone tries to get me sanctioned (and fails) Lokal/Paul Keller can't resist but show up and agitate. At which point I think "who is this person?", take a look at their history and figure it out. Lokal's other bete noire, the other person he holds a grudge against in addition to myself, is User:Iryna Harpy and he also usually tries to start a fight with her as well. Yup, Paul Keller did it this time too: [148] (in fact, that appears to be the reason why he came to the Pegida article)

Another piece of evidence here is the fact that Paul Keller did not deny being Lokalkosmopolit after I made that claim but rather launched into rants about my editing. For example, in this revert [149]'s edit summary Paul Keller does not deny being Lokalkosmopolit but rather appears to be annoyed that his edit was reverted because it was "constructive" (pretty much saying "yes it's me but that edit was constructive so why are you reverting it?") Here he challanges me to report him for sockpuppeting but never actually says "I'm not this Lokalkosmopolit guy". I mean, come on. If I was accused of being a sockpuppet of UserXYZ, my first question would be "who is USerXYZ?". Same thing on the Pegida talk page [150]. Here again [151] he calls me pointing out that he's a sock a "pretext" but doesn't actually deny it. And then there's this strange conversation on his talk page [152]. User:Doug Weller asks him to deny the accusations and Paul Keller offers a weasel-y answer rather than just stating "it's not me". Only after Doug pressed him did he make a denial... and then offers a transparently false - and fairly standard - excuse for the similarities: "I edited as an IP, many years ago" (paraphrase), which of course would not be sufficient to explain the level of knowledge of both policies and Wikipedia history he possesses. Funnily enough, Paul obviously knows what "SPI" is, not to mention "CUsers" (because, apparently, making "smaller IP edits" "most of them a couple years ago" familiarizes an editor with acronyms for "Sock Puppet Investigations" or "Check Users". And then... he asks Doug Weller to recuse from the SPI and the Check User check. Which also shows he knows that Doug is a check user!

And oh yeah, I recently filed a WP:AE report against another user [153]. Of course "Paul Keller" had no trouble immediately finding it and commenting there. I don't know about you, but I *still* find it hard to figure out that whole AE template and how to comment there! Paul's got no trouble there. And of course he makes references to Wikipedia history and launches into a typical rant about my editing history.

I can probably keep digging but writing these things up is quite time consuming. It's him, it's an obvious WP:DUCK. I would like to point out that I've filed FOUR SPI reports for Lokal's socks and EVERY ONE of them was right on the nose. Lokal has a particular style, which is hard to illustrate with diffs but it's pretty unmistakable - it's sort of one half-angry, one half-obnoxious and one half sarcastic. With a bunch of resentment towards Wikipedia thrown in (mostly over the fact that it still lets me - but not him - edit here). Paul Keller fits it to a tee. Volunteer Marek (talk) 05:46, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

• He does appear to me as a sock of Lokal. A lot of his edits are following around a few contributors with whom he interacted from previous accounts. For example, he followed edits by me here, here and here. His editing subjects and overall WP:Battle behavior (e.g. here and on administrative noticeboards) are also similar. Based on his very short edit history (less than 100 edits), he has no desire to contribute constructively in the project, but fight with users he intended to fight from the very beginning.My very best wishes (talk) 13:16, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Seems I lost all of my evidence I carefully composed including diffs, links to page histories and arguments having had to go through lots of contributions lists of all those previously listed accounts etc. I spent 2 hours working on it! I got a warning "Edit conflict" (likely due to My very best wishes' edit) and I lost everything. Therefore I will make it very short as I'm unwilling to waste my time today on this page as probably on the project as a whole. Paul Keller (talk) 13:23, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Contrary to what VM and MVBW claim, it was not me trying to pick up fights with VM or following but exactly the other way round. After this talk page edit [154] VM started to follow me across all edits I made and blindly revert all of the edits [155], [156], [157], [158], [159].

As for content issues, I found no overlap in the concrete articles edited by me and Lokalkosmopolit. Yes, we both have edited a lot of stuff related to Russia but what does it prove? This general topic is huge and lots of editors are interested in Russia. As for Baltic states (VM was clearly especially keen on constructing a connection there because Lokalkosmopolit's last sock geolocated to Latvia), I've only made 3 minor edits related to the Baltic states so contrary to VM's allegations there is no "peculiar knowledge" there.Paul Keller (talk) 13:38, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I would not tell anything about VM, but in my three links above (here, here and here) you followed my edits, not the other way around. My very best wishes (talk) 13:36, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I edited 3 articles you have also edited, but I did so fully in line with policy. I did not touch your edits, I did not revert you as VM did with me across Wikipedia, I just made other changes. You cannot forbid me from editing constrructively the articles you also happen to edit!Paul Keller (talk) 13:40, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

"he has no desire to contribute constructively in the project, but fight with users he intended to fight from the very beginning" - most of my edits are completely noncontroversial. The only problems I've had are with VM and you. And I'm not the only one who has problems with the behaviour of you two [160]. Paul Keller (talk) 13:44, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

"It immediately began making edits in Lokalkosmopolit's areas of interest: [161], [162], [163], [164] and few others." - I managed to ascertain that Lokalkosmopolit had not edited a single one of these articles. In addition, there is no evidence that Estonian-Russian television stars, Finnish pop singers or Russian engineers would have been Lokalkosmopolit's particular areas of interest. Paul Keller (talk) 13:48, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

"And then... he asks Doug Weller to recuse from the SPI and the Check User check. Which also shows he knows that Doug is a check user!" - yes, extremely suspicious! Having checked Doug's userpage I read there that in addition to being an admin he is also a checkuser. I guess this convincingly "establishes that there is no finglin' way" I am a new user.Paul Keller (talk) 13:58, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• The account is   Likely to Dorpater (talk · contribs · count). Blocked, tagged, closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 14:09, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]