Russian propaganda in the context of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Summary. The purpose of this study is to analyze the features and main narratives of Russian propaganda in the context of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. The methodology of the study is based on the principles of science, the use of general scientific methods inter alia, the methods of analysis and synthesis, as well as the content analysis method. The scientific novelty of the article lies in examining the under-researched problem of Russian propaganda in the context of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. Conclusions. The conducted research gives grounds to assert that Russian propaganda uses all the resources available to it today: mass media, Internet trolls, etc. At the same time, its principles are based on the traditions of Russian anti-Ukrainian propaganda of 1917: manipulation of public opinion, promotion of political, economic, cultural and social destabilization in Ukraine in order to discredit the Ukrainian government. Having launched an armed aggression against Ukraine, the Russian leadership was forced to look for arguments to justify it. Therefore, many pro-Kremlin narratives have emerged, such as references to US-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine or the thesis about the need to protect the Russian-speaking population of Donbas. Russian propaganda texts contain appropriate vocabulary, selected to evoke positive emotions and sympathy for everything related to Russia, and negative emotions when it comes to Ukraine, its Armed Forces, etc. Russian propaganda is directed both at its own Russian population and at foreign audiences. The temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine are a separate direction of Russian propaganda. It has been established that the effectiveness of countering Russian propaganda is not always satisfactory. In many regions of the world, Russian propaganda dominates, while the Ukrainian point of view is not adequately reflected in the information space of many countries.
Article Details
References
References
Petrechko, O. (2006). Political propaganda of Early Roman Empire (from Augustus to the Severan dynasty). Drohobytskyi kraieznavchyi zbirnyk [Drohobych Regional Studies], X, 52–63 [in Ukrainian].
Petrechko, O. (2009). Socio-political development of the Roman Empire in the first century – at the beginning of the third century A.D.: from “restored” Republic to the Senate monarchy. Lviv [in Ukrainian].
Geboers, M., Pilipets, E. (2024). Networked masterplots: Music, pro-Russian sentiment, and participatory propaganda on TikTok. Journal of Digital Social Research, 6(1), 90–103.
Evans, J. (1992). The art of persuasion : political propaganda from Aeneas to Brutus. Ann Arbor [in English].
Hyzen, A., Van den Bulck, H. (2024). “Putin’s War of Choice”: US Propaganda and the Russia–Ukraine Invasion, Journalism and Media, 5(1), 233–254.
Walton, D. (1997). What Is Propaganda, and What Exactly Is Wrong with It. Public Affairs Quarterly, 11/4, 383–413.
Soares, F., Gruzd, A., Mai, P. (2023). Falling for Russian propaganda: Understanding the factors that contribute to belief in pro-Kremlin disinformation on social media. Social Media+Society, 9(4), 1–10.
Mandić, J., Klarić, D. (2023). Case study of the russian disinformation campaign during the war in Ukraine–propaganda narratives, goals, and impacts. National security and the future, 24(2), 97–140.
Taranenko, A. (2024). Characteristics of Russian Propaganda in Latin America with Regard to Russian Aggression Against Ukraine: Case of Brazil. Empirio, 1, 55–62.
Alexandru, D. (2023). Information Security in the Republic of Moldova in the Context of Hybrid Threats. L’Europe Unie, 19, 70–74.
Kuznetsova, E., Makhortykh, M., Sydorova, M., Urman, A., Vitulano, I., Stolze, M. (2024). Algorithmically Curated Lies: How Search Engines Handle Misinformation about US Biolabs in Ukraine. arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.13832, 1–19.
Ofitsynskyy, Y. (2018). The Modern Russian-Ukrainian War (Based on the Materials of the Newspaper The New York Times, 2013–2017). Uzhhorod [in Ukrainian].
