The

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

promotes views, perceptions or agendas of the government. The media include state-run outlets and online technologies, and may involve using "Soviet-style '

active measures Active measures () is a term used to describe political warfare conducted by the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The term, which dates back to the 1920s, includes operations such as espionage, propaganda, sabotage and assassination, b ...

' as an element of modern Russian '

political warfare Political warfare is the use of hostile political means to compel an opponent to do one's will. The term ''political'' describes the calculated interaction between a government and a target audience, including another state's government, militar ...

'". Notably, contemporary Russian

promotes the

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader,Cas Mudde, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and positive views of Soviet history. Russia has established a number of organizations, such as the Presidential Commission of the Russian Federation to Counter Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia's Interests (active 2009-2012), the

Russian web brigades Russian web brigades, also called Russian trolls, Russian bots, RUbots, Kremlinbots, or Kremlin trolls are State-sponsored Internet propaganda, state-sponsored anonymous Internet political commentators and Internet troll, trolls linked to the Go ...

, and others that engage in political propaganda to promote the views of the Russian government.

State-sponsored global PR effort

At the end of 2008, Lev Gudkov, based on the

Levada Center The Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history t ...

polling data, pointed out the near-disappearance of

public opinion Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. In the 21st century, public opinion is widely thought to be heavily ...

as a socio-political institution in contemporary Russia and its replacement with state propaganda. Shortly after the

Beslan school hostage crisis The Beslan school siege, also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre, was an Islamic terrorist attack that started on 1 September 2004. It lasted three days, and involved the imprisonment of more than 1,100 peop ...

in September 2004, Putin enhanced a Kremlin-sponsored program aimed at "improving Russia's image" abroad. One of the major projects of the program was the creation in 2005 of Russia Today (now known as RT), an English language TV news channel providing 24-hour news coverage. Towards its start-up budget, $30 million of public funds were allocated. A

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

story on the launch of Russia Today quoted

Boris Kagarlitsky } Boris Yulyevich Kagarlitsky (; born 29 August 1958) is a Russian Marxism, Marxist Political philosophy, theoretician and sociology, sociologist who has been a Dissident, political dissident in the Soviet Union and the Russia, Russian Federation. ...

as saying it was "very much a continuation of the old

Soviet propaganda Propaganda in the Soviet Union was the practice of state-directed communication aimed at promoting class conflict, proletarian internationalism, the goals of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the party itself. The main Soviet cen ...

services". Russia's deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin said in August 2008, in the context of the Russia–Georgia conflict: "

Western media Western media is the mass media of the Western world. During the Cold War, Western media contrasted with Soviet media. Western media has gradually expanded into developing countries (often, non-Western countries) around the world. History T ...

is a well-organized machine, which is showing only those pictures that fit in well with their thoughts. We find it very difficult to squeeze our opinion into the pages of their newspapers."Russia claims media bias
by Nick Holdsworth, ''Variety'', August 2008 In June 2007, ''

Vedomosti ( rus, Ведомости, p=ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ, ) is a Russian-language business daily newspaper published in Moscow. History was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between Dow Jones, who publishes ''The Wall Street Journal''; Pearson, ...

'' reported that the Kremlin had been intensifying its official

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

activities in the United States since 2003, among other things hiring such companies as Hannaford Enterprises and

Ketchum Ketchum may refer to: Places United States * Ketchum, Idaho, a city * Ketchum, Oklahoma, a town * Lake Ketchum, Washington, a census-designated place Antarctica * Ketchum Glacier * Ketchum Ridge Other uses * Ketchum (surname), a surn ...

. In a 2005 interview with U.S government-owned external broadcaster

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

, the Russian-Israeli blogger

Anton Nossik Anton Borisovich Nossik (; 4 July 1966 – 9 July 2017) was a Russian journalist, social activist and blogger (10th place in RuNet according to Yandex.Blogs ranking). Sometimes he is called one of the godfathers of the Russian Internet or the ...

said the creation of RT "smacks of Soviet-style propaganda campaigns". Pascal Bonnamour, the head of the European department of

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

, called the newly announced network "another step of the state to control information".Reporters Without Borders Don't Fancy Russia Today
''

Kommersant (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...

'' October 21, 2005 In 2009,

Luke Harding Luke Daniel Harding (born 21 April 1968) is a British journalist who is a foreign correspondent for ''The Guardian''. He is known for his coverage of Russia under Vladimir Putin, WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden. He was based in Russia for ''Th ...

