Report based on the results of the analysis of russian propaganda for September 2022

We present to your attention an analysis of russian propaganda for September 2022, primarily aimed at residents of the Kherson region. 

As there is no Ukrainian connection on the territory of the temporarily occupied Kherson region, and the Internet goes through russia, so it is censored as much as possible. Ukrainian news sites cannot be opened without a VPN. russian propaganda works through russian television, russian newspapers, russian Telegram channels, and websites.

The report analyzes more than 2,000 publications on thematic russian Telegram channels, with a total audience of 233,830 subscribers. The average reach of publications on all channels is 190,100. 

The detailed report is available for download; a brief overview of analysis is below.

The key events of September were the announcement by the president of russia of partial mobilization, the recognition of defeats in the northern direction of Ukraine, russia's holding and recognition of a pseudo-referendum in the occupied territories, and the active actions of the Ukrainian army in the southern direction.

How the russian mass media call Ukrainians

The mood and topics of the news changed during four weeks. Everything started moderately; the occupation authorities in the occupied territories engaged in propaganda of the russian federation's greatness, got rid of Ukrainian symbols, "re-educated" Ukrainian teachers to russian "standards", supplied "correct" school books to the Kherson region. The propagandists were proud of the help and support they could provide to the residents of the occupied territories. They began to talk about the negotiations between the russian federation and Ukraine, but in this news the USA was suggested to force Volodymyr Zelenskyi to sit at the negotiating table. In the second week, hints at negotiations were aggressive; they hoped for negotiations exclusively on russia's terms. At the end of the second week, there was no news or thoughts about the negotiations. 

The more active the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were, the more news appeared about the successes of the russian army. These news were about a brutal response to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, about a large number of dead Ukrainian soldiers and defeated equipment. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are portrayed in the кussian news as brutes who deliberately fire on the civilian population. 

The more successes the Armed Forces of Ukraine achieve in the Kherson region, the more the occupying authorities terrorize the civilian population. A chatbot was created in Telegram, where you can send information about the location or movement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and partisans. Now, you can also send information about supporters of Ukraine and Russophobes to this chatbot. In the last two weeks, there has been an opinion in the pro-russian public that "something" should be done with those waiting for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

In September, the russian media have recognized that this is not just a "special operation" that should have ended a long time ago, but that it is a real war with significant human losses. During the second and third weeks, the news finds a great enemy (the USA), which will not be so easy to resist, it is not just a war with Ukraine. And now, it is necessary to take new forced steps, such as partial mobilization. 

More detailed information with corresponding diagrams is in the report (pdf, ~ 2 Мб)