Myrovych for The Geopost: The West is often falling into the trap of Russian propaganda

Russian disinformation and propaganda have created the basis for war in Ukraine, Olga Myrovych, head of the Lviv Media Forum team, says in an interview with The Geopost.

While talking about the danger posed by misinformation in general, Myrovych shows that the Russian narrative started long before the start of the war of occupation in Ukraine.

“As for Russian disinformation, they spread malicious narratives about Ukrainians and Ukraine as a failed state long before the invasion began,” she says.

As she says, Russian disinformation targets a very broad audience in Ukraine and Russia in order to garner as much support for the war as possible. She appeals to the international media to be careful, especially in the use of the terms ‘Putin’s camp’ and ‘Ukraine war’, terms which she says do not hold Russia responsible for the war of aggression in Ukraine.

Full interview:

The Geopost: Thank you very much for this interview for The Geopost and invitation to be participant on one of yours organization. Can you say a little bit about yourself.

Olga Myrovych: My name is Olga Myrovych. I am leading Lviv media forum team. Media forum team is media development organization based in Ukraine. Our largest projects is actually a forum for journalists all around the world. Besides we are doing many projects to support media in Ukraine and beyond to foster cooperation between media professionals. We are running support program for Ukrainian media outlets which increases their viability but also are focusing for example on specific topics like psychological support and counseling.

The Geopost: Our topic is disinformation. How is situation now in Ukraine? Is disinformation spreading? It is not just military war, this is the second strategic war from russian agression  here in Ukraine?

Olga Myrovych: Actually disinformation was one of the key things that lie in the ground of this war. Disinformation prepared this baseline for the war. As for the Russian disinformation it has spread malign narratives about Ukrainians and Ukraine as a failed state long before the full scale invasion started. It also focused on Donbass region that actually was taken from Ukraine forcingly in 2014. That is actually the year we are considering as the year when the war started, so we distinguish the war and the full scale invasion. As for the disinformation issue now it is targeting very wide audiences in Ukraine, in Russia, also to continue, to motivate people to support this war. It is focusing on Ukraine using some specific topics, internal topics inside Ukraine that might be very triggering for the Ukrainian society. I might say that Russian propaganda is very efficient in doing so. So this propaganda message is targeting the audiences that don’t trust in government for example. That is how it works for example now in war time and what makes is more dangerous for our national security. But also propaganda adapts to the narratives, national narratives around the globe and is also spreading in different countries to reduce solidarity and support to Ukraine.

The Geopost: Does western media and journalists do enough to help journalists in Ukraine to fight spread this disinformation and all this propaganda?

Olga Myrovych: Actually we have to understand that western media are also imposed to Russian narratives. I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t use the word propaganda in this case, bit Russian narratives. I mean the narratives that help Russia avoid actually responsibility for this war. For example recently one of the British media I read about Putin’s camps for Ukrainian soldiers and civilians that are kept on the Russian territory. The word that is used to describe is Putin’s camps. But it is what for example makes an image that Russia is not involved in the war, that one person could be only responsible for the war. Also what is widely discover is the usage of Ukraine’s war like Ukraine is somehow indirectly blamed by being a side of this war. At least this builds and image that Russia is not the part and not the one that started this war and the only side that should be blamed for the war. So we have to distinguish this propaganda and this narrative level which is also heavily impacted by Russia. And I have to admit that not only state Russian media but civil society leader that consider to be opposition that consider to be the part of the democratic Russia also spread many narratives that help Russia as a state but also Russians as the society to avoid this war which we see as very dangerous, because without taking responsibility we have to admit that the society is the society is the source of power in the state. Like by breaking this chain we actually break the ground of the political system of any state. I think that it is very dangerous and we have to be sensitive to this. Language is very important,. These two types of malign narratives, propaganda and malign narratives, soft language that is used, we have to be sensitive and to discover it in everyday language we used to cover events for the audiences.

The Geopost: Olga thank you very much for this interview for The Geopost.

Olga Myrovych: It was my pleasure.

/The Geopost