(then the Moscow correspondent) of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described RT's advertising campaign in the United Kingdom as an "ambitious attempt to create a new post-Soviet global propaganda empire". According to Lev Gudkov, the director of the

, Russia's most well respected polling organization. Putin's Russia's propaganda is "aggressive and deceptive ... worse than anything I witnessed in the Soviet Union". In 2014, Ivan Zassoursky, a professor of Media and Theory of Communications in the Journalism Department of

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

, said, "Today there are many complex schemes of influence in the world that can be labeled as soft power. But traditional thuggish methods of propaganda and direct control used by the Russian government cannot be considered effective from the professional standpoint and acceptable from the viewpoint of journalist morality." Following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, a significant increase in Russian propaganda was noted by

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. In February 2017, a fabricated audio recording of NATO Secretary

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (; born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. Since 2025, he has been the Minister of Finance in the Støre Cabinet. He has previously been the prime minister of Norway and secretary general of NATO. ...

supposedly interacting with Ukrainian President

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

was published by Russian news website Life.ru. The supposed voice of Poroshenko was revealed to be Russian pranksters. Russia has been comparing Ukrainian government forces in Donbas to members of

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

. Political scholar Nikolay Kozhanov has claimed that Russia has used propaganda to convey nationalistic as well as pro-Assad messages during the Syrian Civil War. Kozhanov claims that Russia has made an effort through propaganda to paint Russia and Syria as a stable force "in the struggle against instability caused by the Americans and terrorism supported by the US regional partners". RT and

Sputnik Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space progra ...

news agency are also spreading false information.. In the downing of

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian-backed forces with a Buk missile system, Bu ...

, the

Bellingcat Bellingcat (stylised bell¿ngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British citizen journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in Ju ...

website of

Eliot Higgins Eliot Ward Higgins (born January 1979), who previously wrote under the pseudonym Brown Moses, is a British citizen journalist and former blogger, known for using open sources and social media for investigations. He is the founder of Bellingcat ...

gave evidence about the manipulation of satellite images released by the

Russian Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Commander-in-Chief of the forces ...

which was used by RT and Sputnik news agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Putin at Obukhovskiy zavod

Continuing Russian propaganda led to several people experiencing the denial of their experience of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, even by family members from the other side of the information iron curtain. Russian state-controlled

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

systematically downplayed both civilian and military losses, denouncing reports of attacks on civilians as "fake" or blaming Ukrainian forces. Although the 1993 Russian Constitution has an article expressly prohibiting

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

, the Russian censorship apparatus ''

Roskomnadzor The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN), is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, controlling and censoring Russian mass media. ...

'' ordered the country's media to only employ information from Russian state sources or face fines and blocks, accusing a number of independent media outlets of spreading "unreliable socially significant untrue information" about the shelling of Ukrainian cities by the Russian army and civilian deaths.

Dmitry Muratov Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov (; born 29 October 1961) is a Russian journalist, television presenter and the former editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper . He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Maria Ressa for "their efforts to ...

, the editor-in-chief of the Russian independent newspaper ''

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' (, ) is an independent Russian newspaper. It is known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs, the Chechen wars, corruption among the ruling elite, and increasing authoritarianism i ...

'', said, "Everything that's not propaganda is being eliminated." According to researchers, Russia has intensified international propaganda-efforts targeting

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Increases in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

-language pro-Russian propaganda was detected during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Russia has been accused of amplifying anti-Western post-colonial grievances in Africa through disinformation campaigns. Partly due to Russian efforts, pro-Moscow sentiments and blaming the West for the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

has become mainstream in much of Africa.

Notable Russian propagandists

Dmitry Kiselyov Dmitry Konstantinovich Kiselyov (; born April 26, 1954) is a Russian TV presenter and propagandist. In 2013, Kiselyov was appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to head '' Rossiya Segodnya'', a Russian state-controlled media group. He ...

, TV host and

Rossiya Segodnya MIA Rossiya Segodnya (; ) is a media group owned and operated by the Russian government, created on the basis of RIA Novosti. The group owns and operates Sputnik, RIA Novosti, inoSMI and several other entities. The head of the organisation is ...

news agency General Director (under sanctions imposed by Australia) *

Margarita Simonyan Margarita Simonovna Simonyan (born 6 April 1980) is a Russian media executive. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT,RT (formerly Russia Today) and ''

'' *

Mikhail Leontyev Mikhail Vladimirovich Leontyev (; born 12 October 1958) is a Russian political commentator currently working on national TV Channel One. He is known for his program "''Odnako''" () (Translated "However" or "Still"), irregularly appearing on a ...

