ZaTV/TavriaTV/Marioepol24A selection of TV programs
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 18:50
Chiem Balduk
Foreign editor
Chiem Balduk
Foreign editor
“The shelves are stocked, you can get everything here!” Presenter Miroslawa walks through a supermarket in the Zaporizhia region. In the local news she shows that the store is in perfect order. The young girl is one of the stars of ZaTV, a recently launched pro-Russian TV channel in occupied southern Ukraine.
After conquering southern Ukraine, the Russians quickly set up pro-Kremlin stations. Next to ZaTV are the channels TavriaTV (Kerson region) and Mariupol24. The propaganda channels provide a unique insight into life in the occupied regions, where ‘Russification’ is being worked on despite the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The propaganda channels are an important weapon in the Russian war in Ukraine, says media researcher Roman Osadchuk of think tank Atlantic Council. “Information is the oil of the age. Although, it may be even more valuable.” The propaganda has a clear goal: to instill in the population love for Russia and to put Ukraine in a bad light.
Many of the programs focus on unification with Russia. Everything is and will be better under Russian rule, is the message. The tone in the programs is incredibly positive. For example, entire news items are devoted to the simple fact that the pharmacy is functioning properly.
Reverse reality
At the same time, Ukraine is constantly blackmailed. There is consistent talk of the “Kiev regime” and the “Ukrofascists” In one report – according to the propagandists – Nazi books are discovered in a former Ukrainian library, as proof that the Zelensky government is no good. And in the series Zona Okkoepatsi is told every week how hard life is in the city of Kherson, since it was back in Ukrainian hands.
The aim is for the population to accept the Russian occupation.
Roman Osadchuk, researcher
Reality is simply turned upside down. While the International Criminal Court has issued an international arrest warrant against President Putin for abducting Ukrainian children to Russian territory, on TavriaTV presented an opposite story. Not Russia, but Ukraine would kidnap children on a large scale.
The programs barely mention the Ukrainian counter-offensive. After all, that undermines the message that the territories belong to Russia. “These media want to create an image that the current situation is irreversible, and that people have to accept the new situation,” says Osadchuk.
The images show that this Russification continues in full force. School children have to sing the Russian national anthem at the top of their lungs, while a large Russian flag is hung outside. A history program explains to the people that the region belongs to Russia and extols the Soviet past. “Today’s children have to understand that the fatherland is our home,” a red-clad student says in a report about patriotism.
Prigozhin’s accomplice
The three TV channels were set up by Saint Petersburg media mogul Aleksandr Malkevich, a confidant of the Kremlin. He founded TV channels more often in his career. Malkevich even made it the Russian version of the Guinness Book of Records by setting up a media company in the republic of Karachay-Cherkessia in a record time of 146 days.
From research by the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) emerges that Malkevich maintained close ties with the slain Wagner boss Prigozhin. Commissioned by him, he left for the United States in 2018 to set up an English-language medium. Soon he landed on the American sanction list because he would have attempted the midterminfluence elections.
Telegram @alexandr_malkevichMalkevich in one of his TV studios in occupied territory
The Russian invasion offered Malkevich new career opportunities. Shortly after the raid, he went as a ‘volunteer’ to southern Ukraine, where Russian soldiers had taken over local TV channels. In the largely destroyed Mariupol, he moved into one of the intact buildings. “By directly taking over media, fake news could be spread, such as the message that Ukraine had surrendered,” says researcher Osadchuk.
Money does not seem to be a problem: according to the RSF study, employees are recruited for a monthly salary of four times the (Russian) average. It is more complicated to find suitable personnel. Local journalists have fled or refused to collaborate. Some of the ‘journalists’ have come over from Saint Petersburg, according to RSF. Staff were also recruited locally. Among them are girls only 15 and 16 years old, Malkevich proudly reports on his Telegram channel.
How effective?
The influence of the propaganda channels is probably not very great, thinks researcher Osadchuk. “Online reach is low, sometimes thousands of viewers.” It is unclear how many viewers the analogue channels attract. In rural areas, the elderly often hardly have the means to consume other media via the internet, “but it will also succeed there in 2023”.
Osadchuk also doubts whether the deluge of pro-Russian propaganda will turn many residents anti-Ukrainian. “After all, media is not math. It’s not that after watching the pro-Russian newscast ten times you are suddenly brainwashed. It doesn’t work that way.”
2023-09-02 16:50:50
#inverted #reality #Russian #media #occupied #Ukraine
