TRUE OR FAKE: has Russia taken a new step in disinformation with the war in Ukraine?

A year of war in Ukraine is also a year of false information. Along with the artillery fire, Russia is waging a disinformation war, sometimes quiet, sometimes crude. From the beginning of the war, the Kremlin denied the very reality of the event, by forbidding to speak about war under penalty of prison. The term used is “special operation“. According to Elsa Vidal, editor-in-chief of RFI’s Russian language service, it allows “minimize“the situation, and of”make it understood that from the Russian point of view, this is not an operation that takes place outside the borders”.

Ukraine, a playground for disinformation

Ukraine then becomes the playground of disinformation. The first discrepancy between the facts and the Russian announcements took place on March 9, 2022 at Mariupol (Ukraine). The maternity ward is bombed, and several civilians are killed or injured. Russia’s responsibility is documented, but the country then accuses a victim, a pregnant woman, of being an actress. With each attack on civilians, the Kremlin talks about staging, accuses the Ukrainian army or says it wants “denazify” his enemy. This argument targets the ultra-nationalist regiment Azovbut takes the opportunity to accuse the entire army or government and legitimize the invasion. Faced with the steamroller of misinformation, Ukraine has also spread disinformation. However, Ukrainian propaganda remains very far from the systemic character of that of the Kremlin.

“In authoritarian regimes, particularly in Russia, public speech is staged. (…) Political speech is an instrument of war, it is not a means of describing reality or history.analyzes Elsa Vidal. The language elements of the Kremlin are then relayed massively on the Internet, by pro-Russian disinformation networks. If lying has always been a weapon of war, with the conflict in Ukraine, Russia has taken a new step.