, Channel One host (under sanctions imposed by Australia) * Vladimir Solovyov, anchor on the television show ''

Evening with Vladimir Solovyov Evening with Vladimir Solovyov () is a Russian television talk show on Russia-1. The television show is hosted by Vladimir Solovyov, a controversial Russian television personality. Controversies In August 2017, the Russia-1 and RTR-Planeta t ...

'' on

Russia-1 Russia-1 () is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship channel of the All-Russia ...

(The United Kingdom and the European Union sanctioned Solovyov for inciting violence and undermining Ukraine's sovereignty) *

Olga Skabeyeva Olga Vladimirovna Skabeyeva (; born 11 December 1984) is a Russian television presenter and political commentator, commonly described as a governmental propagandist. Skabeyeva received the nickname "Iron Doll of Putin TV" due to her criticism o ...

, television presenter on

All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR) or Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, also known as Russia Television and Radio, is a national State media, state-owned broadcaster which operates many television and ...

* Yevgeny Popov, television presenter on All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company * Dmitry Steshin, war correspondent for the ''

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...

'' tabloid newspaper (under sanctions imposed by UK and Australia) * Alexander Kots, war correspondent for the ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' tabloid newspaper (under sanctions imposed by UK and Australia) *

Evgeniy Poddubny Evgeniy Evgenyevich Poddubny (; born August 22, 1983) is a Russian war correspondent, propagandist, and special correspondent for the ''Russia-24'' and ''Russia-1'' television channels. He was born in Belgorod, and received a master's degree in ps ...

, special correspondent for ''Russia-24'' and ''Russia-1'' television channels (under sanctions imposed by UK and Australia) *

Alexander Sladkov Alexander Valeryevich Sladkov (; born April 1, 1966) is a prominent Russian military correspondent and a special correspondent for the ''Izvestia'' program. Biography Sladkov graduated from Kurgan Higher Military-Political Aviation School in ...

, special correspondent for the

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...

program * Semen Pegov, military project ''WarGonzo'' author *

Igor Shchyogolev Igor Olegovich Shchyogolev (; ; born 10 November 1965) is a Russian politician. From May 2008 to 20 May 2012, he has served as the Russian Minister of Telecommunications. He has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active Stat ...

Ekaterina Mizulina Ekaterina Mikhailovna Mizulina (; born September 1, 1984) is a Russian public figure, executive director of the National Center for Children's Assistance (2017–2020), member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, head of the Safe In ...

Svetlana Mironyuk Svetlana Vasiliyevna Mironyuk (Russian: Светлана Васильевна Миронюк) is a Russian top manager who is currently a Professor of Business Practice, Innovation catalyst and Dean for Operations and Digital at SKOLKOVO School ...

Use of social media

Russia has been accused of using

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

platforms to spread messages of propaganda to a global audience by spreading

fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

as well as putting out advertisements and creating pseudo-activist movements. The popularity of Sputnik on social media and its use of viral,

clickbait Clickbait (also known as link bait or linkbait) is a text or a thumbnail hyperlink, link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow ("click") that link and view, read, stream or listen to the linked piece of online cont ...

headlines has led it to be described as "the

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

of Propaganda" by ''

Foreign Policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

'' magazine. Russia was accused by the US authorities for efforts to spread fake news and propaganda in an attempt to meddle in the

2016 US presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and ...

. Russia is alleged to have used tactics such as creating fraudulent social media accounts, organization of political rallies and online political advertisements in an effort to help Republican presidential nominee

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

win the election. Senior executives of American social media platforms made an effort to counter alleged Russian propaganda by deleting automated accounts and alerting users of the presence of alleged misinformation on their platforms and interactions users may have had. In January 2017,

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

estimated that approximately 677,000 users had "interacted with Russian propaganda or bots during the 2016 campaign". Three weeks later Twitter officials said that it is probably more than 1.4 million users were exposed to content stemming from these accounts. In 2018, Twitter deleted approximately 200,000 tweets that were found to have stemmed from accounts linked to Russia. On October 31, 2017, executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter testified on Russia's alleged use of social media in the 2016 election, before the

House Intelligence Committee The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Rick Crawford. It is the primary comm ...

