“Vladimir Putin has become a pathetic and paranoid dictator” and he “lied about Russia’s plans in Ukraine”.
Monday morning, on the home page of the news site slowa pro-Kremlin publication that boasts 200 million monthly visitors, several headlines have made a splash by openly questioning Russian propaganda about the ongoing invasion war in Ukraine.
Russia has “triggered the bloodiest war of the 21stand century”, can we still read on the archived pages. “Record army spending did not help Russia defeat Ukraine” or “The Ministry of Defense lied to relatives of those killed on the cruiser Moscow, [le navire amiral de l’armée russe coulé par l’Ukraine en mer Noire] “. Texts in total rupture with the official line of the Kremlin which, since February 24, has justified its aggression against the former Soviet republic by speaking of a “special military operation” to deliver Ukraine from a fabricated Nazi evil by Vladimir Putin.
Each article was accompanied by a “disclaimer” stating that this content had “not been authorized by management”.
And to add: “In other words, take a screenshot before this content is deleted”.
The act of resistance is spectacular. It was claimed by two young journalists from the newsroom, Egor Polyakov and his colleague Alexandra Miroshnikova, from the economy section of the media. In a brief statement published on the independent news site Zone Media, inaccessible from Russia, Mr. Polyakov said he was guided by his “conscience”. A conscience that seems to be awakening more and more within the Russian journalistic community, even if the scope of such a rebellion still remains very limited.
“We can expect more and more such expressions of opposition as Russia’s economy deteriorates, casualties on the ground mount, and military victory escalates. move away from the horizon,” remarked in an interview with To have to Peter Rutland, scholar of Russian nationalism and professor at Wesleyan University, Connecticut. “But the penalties for dissent are still severe in Russia, reducing the possibility of a mass protest movement breaking out in that country. »
The warning signs of such a movement are still timid, but they are there. On Monday morning, as the Kremlin strongman was in Red Square to celebrate Russia’s Victory Day over Hitler’s Nazi regime in 1945 in pomp and circumstance, the country’s internet-connected televisions began broadcasting unusual messages in the programming schedules, where each time slot displayed the same anti-Putin message: “The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of murdered children is on your hands”, could we read. “Television and the authorities lie. No to war. »
An act of defiance can also be seen that day for a brief moment on the sites and applications of Yandex, the Russian digital giant, as well as in the schedule of the public channels Channel One and Russia 1, which are very popular in this country. The hackers behind the attack have not been disclosed.
“I believe that all opponents of the war must now unite, whatever their opinions,” said the journalist from slow Egor Polyakov, while urging the “potential critics” of power to be heard, too, by “reverse propaganda”.
Monday evening, the two journalists indicated that they were no longer employed by slow. They have since left the country. Without further details.
no longer be silent
“We had to do this to remind everyone what our grandfathers really fought for on this beautiful VE Day — for peace,” Polyakov, in his thirties, added in an interview with the British daily. The Guardian. “Ordinary people are dying, peaceful women and children are dying in Ukraine. And the discourse to which we are exposed indicates that this is not going to stop. We can no longer accept this. »
“These acts of resistance are important, since they signal to other opponents of the war that they are not alone and make them aware that there are ways to oppose the war, while avoiding the risk of repression. They also raise doubts about the pervasive belief that there is majority support in Russia for the war,” comments Paul Goode, an observer of Russian authoritarianism and a professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. “But these acts of resistance are still isolated and infrequent, because Russia is still a dangerous place for independent journalism and has been for several years. »
Last March, the Kremlin passed a series of laws aimed at criminalizing dissent and opposition to its war of invasion in Ukraine. Within this framework, the dissemination of “false information about the army” – read: not aligned with the alternative realities of the Russian presidency – is punishable by fines and 15 years of imprisonment.
To date, 46 people have been charged under these laws; 14 are behind bars.
“Of course I’m scared, summed up Egor Polyakov. I’m not ashamed to admit it. But I knew what I was doing and what the consequences might be. »
A minefield
The outbreak of the Russian war in Ukraine led to the departure of several pro-Kremlin Russian media workers opposed to military censorship. Moscow also silenced the independent media Dozhd TV and Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow), accused of broadcasting “fake news”.
We remember: on March 14, Marina Ovsyannikova, an employee of Channel One, burst into a live television news for a few seconds with a poster calling for an end to the war. “Don’t believe the propaganda, you are being fooled here,” it read. She was fined 30,000 rubles ($560). The journalist has since been hired by the German daily Die Welt as a freelance correspondent.
“It is possible that the Russians will become more engaged and more vocal in the coming months as international sanctions begin to take effect,” said Paul Goode. But it is not yet clear whether this move will undermine Putin’s regime or strengthen opposition to the war. »
And he adds: “Despite restricted access to foreign news and social media since the start of the war, Russians can easily access information from outside the country about the war. So the question is not whether the Russians know what is really going on in Ukraine, but whether they want to know. »