Correspondent Peter Byrne discusses ways to counter the Kremlin’s information war on Ukraine
One of the topics we devote a lot of attention to here at Ukraine Today is Russian propaganda. And today we are joined by Peter Zalmayev from the Eurasia Democracy Initiative, who participated in a conference on Russian propaganda here in Kyiv, which was attended by hundreds of people.
– Can you tell us something about the conference, Mr. Zalmayev?
It started a couple of days ago, it is a three-day conference, attended by hundreds of civil society activists from Ukraine and other European countries such as Poland and from North America. The title of the conference was “Ukraine’s New Politics and Civil Society”. So, it was not devoted solely to Russian propaganda; but Russia’s propaganda was the subject of the panel this afternoon, where I had the privilege to take part in it together with representatives of Ukraine Today.
We talked about the various ways Russian propagandists have been using it as a part of a hybrid warfare against Ukraine; and not only Ukraine, but the entire Western system of democratic values. We talked about the different angles of Russian propaganda, the different ways it reaches the audience, and what kind of message it carries.
– Did any issues come up during the conference, that you weren’t aware before you came here?
Well, I think there is an understanding that Russian propaganda is the crucial tool of the Russian state and of the Kremlin in its campaign, in this aggression against Ukraine, in its attempts to challenge what it sees as America-imposed world order.
I do not think there is much new in terms of what we know. But it was interesting to see the kind of responses and the kind of solutions that Ukrainians have found to try to counteract this monster.
– Did any representatives of Western organizations offer any possible solutions to Russian propaganda? Any ways to combat it, which have not been used today?
I think there is an understanding that there are existing efforts already that have been very effective, including diaspora-based organizations. They are very active in North America, Canada, the US, and also in Western Europe. There is a need for better synergy among the existing organizations, the better coordination.
There is an emerging understanding on the part of officials in Brussels and Washington that there is a need for funding to be allocated to some of these efforts. We talked about a potential alternative TV broadcast. We have to think about Russian-language broadcasts, which would be an alternative to Russian programming, first of all targeting former Soviet countries. Kazakhstan, Belarus and Moldova have large chunks of Russian-speakers and ethnic Russians, who have been tuned into Russia’s propaganda and they have no alternative.
– What would you advise Ukraine Today as an English-language broadcasting channel, which is trying to put out the basic facts?
Consider expanding your entertainment component because that is the way how Russian TV and the Russian media has been so successful. It’s a blend of news and analysis, which is usually misinformation, disguised as objective analysis. But is also mixed with some trivia, with some entertainment programming. Any outlet that seeks to provide an alternative today needs to match Russians when it comes to entertainment. You need sort of spice it up to create a fun channel.
One burning question that I have, having lived in the region for number of years, is how does it take to de-zombify someone who has been subjected to the Russian propaganda over a period of years, maybe decades?
You have to take person out of that milieu to the completely different milieu, right, where you have at least an alternative source of information. Then it is just a matter of one’s education level, an ability to think for yourself. There is a lot of this received truth people are fed from the TV, they require an ability to see things clearly.
Origin – toinformistoinfluence.com
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