Are wars ultimately won with stories? Beyond all the bombing and shooting, a ferocious no-holds-barred propaganda war is being waged by both Russia and Ukraine.
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Propaganda: 'Fifth horseman of apocalypse'
Are wars ultimately won with stories? Beyond all the bombing and shooting, a ferocious no-holds-barred propaganda war is being waged by both Russia and Ukraine.
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A 12-year-old girl sits in the television studio. Her hair is plaited into pigtails with baby blue ribbons.
"Today we are talking about how you can investigate what is happening", she begins. "We are talking about events in Ukraine."
This is Sofia KhomenkoThe singer is hosting a programme aimed at children in Russia to help them spot "fake news" about the war., a musical prodigy who shot to fame in 2017 for singing about her love for Russia. Now, she is working for the Kremlin's Ministry of Education - teaching children in a new programme about how to spot western "disinformation". According to her - and to all state-run media - there is no war with Ukraine.
Five hundred miles away, the Ukrainian president posts another video on TelegramToday: an encrypted instant messaging app. In the past: a message sent via electric wires and delivered as a printed piece of paper. As every word was expensive, making the message as short as possible became an art. A famous joke telegram sent from Venice read, "STREETS FULL OF WATER PLEASE ADVISE".. Dressed in Khaki, his eyes revealing his tiredness, he praises the "heroic" resistance and condemns the "sneaky" enemy, "full of hatred for our country".
This is the information war being waged across Europe. On one side, Ukraine tells stories of heroism, patriotism, bravery. Its focus is on martyrs. It compares Putin's invasion to Adolf Hitler's massacres of Ukrainians in World War Two.
Moscow insists that events in Ukraine are part of a "special military operation". In this version of events, Ukraine is not a real country. Ukrainians have been brainwashed by Neo-NazisPeople belonging to a political organisation whose beliefs are inspired by or reminiscent of Nazism. and NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was founded in 1949 to unite Western democracies in Europe and North America against the perceived growing threat of the USSR. It now has 31 members.. Russia is not the aggressor - and those who say so are "foreign agents" and "extremists".
It is a story that is becoming increasingly difficult to deny in Russia. On Friday, the Kremlin passed a new law imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for spreading what they call "fake news". It is now a crime to say there is a war.
Under President Putin, media is tightly controlled and censored. He has always allowed a small independent voice, critical of the government. Until now. "Everything that's not propaganda is being eliminated," says Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Dmitri Muratov.
Last week, authorities pulled the plug on the radio station Echo of Moscow after it interviewed Ukrainians about the war. The independent TV Rain aired its last show, declaring "no to war" as the lights went out. Its editor in chief has fled the country. The law has affected larger channels. Over the weekend, global news outlets including the BBC and CNN suspended reporting in Russia.
For historian Yuval Noah Harari, "nations are built on stories." The war on truth being fought in Russia is met by an onslaught of hero narratives in Ukraine and across the Western world.
Not all of them are factual. Ukrainians share news from Snake IslandAn island in the Black Sea. A video of the island border guard swearing at Russian navy ships went viral - and is real, but reports of their deaths turned out to be false., where fighters chose to die rather than surrender to the Russians. The truth: the soldiers were captured and are alive. An ace pilot known as the Ghost of KyivA flight simulation videogame was used to make a video of the ghost and was shared on social media. Air-to-air dogfights are very rare in 21st-Century combat. has shot down ten Russian planes. The truth: he doesn't exist.
But many more are true, and, as Harari says, they "give courage" to Ukrainians and the rest of the world.
Will this matter if Kyiv falls and Putin wins? Is truth enough? In Russia, Putin's critics fear an OrwellianIn George Orwell's novel 1984, one of the functions of the Ministry of Truth is to suppress books the government dislikes. nightmare where "Ignorance is Strength."
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Are wars ultimately won with stories?
Yes: In war, morale is everything. Battles are won by the side with the most confidence and bravery. And the bravest fighters are those who believe in their cause and are prepared to die for it.
No: Wars aren't won with words. You can be brave and honourable and still lose to an opponent with more tanks and more bombs. It is the senseless act of the powerful destroying the lives of the powerless.
Or... "The first casualty of war is the truth." During conflict, both dictatorships and democracies control the news to avoid panic and boost morale. What matters is what happens when the war is over.
Keywords
Sofia Khomenko - The singer is hosting a programme aimed at children in Russia to help them spot "fake news" about the war.
Telegram - Today: an encrypted instant messaging app. In the past: a message sent via electric wires and delivered as a printed piece of paper. As every word was expensive, making the message as short as possible became an art. A famous joke telegram sent from Venice read, "STREETS FULL OF WATER PLEASE ADVISE".
Neo-Nazis - People belonging to a political organisation whose beliefs are inspired by or reminiscent of Nazism.
Nato - The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was founded in 1949 to unite Western democracies in Europe and North America against the perceived growing threat of the USSR. It now has 31 members.
Snake Island - An island in the Black Sea. A video of the island border guard swearing at Russian navy ships went viral - and is real, but reports of their deaths turned out to be false.
Ghost of Kyiv - A flight simulation videogame was used to make a video of the ghost and was shared on social media. Air-to-air dogfights are very rare in 21st-Century combat.
Orwellian - In George Orwell's novel 1984, one of the functions of the Ministry of Truth is to suppress books the government dislikes.
Propaganda: ‘Fifth horseman of apocalypse’
Reprinted with permission. © Bill Bramhall, NYDN Glossary
Sofia Khomenko - The singer is hosting a programme aimed at children in Russia to help them spot "fake news" about the war.
Telegram - Today: an encrypted instant messaging app. In the past: a message sent via electric wires and delivered as a printed piece of paper. As every word was expensive, making the message as short as possible became an art. A famous joke telegram sent from Venice read, "STREETS FULL OF WATER PLEASE ADVISE".
Neo-Nazis - People belonging to a political organisation whose beliefs are inspired by or reminiscent of Nazism.
Nato - The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was founded in 1949 to unite Western democracies in Europe and North America against the perceived growing threat of the USSR. It now has 31 members.
Snake Island - An island in the Black Sea. A video of the island border guard swearing at Russian navy ships went viral – and is real, but reports of their deaths turned out to be false.
Ghost of Kyiv - A flight simulation videogame was used to make a video of the ghost and was shared on social media. Air-to-air dogfights are very rare in 21st-Century combat.
Orwellian - In George Orwell’s novel 1984, one of the functions of the Ministry of Truth is to suppress books the government dislikes.