Undertones in Russia: War, propaganda, the West

This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’Civic Media Observatory‘s newsletter. Russian researchers reflect on their country’s media ecosystems and what we can expect in 2023. Whenever you click on a narrative, you will be able to see more analysis and related media posts upholding it.Subscribe to Undertones.

The lives of Ukrainians changed forever on February 24, 2022, when Putin’s regime invaded Ukraine. On the other side of the border, Russian state propaganda escalated, independent media was shut down, and anti-war dissent was violently repressed. In 2023, researchers expect anti-war Russians to question more and more how Russia came to this.

The state’s control over narratives

We have closely followed Russian state narratives from before the invasion, when state actors said the tensions between the two countries weremade upby the West. Since the war broke out, state narratives have hardened and our researchers expect…