Iryna Avramenko: Hidden Russian propaganda was traced in parental guidance, place names and even fonts

Russian culture is an instrument of the hybrid war that Russia is waging not only against Ukraine, but also against democracy in the world. According to the writer Oksana Zabuzhko, it is a camouflage net for Russian tanks. Long before the full-scale invasion, the illegal occupation of Donbas and the annexation of Crimea, one could freely buy Russian books, listen to Russian music and watch Russian films in Ukraine.

But what can I say, even in Kosovo, which unequivocally supports Ukraine in the war with Russia, at festivals and concerts one can often hear the music of Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and other Russian composers. The organizers say: “What’s wrong with this? This is music, not politics!”

The Geopost continues to present the book “Deconstructors of Truth”, created by Ukrainian authors: Natalia Steblina, Doctor of Political Science, Professor of the Department of Journalism and Social Communications at Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University, and Iryna Avramenko, journalist and media expert at the Pylyp Orlyk Institute of Democracy.

This analytical work examines the methods and narratives of Kremlin propaganda in the so-called opposition Russian media.

The first part of the conversation is available here. The text of the speakers has been edited for clarity of translation.

Full interview (Part Two)

Iryna Avramenko: I would like to touch on the issue of the level of media literacy of our population. The fact is that many people consider themselves media literate. For example, if they see a note that the President of Ukraine Zelensky allegedly stole a boy in his panties and hid him in biolaboratories, and understand that this is a fake, then they are already media literate.

In fact, no. For a long time, we have been experiencing, so to speak, the weaponization of the cultural and everyday space. The term “weaponization” means turning into a weapon (from the English weapon). Everything was turned into a weapon: culture, books, films, festivals, monuments, even children’s toys. All of this, one way or another, contained signs of propaganda. For example, the films “Brother 2” or “The Boy’s Word”.

We all had books by classics of Russian literature, works of culture, and music on our shelves.

There are still discussions about whether it is worth renaming the Tchaikovsky Music Academy in Kyiv. Even now (in the third year of the Great War – Ed.) I sometimes see mothers showing their children the Russian cartoon “Masha and the Bear”.

Musical institutions, theaters, children’s cartoons… School textbooks and even national cuisine were turned into weapons. It is worth remembering how the Russians tried to appropriate the Ukrainian traditional dish borscht. Hidden Russian propaganda was traced in parental instructions, place names and even in fonts.

I recently told a training that a font is also a kind of weapon. And today, when the fonts were changed in the Kyiv metro, it was also important, because there are Ukrainian fonts developed by our authors.

The church has long become a weapon in the hands of Russian propagandists.

Also, a danger that few people are aware of is holidays. Previously, a common cultural and everyday space was created at the expense of a single ecstasy during the celebration of May 9, March 8, February 23. Today, when the Kremlin propagandists realized that this no longer works, they come up with new “common” holidays.

We see on social networks how everyone starts to celebrate Sons’ Day, Daughters’ Day or something similar. But a Google check shows that this day is celebrated only in Russia, nowhere else. Almost everything that the Kremlin’s political strategists can reach, they turn into a weapon.

By the way, Ms. Natalia asked how we managed to get rid of the Pushkin monument so quickly in Dnipro. The other day in Kryvyi Rih they got rid of Pushkin and Lermontov, if I’m not mistaken.

As for literature, there is much to be said here, but I would like to draw attention to this. All Russian literature, starting with Tretyakov and Sumarokov, originated as “loyal subject”. I was surprised when I learned that Dostoevsky wrote odes to the emperor. At first he was sent to hard labor for participating in some rebellions. And in hard labor, I think, he was morally broken. He returned and wrote loyal subject odes to the death of Emperor Nicholas I. That is, he approved of the militaristic ideas of the autocracy!

I am already silent about Pushkin. He is the singer of the empire – I did not come up with such a label for him. Even Tchaikovsky, whom everyone loves so much, also created for the benefit of the Russian Empire. For example, in the ballet “Swan Lake” there is “Russian Dance”. I have always wondered why this concert number sometimes appears in the ballet, then disappears in some productions. There is a version that when the ballet was already ready, Tchaikovsky was asked to insert this number into the libretto. Then there was another war, and to raise the patriotic spirit, the composer was asked to quickly write “Russian Dance”.

