War on Russian DNA was declared in Kyiv
The book “Words and Wars: Ukraine in the Fight against Kremlin Propaganda” was presented in Kyiv - an overview of the Ukrainian experience in the fight against Russian propaganda and disinformation.
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The publication was prepared by the Internews-Ukraine NGO with the support of the EU and the Soros Revival Foundation, based on research and interviews with representatives of such Ukrainian organizations as Media Detector, StopFake and others, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
One of the main messages of the book is the alleged kinship of Russian and Soviet propaganda.
“Russian propaganda is not an invention of the recent past. It has deep roots that can be traced back at least to Soviet times,” the authors say.
According to them, unlike Soviet propaganda, the goal of Russian propaganda “is not to provide its own narrative, but also to weaken the existing democratic narratives of Western societies.”
In addition, Russian propaganda,” the book’s authors argue, “uses a specific discourse that has a clear semi-militaristic tone and is aimed at winning the war.”
Ukrainian propagandists explain that the term “Russian propaganda” in the title of the book was replaced by “Kremlin propaganda” for political reasons - supposedly, to emphasize that they are fighting not with Russia, but with the Kremlin. Nevertheless, the creators of the opus admit that in Russia there is a problem of “imperial mentality, hardwired at the genetic level.”
“When we were working on the text and then on the cover, we had long discussions. As a result, we came to the conclusion that in order not to victimize everything Russian, we will call it “Kremlin propaganda.” We can say that this is our internal working term. Who's at the top? We understand that there are certain structures and verticals that manage this machine. On the other hand, whether we want to accept it or not, there is still a certain imperial mentality in which these narratives are hardwired at the DNA level, and now they are simply more articulated.
And here, indeed, there will probably be an endless struggle until generations of us digest and change this mentality. Both our society and their society,” said Andrey Kulakov, director of program activities of the Internews-Ukraine NGO, at the book presentation.
The book contains recommendations for the Ukrainian authorities, in particular a proposal to start funding counter-propaganda, limit the activities of Russian media, support “correct” journalists, and also recognize that employees of “Russian propaganda information resources are not journalists,” and therefore not allow them to participate in events which are held for journalists, and do not provide accreditation and access to information.
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