Russia is a country where rebellion against the authorities is often led by leaders who are even more brutal and despotic than legitimate leaders. Little-educated Prigozhin can hardly be compared with Lenin, but he has a lot in common with Yemelyan Pugachev, an (in)famous leader of the bloody Cossack War of 1773-1775.Published on June 19, 2023Translated by Dmitry Lytov and Mike LytovЧитати українською

Last week, the attention of Russia media was largely focused on Ukraine's counteroffensive. Their main goal was persuading Russians that Ukraine’s operation was a flash in the pan. However, the breaking news at end of the week made the propagandists change their tune. The chief of Wagner PMC attempted a military coup so the Kremlin’s information spin doctors focused their efforts on threatening the conspirators and rallying Russians around Putin. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

"For the last sixteen months, we have been working during the war and we have been telling about the war. None of us wanted to go through this, but it turned out to be a unique experience which I would like to share it with you" - this is how Nadja Kelm started her speech at the annual conference "Visualizing Knowledge", which has been held since 2012 in the capital of Finland. Since 2017, it has been organized by Aalto University. This year the name was "Visualizing Uncertainty".We publish her speech below.Читати українською

The Russians planted mines in the cooler at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, and its possible damage will result in huge problems, said Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (MDI) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. Experts talked about the consequences of the probable terrorist attack in the video story of Donbas News. TEXTY present the key conclusions of experts below.Translated by Dmitry Lytov Читати українською

Putin's address on the state of Russian economy at the “international” economic forum in St. Petersburg was actively promoted by Russian media last week. In a nutshell, Russia’s leader said that the war had ushered in a new era of prosperity. Russian propagandists also paid a fair bit of attention to Ukraine's counteroffensive insisting that Russian army was as strong as ever. In addition to that, the disinformation media once again claimed wounded among Ukraine’s senior military command. This time they said it was the Chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov.

Oksana is scared to look so she says she would rather stay in the garden. She gets herself a chair from the house and waits until the job is done.She just sits there silently taking drags from her Iqos electronic cigarette as her gaze wanders over the cellar and above the trees. The cherries are in bloom, and the earth is covered with an emerald carpet.The garden is teeming with life — such an odd and absurdly inappropriate place for death. But death is right there, just under Oksana’s vegetable patches. Her brother, who was shot by the Russians, is being exhumed. The bullet crushed his skull leaving a bloody mess of what used to be his head. Every day, more and more mass graves are being found in the town of Borodyanka about forty miles west of Kyiv. The communal enterprises are short-handed, the morgues are overstretched, and there is not enough equipment to support the operations. This story by TEXTY offers an insight into the exhumation and re-burying of the victims of war.Text: Yaroslava Tymoshchuk. Photos: Marcin SuderЧитати українською

Natalya Skakun, a resident of Oleshky in her recent life, now lives with her daughter in Mykolaiv with her husband. We start a conversation, and we can see almost immediately that Natalya is still in a state of shock. As she recounts her experience, her voice begins to tremble at some point. Translated by Dmitry Lytov and Mike Lytov.Читати українською

The blowing-up of the Kakhovska HPP by Russian forces left the Russian media scrambling for versions which could exonerate Russia with the main narrarative “It was Ukraine, not us!!”. Russian propaganda came up with a flurry of explanations why Ukraine had blown up the HPP denying Russia’s involvement. Russian disinformation media are finally able to report on Ukraine’s actual counteroffensive. Now that the operation is underway, the propagandists have been reporting on Ukraine's colossal losses and the power of Russian weapons.

As the wave of Russian disinformation about the blowing up of the Kakhovska HPP is rising, our analysts are already tracking it for our next week’s report.Meanwhile, this media monitoring report is focused on how Russian propagandists explain the persistence of Ukraine’s defenders to their Russian audiences. Admitting that Ukrainians are forced to fight off the invaders is out of question.

People in the flooded Oleshky, Nova Kakhovka and neighboring villages were trapped. The occupation authorities prevent people from evacuating.Translated by Dmitry LytovRead this article in Ukrainian