The government of the Russian president launched an uncontrollable campaign of misinformation and complete propaganda in the region of eastern Ukraine after 2014, in an attempt to win the hearts and souls of the predominantly Russian-speaking population. But Dr. Jon Roozenbeek, an academic from the University of Cambridge, believes the Russians failed to do so because they took the wrong approach. He believes that in order to really instill hatred against an enemy and to lead to effective action, there must be an element of “us against them”. However, Russia’s misinformation campaign has focused very strongly on creating “them” and not “us”, he believes. The Kremlin has repeatedly said that Kyiv was ruled by far-right extremists and that Russia’s presence in the so-called “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk was a mission of “de-Nazism.” Dr. Roozenbeek believes that this was the essence of the Russian plan and it worked to some degree. However, the whole plan collapsed due to the lack of an “in-group” story – “us” competing with “them”. “Eight years of Russian propaganda have failed to provide a convincing alternative to Ukrainian nationality in eastern Ukraine,” said Dr Roozenbeek. “The Kremlin’s decision to favor non-group hostility over in-group identity building and its over-appreciation of the extent to which its lies about non-existent Ukrainian ‘fascists’ promoted pro-Russian sentiments are key reasons why the invasion took place. strategic and logistical disaster “.
The “Novorossiya” brainwashing attempt failed
During his doctoral dissertation, he analyzed more than 85,000 articles from dozens of media outlets in the region over four years to assess how thoroughly Russian propaganda prevailed. He found that half the content remained as usual, but one-third was regularly devoted to propaganda. The Kremlin was trying to brainwash the people of Donbass with a sense of Russian identity centered around the idea of ”Novorossiya” or “New Russia,” a hangover from the Russian Empire. But a lack of effort and impetus meant he never caught Donbas, Dr Roozenbeek said. “Despite the importance given to building identity and ideology following the Russian-backed takeover of Luhansk and Donetsk, including the Kremlin directions, very little identity within the group was promoted,” said Dr Roozenbeek. “The identity-building propaganda I was able to find in Donbass after 2014 was vague, badly conceived and quickly forgotten. “Novorossiya’s political attempts to invoke were rejected until the summer of 2015, but such weak propaganda suggests that they did not have much chance anyway.” “Putin has seriously underestimated the power of Ukrainian national identity, even in Donbass, and overestimated the power of his propaganda machine in the occupied territories of Ukraine.” He added that there was a need to ensure that propaganda would not spread further now with the ongoing war, as it could jeopardize the Ukrainian effort. “If the nonsense of Novorossiya or other half-hearted ideological narratives begins to spread in the West, it could end up being used to force Ukraine to leave large areas of its territory, as a protracted war in the Donbas causes the world community to lose its temper.” , he said. The Russian propaganda war machine continues to roar today, with stories of soldiers who truly believed they were freeing Ukraine from the clutches of Nazi rule.
