“I think that Russia has already more or less given up convincing a Western audience that the war is justified, and rather focuses on brainwashing its own,” Ukrainian Vitalii Rybak told Dagbladet on Wednesday night.
He is the chief analyst at the organization Internews Ukraine, which, among other things, works to combat Russian disinformation.
When Russian forces attacked Ukraine in the morning hours of February 24, it marked the beginning of the largest military conflict in Europe in this century.
On Russian television, President Vladimir Putin announced that a “military operation” was under way, in response to alleged threats from neighboring countries, to protect civilians.
Since then, nearly 836,000 have fled the country to escape Russian attacks. According to the UN, at least 127 civilians were killed and another 525 injured – most in attacks with explosive weapons.
The narrative conveyed by state-controlled media in Russia is quite different. Rybak has previously characterized it as “Very dangerous” to Dagbladet.
What exactly are Russian propaganda consumers being told about the events in the neighboring country?
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According to BBCwhich presents excerpts from Russian state news broadcasts on Tuesday, has “never seen a better example of an alternative reality.”
They reproduce, among other things, the following:
At 8.00 local time, the TV channel NTV focuses on events in the Donbas. The giant Russian military column on its way to Kyiv is not mentioned. It will not be either the rocket attack on Kharkiv, where at least 21 lives are said to have been lost.
On Rossija 1 and Channel One, the country’s most popular TV channels, Ukrainian forces are accused of war crimes in the Donbas.
The threat to the civilians allegedly does not come from Russian forces, but from “Ukrainian nationalists”. They use civilians as human shields, the news anchor claims.
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At 16.00 the rocket attack on Kharkiv on NTV is mentioned. However, the channel claims that the allegations that Russian forces were behind it are false.
Four hours later, Rossiya 1 goes even further, claiming that Ukraine itself is behind the attack.
The state media consistently present the war as a “military operation”. According to the BBC, they also draw historical parallels between the “operation” in Ukraine and the Soviet Union’s fight against the Nazis.
Internews Ukraine’s Vitalii Rybak describes Russian media coverage of the war as “cynical and simply wrong”.
– First, the Kremlin goes to great lengths to ensure that words such as “invasion” and “war” are not used in Russian information rooms. They insist that this is a “military special operation”. Media that say it as it is, are blocked, he says to Dagbladet.
Stopped by traffic jam
– Hair travelers
Several media outlets have been sanctioned by the Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor, according to Rybak. He mentions, among other things, the TV channel Dozhd and the radio station Ekho Moskvy.
On Tuesday, both have stopped their shipments following orders from the Russian authorities, according to the news agencies AFP and Reuters.
– Furthermore, Russia is trying to justify the war by claiming that Ukrainians are “Nazis” who threaten all Russian-speaking people. But it is Russia’s army that is now bombing cities full of people who speak Russian on a daily basis – Kharkiv, Kherson and Kyiv, he says.
On Wednesday night, there were reports that the city of Kherson had been taken over by the Russians. Explosions and attacks have been regularly reported in Kyiv since early in the invasion.
Early Wednesday, Russian forces attacked boats police headquarters and a military hospital in Kharkiv – and Thursday morning reported The Guardian that 34 civilian Ukrainians have been killed in the last 24 hours in Kharkiv.
– Why should the Ukrainian army protect these cities from Russia, and at the same time bomb them? It makes no sense.
Russian media also claim that Russian troops are pursuing exclusively military targets.
– There is plenty of evidence of airstrikes against several Ukrainian cities – such as Kharkiv, Kherson and Kyiv. These airstrikes kill civilians. According to Ukraine’s emergency services, more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed so far during Russia’s invasion.
Rybak’s daily work largely consists of analyzing Russian misinformation. He explains that he usually aims to explain the motives behind the various narratives Russia is trying to spread.
– But in this war, the lies are so obvious and hair-raising that it is experienced as both difficult and meaningless, he says.
He also fears that Russia may ban Western social media platforms.
– Russian media portrayal of the war in Ukraine is very cynical, and simply wrong. There are plenty of journalists from other countries on the ground who show what is actually happening: a Russian invasion where civilians die.
– An impossible «trilemma»
– Not popular
It is still the case that a significant proportion of Russians get their news from TV, and the largest TV channels in Russia are directly subordinate to the state.
The largest news agencies are also state-owned, and many of the major newspapers are either regime-loyal or cautious about criticizing the regime.
In addition, the propaganda apparatus uses social media, including the encrypted messaging app Telegram, to reach out to the public. According to Vitalii Rybak, the Kremlin’s narrative is distributed in groups of up to several hundred thousand members, controlled by Russian intelligence.
While it is now reported in the western media logistics problems in the Russian military convoy on its way to Kyivand frustration with Vladimir Putinthe invasion is portrayed as successful in regime-controlled channels.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj claims that about 6,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the invasion began. Only on Sunday did the Russian authorities acknowledge that there were “dead and wounded” among the Russian forces.
“Among large parts of Russian society, this war is not popular,” he told Dagbladet.
Thank you Norway
Strikes hard on information sharing
According to the organization OVD-Info More than 6,842 people have been arrested in Russia since Thursday, after taking part in anti-war demonstrations.
The Russian media supervision announced this weekend that they will “Restrict access” to media which describes the war in Ukraine as an “attack” or an “invasion”, and at the same time accused ten media of having published “false information” about the situation.
According to the Russian Media Authority, the authorities have decided to stop access to media that continues with this type of coverage of the situation, and threatens with up to 5 million rubles in fines.
“To stop images and other things that could negatively affect public opinion in Russia, the authorities have warned that it is illegal to share all information about Ukraine that does not come from the Russian Ministry of Defense,” said Arve Hansen, adviser to the Helsinki Committee and Ukraine and Russia. know, previously stated to Dagbladet.
According to Hansen, the authorities have also announced that they will restrict access to Facebook, because the company does not stop so-called “disinformation” and “fake news” about Ukraine.
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