. In an effort to combat fake news,

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

announced a plan in January 2018 to attempt to highlight reliable sources of news. On May 17, 2017, Deputy Attorney General

Rod Rosenstein Rod Jay Rosenstein (; born January 13, 1965) is an American attorney who served as the 37th United States Deputy Attorney General, United States deputy attorney general from 2017 to 2019. Prior to his appointment, he served as a United States a ...

appointed former FBI Director

Robert Mueller Robert Swan Mueller III (; born August 7, 1944) is an American lawyer who served as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013. A graduate of Princeton University and New York University, Mueller served a ...

to serve as special counsel to the

US Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

in an investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. On February 16, 2018, The

indicted thirteen Russian nationals and three Russian companies on charges of attempting to influence the 2016 election in support of the Trump Campaign. Among the organizations indicted was the

Internet Research Agency The Internet Research Agency (IRA; ; 2013-2023), also known as ''Glavset'' (, ), and known in Russian Internet slang as the Trolls from Olgino () or Kremlinbots (), was a Russian company which was engaged in online propaganda and influence ...

(IRA; active 2013-2023), a St. Petersburg based company that was said to use social media to spread fake news promoting Russian interests. The indictment claims that employees of the IRA were urged to "use any opportunity to criticize Hillary linton. Russia has been accused of engaging in propaganda campaigns in an effort to sway public opinion concerning the nation's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Russian social media operations were allegedly undertaken to use misinformation to appeal to pro-Russian forces in Crimea, while discrediting rebel and separatist groups. Notably, a false story was spread throughout social media of a young child being crucified by Ukrainian forces in Slovyansk. The Ukrainian government also banned several Russian internet services, including the popular social media network,

Vkontakte (short for its original name ''VKontakte''; , meaning ''InContact'') is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. VK is available in multiple languages but it is predominantly used by Russian speake ...

, which has been criticized as being censorship, affecting millions of Ukrainians.

Propaganda in education

Since coming to power in 2000, Putin and his government promoted the idea of "patriotic education" in educational reforms in order to spread propaganda and increase the loyalty to the regime. Putin has insisted that students learn patriotic values in schools, that lessons in history, languages and the arts should inspire pride among youth and strengthen their "patriotism". At first, these efforts to bring about educational changes had limited success, however, after the Annexation of Crimea in 2014, according to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', the "patriotic" reforms and the emphasis on patriotism has grown, while freedom of speech in schools declined, and teachers also became more likely to be fired for publicly expressing political views. The national Russian symbols became more celebrated, and in 2014, the Russian government approved a new set of history textbooks, which featured a revised narrative of historical events and praised Putin's achievements and the annexation of Crimea. On 21 May 2020, ''The Moscow Times'' reported that Russian President

made another effort to introduce "patriotic lessons" for Russian students. Following the

in February 2022, the Russian government increased their efforts to introduce "patriotic education" into schools by passing new education laws, revising school textbooks, and introducing teaching guides that help teachers deliver "patriotic" lessons which would justify the invasion. In September 2022, the Ministry of Education rolled out a series of compulsory lesson plans, developed in large part by Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov, titled ''

Conversations about Important Things ''Conversations about Important Things'' (, ), or ''Important Conversations'' for short, is a name for a series of compulsory school lessons in Russia that covers various topics from the Russian government's perspective, such as national ident ...

'' (, , or ''Important Conversations'' for short). ''Important Conversations'' includes lessons on "patriotism" taught to children beginning at the age of six such as "the happiness of the motherland is more precious than life", that "a true patriot should be ready to defend the country", and "it's not scary to die for the motherland". It also teaches children about Russian heroes such as Soviet cosmonaut

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

, and covers various topics from the Russian government's perspective, such as national identity, patriotism, traditional values and world events. Putin hosted an inaugural lesson with selected students in the Russian exclave of

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

, on 1 September 2022. The ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

'' reported that some parents were shocked by the

militaristic Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

nature of ''Important Conversations'' lessons, with some comparing them to the "patriotic education" of the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Some Russian students and their parents have been investigated by the police, or threatened with expulsion, for refusing to attend the ''Important Conversations'' lessons. In the first week of March, Russian schools held an "All-Russia Open Lesson", a virtual lesson to further justify the need to wage war on Ukraine and the "danger" of NATO (see

disinformation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine As part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian state and state-controlled media have spread disinformation in their information war against Ukraine. Ukrainian media and politicians have also been accused of using propaganda and dec ...

). The

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

also distributed manuals to teachers, instructing them on how to discuss the war, including an "approved" version of the conflict. One manual explicitly claims Russia's war in Ukraine "is not a war". Russian teachers faced prosecution for expressing anti-war views in and outside the classroom. Putin signed legislation expanding Russia's foreign agent law. Under the expansions, any persons or organizations who receive support of any type, not just financial, are added to a Justice Ministry list of "foreign agents". "Foreign agents" are barred from receiving state funding, teaching at state universities, or working with children. The Roskomnadzor was given the authority to block "foreign agent" websites at the Justice Ministry's request without need for a court order. In Summer of 2022, Putin approved the creation of nationwide children's and youth movement modeled after the Soviet pioneer organisations.

