Ukraine was to show its strength in the information war in the world arena. Russia, to reveal its unexpected inability to influence foreign opinion in this conflict, especially in the West. “His place in the world is ruined, he probably can not be repaired,” said Ilya Metveev, a political analyst based in St. Petersburg. Moscow “now understands that it is useless to promote Russia’s narrative in the West. No matter what they try, it will not work.” As Russian patrol Vasily Bykov turned his shotgun on Snake Island on February 24 and demanded surrender, a Ukrainian border guard responded provocatively with radios, “Russian warship, go alone.” This recording was quickly released by Ukrainian officials and the guard became a national hero, who was praised that day by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his sacrifice. What happened next is a bit vague. Zelensky then said that “all border guards died heroically” in the attack that followed. They appear to have been arrested, the Ukrainian navy said, a few days later, and later released by Russia. The guard who voiced the now-famous line appeared in person to receive a medal last week. In late February, the Russian-language Telegram account, SCEPTIK, reported that 82 Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered to Russia on Snake Island, a tiny, remote Ukrainian island in the Black Sea. But Ukrainian officials said 13 soldiers were killed there while defending the outpost. (Telegram / Google Earth)
Days after the attack on Snake Island, the Russian warship was reported to have been severely damaged or destroyed by the Ukrainian navy off the coast of Odessa, with the video of the rocket attack going viral. But even that has been disputed ever since, with multiple photos of what appears to be Vasily Bykov being posted on the internet. However, the incident gave the tone of propaganda for the Ukrainian resistance from the beginning and will be immortalized in a seal, says Kyiv. “It’s the kind of ‘mythical’ story that has distinguished Ukraine’s surprisingly sophisticated fighting spirit in the information war against Russia as it’s real,” said Ian Garner. He is a lecturer and researcher at Queen’s University writing a book on Russian propaganda. In the midst of efforts like this and the shocking speeches that Zelensky makes almost daily – often addressed directly to foreign decision-makers or the public in Western countries – Garner said Kyiv had “organized a very clever, really clever information war.” The success of Ukraine depends on it. Kyiv must keep the West on its side, keep the billions of dollars in weapons we need to flow across the border from NATO to its fighters, and keep the West’s tough economic sanctions on Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks in a video statement with sandbags behind him in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 8 in this static image taken by social media. (Volodymyr Zelensky / Instagram / Reuters)
Zelensky’s posts, which are sometimes taken as selfies outside with only street lights at night, and always with a simple t-shirt, may “look ad hoc and somewhat scriptless,” Garner said, but are almost certainly “productions that have been designed and thought through. “ Zelensky’s speech to the UK Parliament cited wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill. His speech in Ottawa highlights a nominal relationship with Prime Minister Justin Trindade and includes well-known Canadian references. And, always, we hit the right notes to portray Ukraine as the crazy outsider who deserves help from the West. Instead, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears warlike and isolated as he appears to be sitting at a huge table in the Kremlin. His efforts to wage an information war seem as problematic as the ground war. “It is surrounded by symbols of Russian power,” said Anton Shirikov, a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin who studies political propaganda. He says to the West: “Look, I’m scared. “I can do a lot of terrible things.” Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with French President Emanuel Macron in Moscow on February 7. (Sputnik / Kremlin / Reuters)
This includes threats to use nuclear weapons and creating a pretext for a possible chemical attack. This week, Zelensky accused Russia of committing the worst European atrocities since World War II in the city of Bukha, near Kyiv. Hundreds of civilian bodies were found after the withdrawal of Russian troops. Moscow’s answer? The scene was a “fake attack”, “directed” by Ukraine and the West for “anti-Russian purposes” – propaganda. This is despite satellite data that the bodies were in exactly these locations for weeks before Russia withdrew, as originally reported by the New York Times and confirmed by other media. The use of misinformation by Russia – or “dezinformatsiya” – dates back to at least the 1950s, when a section of the KGB secret service became active under that name. Moscow has been accused of “sowing discord” over Britain’s Brexit debate through hundreds of fake social media accounts. US intelligence has accused her of meddling in the US election, aiding and abetting former US President Donald Trump in power in 2016 and then trying to keep Joe Biden out of office in 2020. And Russia has long supported European populist politicians such as France’s Marie Le Pen, who has vowed to lift sanctions against Moscow “fast enough” if elected president in 2017.

Interior focus of Russia

“Russia has had some success” in influencing world events through propaganda, Medvedev said, but its invasion of Ukraine has so hardened public behavior in the West, “completely nullifying it all.” Instead, he said, Putin focuses his propaganda internally, where he has been “quite effective” in justifying the war so far. “Outside, Moscow’s propaganda efforts are no longer worth anything. No one will ever listen to Russia,” he said. In this video image released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation in Moscow, Russia, on February 24. (Russian Presidential Press Service / The Associated Press)
This is especially true now that they hear less from Russia. Moscow’s main international media arm, Russia Today (RT), has been withdrawn from the air in many countries, including Canada, the United States and Britain. It is also due to the unusually united attitudes of the public in the West, “a kind of popular mobilization against Russia,” said Natasha Kurt, who lectures on International Peace and Security at King’s College London. “I think that really makes a big difference.” Russia has tried to justify the invasion with various arguments, for example that NATO expansion is too close to Russia and threatens its security, or that the country is full of dangerous Western-funded bio-laboratories that need to be dismantled. Or that Ukraine must get rid of Nazi elements. “Many in Ukraine have been deceived by Nazi and nationalist propaganda,” Putin said a week after the invasion, “but some have deliberately followed in the footsteps of the Baders.” [right wing nationalists] and other Nazi sympathizers. ” CLOCKS Ukrainian president accuses Russia of war crimes in Bukha:

Zelensky accuses Russia of “genocide”, “war crimes” in Bucha

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with residents of Bucha on Monday and accused Russia of “genocide” and “war crimes” for killing civilians and other alleged atrocities there. 5:23
The pro-Russian Telegram channels are full of images, real and elaborate, that attribute the destruction of cities like Mariupol to Ukrainian right-wing military groups such as Azov’s militia. This is despite the fact that they number only about 1,000 members and are not equipped with the heavy weapons necessary to carry out the extensive bombings observed in many areas of Ukraine targeted by Russia. “A lot of them are contradictory; they are coarse, they are more exaggerated than ever,” Garner said. “The idea is just to bombard people with these images until there finally seems to be some grain of truth and then try to get them to share with family and friends. At least, that is the intention.” But it has failed miserably in the West, even among the usually likeable left, said Medvedev, who is also the founding editor of the Russian magazine OpenLeft.ru. “Even in these cycles, it is very difficult to make an unprovoked invasion of the stomach,” he said. “How can you argue that Russia is resisting imperialism by attacking Ukraine?”