Weekly analysis of russian propaganda in the Kherson region (September 5-9, 2022)


The analysis was carried out of publications of pro-russian channels in Telegram and news sites focusing on the Kherson region's audience from September 5 to 9, 2022. 

Each piece of news is evaluated in terms of a category: 

  1. Influence of foreign partners on Ukraine (as a negative factor, "Ukraine dances to someone else's tune"), 
  2. Justification of (own military) failures of the russian federation, 
  3. Discrediting of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 
  4. Discrediting of Ukrainian authorities, 
  5. Aid (as a bribe of people in the occupied territories), 
  6. Propaganda (greatness and invincibility of the russian federation), 
  7. Successes of the russian army, 
  8. Blackmail (threats to do something terrible to Ukraine), 
  9. Improvement (in the occupied territories thanks to the arrival of the russian rederation) in the opinion of the russian federation.
  10. Referendum
  11. Hunting for partisans and supporters of Ukraine. 
  12. Negotiations 

The news appeared in all russian media that the ministry of the interior of Russia has begun to reward one million rubles for information about "war criminals". At the same time, there are more and more announcements and information about the abduction of residents of the Kherson region who support Ukraine, regardless of age or gender, in Ukrainian publications and mass media. The more defeats on the part of the russians, the more they take out their anger on the peaceful population. 

News about the referendum also began to appear (7%). There were opinions that conducting it may not be necessary, but it is simply possible to take over the "liberated" territories to russia. But more news is about the new date of the referendum. It is November 4. There was news about a "sociological survey". According to his results, a large number of residents of Kherson and Zaporizhia regions "agree to join russia", but this percentage is slightly lower than the previous one. 

A large percentage of articles fell into the category "Improvements in the opinion of the russian federation" (23%). This category includes news about the opening of schools, universities, libraries, factories, and about the desire of russian retailers to enter the Kherson region market. There is a lot of news about free medicine and dentistry, but you need to get a "SNILS" number - an insurance number of an individual personal account of the russian federation. 

Articles from the category "Help"  (10%). It tells about the intense activity of representatives of the political party "united russia", who deliver and distribute humanitarian aid. The percentage of news in the category "Propaganda" is 11%. It describes holding various types of meetings and events. The main thoughts of this news are "Kherson is a russian city", that "Kherson's accession to the russian federation should have taken place back in 2014, together with Crimea". 

The category "Discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine" (21%) should be singled out separately. russian mass media write that the Armed Forces of Ukraine fires on residential and civilian buildings. But it is already known that russian soldiers like to hide their equipment next to civilian objects, taking cover with them. 

Information about the large number of casualties in the Ukrainian army is popular in the russian mass media. They do not like to admit their defeats, and write about the continuation of the battle. 

A small percentage of news is in the category "Negotiations"(2%). The publications are aggressive and suggest ways to induce Zelensky to negotiate.

Improvement in the opinion of the russian federation 23
Discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine 21
Propaganda 11
Help 10
Successes of the russian army 8
Referendum 7
Discrediting of Ukrainian Authorities 6
Demoralization of the russian army 4
Hunting 4
Negotiations 2
Blackmail and threats 2
Influence of foreign partners on Ukraine 0

More detailed information will be in the monthly report.