The Gist Russian propaganda on the war in Ukraine has not abated since the conflict began. A constant discourse with established terminology, not from last February.
“We jump up as soon as a sentence comes out when it’s been like this for a long time.” When we spoke to Elena Voloshin, a great reporter and specialist on Russia, about a catastrophic statement by the state TV channel Russia 1, which was shared on social networks, isn’t she surprised. In this sequence, Russia Today editor Margarita Simonyan makes a rather radical speech: “Either we win, or it will end badly for all mankind.” And added: “If people ask how long this confrontation with westerners will last? I can only give them one answer: It’s forever. Get used to this new life.”
Last April, while still on the set of Russia 1, the same pro-Kremlin journalist had mentioned the possibility of “World War III” or even a potential “nuclear attack”.
propaganda, “a weapon of war”
These speeches, reported from time to time in Western media, are “something normal in Russia,” Elena Volochine told La Dépêche du Midi. “People have been hearing that since the beginning of the conflict. These river programs, which copy the format of classic talk shows, are purely and harshly propaganda programs that have replaced the other programs.”
Anti-Ukraine propaganda not dated February 2022. “Since 2014, with the Maidan revolution [survenue en Ukraine]a narrative was constructed using terminology about the Nazis and fascism. In 2014, Russian propaganda became a weapon of war. At that time it was already very hard to stir up fear and hatred against Ukrainians and made it possible to mobilize the Russian-speaking population. In Donbass, locals wanted to support Russian paramilitaries and said they would come to liberate them.”
“These are not individual reports”
After a period in which it remained latent, the propaganda has intensified since February 24, finally becoming total, explains Elena Voloshin. “These are not isolated messages, but constants. With a reflection on the terminology, precise words hammered out.” Propaganda “tough, aggressive, violent, building the image of an enemy to be destroyed, a parallel reality, a myth in which Russians live.”
One speech was primarily aimed at the Russian population itself: “The main thing is to get the population to participate.” A Russian people “divided between people who are informed and appalled by what is happening and others who believe their country is playing the good part, that in some way it will rid Ukraine of itself.”
While independent media appeared in Russia in the 1990s, targeting “a certain audience, fairly young, living in big cities and traveling abroad”, the last independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, ceased publication last March. “There was never really room for independent media, Elena Voloshin regrets. There is no culture of media, of information, of the importance of being informed. There’s also a tiredness among Russians, who have their own problems to deal with, in relation to the news.”