Reactions

Due to the propaganda in the Russian Federation, the

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service in charge of executing all Foreign relations of the European Union, international relations of the European Union. The EEAS is led by the Vice-President of the European Co ...

founded the

East StratCom Task Force The East StratCom Task Force (ESCTF or ESTF) is a part of the European External Action Service, focused on "effective communication" and promotion of European Union activities in Eastern Europe (including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Mol ...

in 2015 to count and display cases of untruths propagated in Russia about the EU and its member states. According to

Mykola Riabchuk Mykola Riabchuk (; born September 27, 1953) is a Ukrainian public intellectual, journalist, political analyst, Literary criticism, literary critic, translator and writer. Riabchuk is known for his analytical articles and essays on Ukrainian poli ...

, Ukrainian journalist and political analyst, the Russian propaganda evolved into a full-fledged

information war Information warfare (IW) is the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. It is different from ''cyberwarfare'' that attacks computers, software, and ...

during the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. Riabchuk writes: "Three major narratives emerged that can be summed up as 'Ukraine's borders are artificial', 'Ukraine's society is deeply divided', and 'Ukrainian institutions are irreparably dysfunctional'", thus needing "external, apparently Russian, guardianship". During a hearing in the US Congress in 2015, Leon Aron, director of Russian studies at the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...

, described the Russian-sponsored TV network RT (formerly known as Russia Today) as not only promoting the Russian "brand", but aiming to "devalue the ideas of democratic transparency and responsibility, undermine the belief in the reliability of public information and fill the airwaves with half-truths". He described Russian state propaganda as "aggressive, often subtle, and effective in its use of the Internet".

Peter Pomerantsev Peter Pomerantsev (; born Pyotr Igorevich Pomerantsev, ; born 1977) is a Soviet-born British journalist, author and TV producer. He is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics, where he co-directs the ...

, a British TV producer, in his 2014 book ''Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible'', argues that the propaganda's goals are not to convince, as in the classical propaganda, but to make an information field "dirty" so people would trust nobody. Discussing the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014,

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

, referred to RT as a state-sponsored "propaganda bullhorn" and continued, " network has deployed to promote president Putin's fantasy about what is playing out on the ground. They almost spend full-time devoted to this effort, to propagandize, and to distort what is happening or not happening in Ukraine." Cliff Kincaid, the director of

Accuracy in Media Accuracy in Media (AIM) is an American non-profit conservative news media watchdog founded in 1969 by economist Reed Irvine. AIM supported the Vietnam War and blamed media bias for the U.S. loss in the war. During the Reagan administration, ...

's Center for Investigative Journalism, called RT "the well-known disinformation outlet for Russian propaganda". Members of European parliament have argued that Europe needs to strengthen its defense against Russian propaganda citing alleged Russian meddling in French, German and Spanish elections as well as

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

. In March 2015, The East Stratcom Task Force was created with the backing of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

in order to counter Russian efforts to spread misinformation and fake news. On 14 March 2022,

Marina Ovsyannikova Marina Vladimirovna Ovsyannikova (, ; (); born 19 June 1978) is a Russian journalist who was employed on the Channel One Russia television channel. She worked for Russia's main evening newscast ''Vremya'' on Channel One since the beginning of t ...

, an editor for Russia's main state-controlled TV station Channel One, interrupted the television's live broadcast to protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, carrying a poster stating in a mix of Russian and English: "Stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, here you are being lied to." On 5 April 2022, Russia's opposition politician

Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (, ; 4 June 197616 February 2024) was a Russian Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposition leader, anti-corruption in Russia, corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Found ...

said the "monstrosity of lies" in the

Russian state media Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

"is unimaginable. And, unfortunately, so is its persuasiveness for those who have no access to alternative information." He tweeted that "warmongers" among Russian state media personalities "should be treated as war criminals. From the editors-in-chief to the talk show hosts to the news editors,

hey Hey, HEY, or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the ...

should be sanctioned now and tried someday."

References

External links

*
Общественное мнение против Путина
("Public opinion is anti-Putin"), article by Russian sociologist * * {{Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections Politics of Russia Anti-American sentiment in Russia Anti-Western sentiment Russo-Ukrainian War

State-sponsored global PR effort

Notable Russian propagandists

Use of social media

Propaganda in education

Reactions

See also

References

External links