Petrechko, O., Masnenko, V. (2021). The Beginning of the Russian Armed Aggression Against Ukraine According to “The New York Times” (February 27 – March 4, 2014). Problemy humanitarnykh nauk. Seriia: Istoriia [Problems of the Humanities. Series: History], 6, 435–453. [in Ukrainian].
Petrechko, O., Zhuravlov, S., Ilnytskyi, V. (2022). Coverage of the tragedy of the flight MH17 on the pages of «The New-York Times». Aktualni pytannia humanitarnykh nauk [Current issues in the humanities], 54/2, 17–22 [in Ukrainian].
Telvak, V., Masnenko, V. (2021). Ukraine Crisis: Russian-Ukrainian war through the vision of BBC News correspondents. Visnyk Cherkaskogo universytetu. Istorychni nauky [Bulletin of Cherkasy University. Historical Sciences], 2, 136–143 [in Ukrainian].
Bulanova, A. (2023). The comparison of russian propaganda: from the years 1917–1921 to nowadays. Different Shades of the Past: History as an Instrument of Contemporary International Conflicts. Berlin; Boston, 193–208.
Ceușan, I. (2023). European Union policies and strategies to counter Russian propaganda and disinformation. L’Europe Unie, 19, 113–122.
ResolutionA/RES/ES-11/1 (2022). Retrieved from: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3959039?ln=en.
Geissler, D., Bär, D., Pröllochs, N., Feuerriegel, S. (2023) Russian propaganda on social media during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. EPJ Data Science, 12(1), 35.
Balatska, O. (2022). Eurasianism, Neo-Eurasianism and Anti-Ukrainianism in the Narratives of Modern Russian Propaganda. Studia Polityczne, 50(4), 123–148.
Tolstoj, K. (2023). The Crucified Boy in Russian War Propaganda: How Is Theology Not Ideology? Handelingen: Tijdschrift voor Praktische Theologie en Religiewetenschap, 50(3), 29–37.
Drugă, D. I. (2022). War in Ukraine: Russian propaganda themes. Strategic Impact, 85, 80–93.
Kiforchuk, K. (2023). Frequency analysis of russian propaganda telegram channels. Theoretical and applied cybersecurity, 5(1), 80–86.
Fortuin, E. (2022). Ukraine Commits Genocide on Russians: the Term. Genocide in Russian Propaganda. Russian Linguistics, 46, 313–347.
Williams, E., Carley, K. (2023). Search engine manipulation to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, 4/1, 1–13.
Pierri, F., Luceri, L., Jindal, N., Ferrara, E. (2023). Propaganda and misinformation on Facebook and Twitter during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Proceedings of the 15th ACM web science conference, 65–74.
Diachuk, L. (2024). Manipulation of lexical choice aspects in the creation of stereotypes and ideas in Russian propaganda. Amazonia Investiga, 13(75), 173–184.
Oleinik, A., Paniotto, V. (2024). Propaganda channels and their comparative effectiveness: The case of Russia’s war in Ukraine. International Sociology, 39(3), 217–240.
Oleinik, A., Paniotto V. (2023). War propaganda unfolded: Comparative effectiveness of propaganda and counterpropaganda in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. International Journal of Communication, 17, 7265–7290.
Gavlovskyi, D. (2024). Ukrainian Military and Kremlin Propaganda: Typology of Fake Narratives. State and Regions. Series: Social Communications, 2(58), 41–46 [in Ukrainian].
Ranković, R. (2022). Fake news about Ukraine in Serbian tabloids: In the information war, the truth becomes irrelevant. Glas Amerike. Retrieved from: https://www.glasamerike.net/a/srbija-lazne-vesti-ukrajina-rusija-rat-pandemija/6466774.html [in Croatian].
Răducu, R., Hercigonja, S. (2023). Disinformation in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: narratives used by Russian propaganda in the Balkans: case study of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. Timişoara.
McGlynn, J. (2024). Russian Propaganda Tactics in Ukraine’s Newly Occupied Territories. Russian analytical digest, 21(313), 2–5.