Johansson-Nogues, Elisabeth 
ORCID: 0000-0003-1202-5099 and Simanschi, Elena
(2023)
Fabricating a war?: Russian (dis)information on Ukraine.
International Affairs, 99 (5).
pp. 2015-2036.
ISSN 0020-5850
Abstract
Propaganda has been an age-old part of warmongering. It is thus no surprise that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was preceded by, and continues to be fuelled by, propaganda transmitted by state-controlled Russian media. What is more unusual about the Russian (dis)information campaigns is the sheer volume of distorted narratives or complete fictional accounts about the conflict. This article explores the content and technologies of Russian information manipulation of domestic audiences in the context of the invasion of Ukraine. We also examine the bases for the sustained robust public support for the war within Russia during the first 12 months of the conflict, despite being based on mostly fabricated (dis)information. Relying on political psychology and communication theory we explain how emotions and associative memories have played an important role in the Russian public's sustained approval to the war. Our findings point to that in the absence of contrasted and independently-verified information, the volume, frequency, emotional intensity of slick, plug-and-play media packages on Ukraine have acted to displace and distort the average Russian's associative social monitoring processes.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Institute of International Affairs. All rights reserved. |
| Divisions: | International Relations |
| Subjects: | J Political Science > JZ International relations J Political Science B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Apr 2025 10:33 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Apr 2025 18:28 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/127774 |
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