All Russian culture has always served Russia. This is a fact. Secondly, practically all Russian culture consists of names that do not belong to Russia. These are talents taken by the empire from among the talents of enslaved peoples. That is why Ms. Natalya and I emphasize in our articles the need to decolonize Russia’s cultural heritage. These names must be returned to the peoples to whom they belong.

Russian figures who are now welcomed in the West, who are given platforms, who make money on the blood of Ukrainians, should talk about this. Instead, we see that they advocate the lifting of sanctions, saying that it is wrong to “cancel” Russian culture. They take the position of a victim. This is an indicator that they, at least for now, are not our friends, but rather the opposite.

The Geopost: Russian propaganda is constantly changing, mimicking, adapting to new realities and coming up with new messages. And we, Ukrainians, have to keep repeating the same thing all the time, that Ukraine is an independent, self-governing state, that Ukrainians are an ancient nation that existed long before the Russian Empire. How can we keep up in this situation, be equal fighters against Russian propaganda, because it is always one step ahead?

Natalia Steblina: Indeed, there has been a discussion around this issue for a long time. How should we respond to Russian propaganda – should it be counter-propaganda or just quality journalism? I personally defend the second position. It is difficult, but it is important for us to find professional tools, ethical ways to counteract such attacks. And undoubtedly, if we talk about what else can be done, it is to influence our key audiences abroad as much as possible.

Here we really lose. Russia created all these “Russian houses” and other organizations a very, very long time ago. Unfortunately, we did nothing, we were more concerned with our own internal problems. Therefore, the first step should be a high-quality professional response to all these accusations. The second step is to expand our audiences abroad as much as possible, study their needs, interests, and talk, perhaps not so much about ourselves as about how Russia has harmed them.

As Ms. Iryna already said, this is decolonization or, in other words, postcolonial criticism, which Eva Thomson writes a lot about. She was one of the first to start decolonizing Russian literature. Russians themselves will not decolonize their “great Russian literature”. We — Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Poles and other peoples — must do this. We must show that this “great Russian culture” is actually imperial. That’s how I see it.

The Geopost: No one will be able to deconstruct this big lie on their own. We just need to unite.

Iryna Avramenko: I am holding the book “Deconstructors of Truth” in my hands. This is what we tried to do in our place. We would really like foreigners to read this book. In this way, we would be able to change the thoughts that Russian propaganda has sown in their heads.

We can send it by mail to people who might find this book useful. The book is available in electronic form on the website of the Pylyp Orlyk Institute. I have the printed English version in my hands.

The Geopost: Thank you. By the way, you mentioned at the beginning of the conversation that you had already presented this book to a foreign audience. It was in Romania, right?

Iryna Avramenko: Yes, it was at a conference in the city of Constanta. There were journalists, publicists, scientists – such a mix. I was very worried because I was not speaking English, but with a translator. I was afraid that some messages would not be conveyed. But I had a wonderful translator who had been living in Romania for a long time. He conveyed my messages so competently and clearly that everything went perfectly.

Moreover, later people came up to me and asked for the book. One professor from Oxford said: “What a cool metaphor you have about the similarity between ‘good-bad cops’ and ‘good-bad Russians’!” From this phrase I understood that I had been heard.

Natalia Steblina: And I can add that this week we presented our book to a British audience thanks to the British Embassy in Ukraine. The presentation was for a small audience, but all of its participants are somehow related to Ukraine or Russia.

The reception was very positive, which I did not expect. The only thing they did not agree with was that the film “Brother” supposedly does not contain Kremlin narratives. I had to explain in detail what narratives are there. But overall the reception was very warm.

The Geopost: Thank you for what you are doing. I hope that the book will have a happy and long life, and most importantly, the result of this work. May more people become media literate. I wish you all the best and see you again.

/The Geopost