Nadiia Nesterenko: “Russia has worked hard to convince the world… that there was no Russian interference”

Human rights activists from the Eastern Ukraine Center for Civic Initiatives recently presented the book “The City Where the War Began” at the Kosovo Humanitarian Law Center in Pristina.

This is a work about the means and methods used by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine since 2014. The book is based on statements from residents of the occupied and later liberated Ukrainian city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region. It describes various aspects of life in the occupied city, which were reproduced in each new settlement occupied by the Russians.

Nadiia Nesterenko, an analyst at the East Ukraine Center for Civic Initiatives, explained to The Geopost examples of Russian propaganda and how information was gathered to document Russia's war crimes in the book.

Full interview:

The Geopost: Good morning, Nadia. Welcome to Pristina. On February 27th, you will present your book “The City Where the War Began” about the events of 2014 at the War Crimes Documentation Center. Can you please tell us how you collected the data for this book? How did you come up with the idea of ​​creating this collection?

Nesterenko: The collection deals with various aspects of the occupation of a city, primarily Sloviansk, but the same mechanisms were repeated in each new country occupied by Russia, both in 2014 and in 2022, only to a different extent. Some of the information collected comes directly from interviews with victims and witnesses. There is also information from open sources.

Further information from open sources refers mainly to my chapter on Russian propaganda. And I used a lot of material there. This is a collection of headlines from Russian, local and Ukrainian media that I have analyzed for the use of specific vocabulary.

And these are the news stories that were published throughout the occupation of the city in 2014. And now the book could be titled Documentation of Russia's War Crimes Against Ukraine.

The Geopost: How important do you think it is to give people this kind of information?

Nesterenko: It is also important to understand that as of 2022, there is still no clear and verified information, because Russia has worked hard to convince the world and Ukrainians that we had a supposed civil war, that there was no Russian interference.

The material in this book in particular shows clear influence, clear interference, and that is also important to document. And as for Russian propaganda, Russian propaganda is very active right now. In fact, as for Ukraine, they say, we all know that Trump called President Zelenskyy a dictator without saying that Ukraine went to war.

The Geopost: How important do you think it is to combat Russian disinformation and propaganda?

Nesterenko: You see, the book that we presented is a book about Sloviansk. And the example from Sloviansk is the example of a crucified boy hanging on a cross in just his underwear. And this is such a textual example of Russian propaganda, which unfortunately is usually seen as something so, you know, stupid, so ethereal that it's hard to believe. In reality, Russian propaganda is very well thought out and has evolved over the years, and we should be aware of that and treat it more responsibly.

The Geopost: For example, do you know about the events in Kosovo and how Serbian propaganda about Kosovo connects to and repeats Russian propaganda?

Nesterenko: As far as I know, there are many examples of the same dehumanization, very similar, the same opposition, and I also hope to hear examples today at the event, actually live, in the discussion.

We remind you of the interview with Volodymyr Shcherbachenko, head of the Eastern Ukrainian Center for Civic Initiatives.

Volodymyr Shcherbachenko: Propaganda is a weapon of war, a weapon of preparation for war

/The Geopost