May 2, 2022
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/951246
Introduction:
Conclusion:(EurekAlert) A study of thousands of stories from media outlets churning out propaganda in Ukraine’s Donbas in the years after Russia’s first invasion suggests that the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign has long neglected any coherent or convincing messaging to foster support for Russia in the war-torn region.
After 2014, when news media in the so-called “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk that make up much of Donbas were forcibly taken over by Russian-backed insurgents, efforts to instil a pro-Russian “identity” were lazy and half-baked, and dwindled to nothing within months.
This is according to University of Cambridge researcher Dr Jon Roozenbeek, who says that – based on his analysis of over four years of media content – such limited efforts likely had little effect on the consciousness of Russian-speaking Ukrainians in Donbas.
“Putin has severely underestimated the strength of Ukrainian national identity, even in Donbas, and overestimated the power of his propaganda machine on the occupied areas of Ukraine.”
Roozenbeek’s research was conducted for his PhD between 2016 and 2020, and will feature in his forthcoming book ‘Influence, Information and War in Ukraine’, due out next year as part of the Society for the Psychology Study of Social Issues book series Contemporary Social Issues, published by Cambridge University Press.
