For weeks, ordinary Russians have been bombarded with TV reports designed to convince them that the “special operation” in Ukraine is both going well and morally justified. Here’s what we saw during a day’s viewing...
BREAKFAST TV: MORNING IN RUSSIA
Viewers switching on their TVs from 5am are greeted with scenes of apparent devastation broadcast on one of the country’s most popular TV channels. But the carnage wasn’t in Ukrainian cities besieged by Russian troops.
In one clip, locals in Donetsk, held since 2014 by pro-Moscow rebels, lay flowers after civilians were reportedly killed “by Ukrainian aggression” in a missile attack that destroyed cars and public transport.
One local woman tells the camera crew, “it’s scary, this is the centre of the city, it’s supposed to be the safest place.” Western governments and international observers are yet to verify the incident actually happened.
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LIVE NEW S: RUSSIA 24
The country’s go-to for rolling news, Russia 24 plays on screens everywhere from bars to airport lounges.
Today it leads it’s lunchtime slot with a live broadcast from a press conference with General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s radiological, chemical and biological warfare unit.
The top officer claims Ukraine has “30 biological laboratories” that were set up by the US as part of a secret weapons programme, which he insisted is a “threat” to ordinary Russians.
WHO IS AGAINST US? ROSSIYA-1
On Who is against us?, an afternoon show on the Kremlin’s flagship current affairs outlet, Rossiya-1, a ‘debate’ is held between commentators in which they attempt to take apart the arguments against Putin’s war.
According to the host, veteran media personality Dmitry Kulikov, the key question is to determine whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “good enough” to be allowed to remain in power and head up the “regime”, despite purported Ukrainian attacks in the Donbass.
Featuring footage from the scene of the supposed rocket strike in Donetsk, guests one by one condemn Kyiv’s leader as a “dictator” and a “madman.”
ROLLING NEWS: ROSSIYA-1
Throughout the day, producers at the news channel flash up clips of Russian jets soaring through the skies and taking out what they describe as Ukrainian military targets.
One graphic repeatedly shown to viewers indicates that the war is going in Moscow’s favour, insisting 156 Ukrainian aircraft and pieces of aviation equipment and 1,306 tanks and other armour had been destroyed.
No mention is made of the country’s own losses, despite Kyiv reporting thousands of pieces of hardware taken out by weaponry provided by the West.
Other shots allege that Russian soldiers have captured anti-tank weapons, including American-made Javelins and British NLAWs handed out to Ukrainian forces as part of lend lease deals.
FACTS: RUSSIA 24
A primetime evening show designed to dispel ‘myths’ and rebut criticism of government policy, on Tuesday night Facts aired footage of rallies in support of Putin’s war, with half a dozen demonstrators flying Russian flags and those of Ukraine’s breakaway Donbass republics.
Host Dmitry Shchugorev said that the clips disproved the “campaign of mass disinformation” supposedly coming from the West and show that Russians actually support the ‘special operation.’
NAVY SEALS: RUPTLY
Ruptly, Russia’s international news network, based in Berlin, on Monday published a major video report on the country’s ‘navy seals,’ featuring two of the marine mammals dressed in army berets and pirouetting with fake assault rifle.
Director of Baikal aquarium Evgeniy Baranov told Ruptly TV: “The seals were intended to provoke some patriotic feelings, and readiness to defend their Homeland.”
