Disinformation & Propaganda about the Ukrainian Far-Right in Ukraine and Slovakia

Internews Ukraine, alongside experts from the Slovak Adapt Institute and Infosecurity.sk, present a study titled "Disinformation & Propaganda about the Ukrainian Far-Right in Ukraine and Slovakia." The researchers uncovered how local pro-Kremlin actors spread Russian propaganda in the Ukrainian and Slovak information environments.

Full text of the study here.

The analytical report helps explain how pro-Kremlin actors in both countries have sought to construct an image of a "far-right dominated Ukraine," since the time of the Revolution of Dignity. This narrative has been present in Slovakia and Ukraine for the entire nine years of the war, with Russian officials presenting it as justification for Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Later, the narrative was spread by both Russian political leaders and pro-Kremlin figures in the Slovak and Ukrainian information spaces.

Experts analyzed Facebook posts by these pro-Kremlin actors between 21 November 2013 and 1 May 2022 and established:

which themes and sub-narratives Russia relied on most to build its "far-right Ukraine" narrative;
which actors were most active and effective in forming and spreading the narrative;
the shared and contrasting characteristics of how the narrative has manifested in Slovakia and Ukraine.

Key results of the study:

In both countries, the “far-right Ukraine” narrative has been a constant feature of pro-Kremlin propaganda. Its prominence among pro-Kremlin messaging reached its peak in 2021 in Ukraine, and in 2022 in Slovakia.
As a result of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the number of references to the Ukrainian far-right in Slovakia has increased. Thanks to the involvement of the Ukrainian government in the information space and the blocking of certain actors, pro-Kremlin narratives significantly diminished in Ukraine in 2022.
The most active disseminator of the “far-right Ukraine” narrative in Slovakia was the Russian embassy (149 posts). In Ukraine, the most active actors were the pages "News of Ukraine" ("Novosti Ukrainy") (38), "Oles Buzyna - Community" (31) and "Pershiy Kozatskyi" (27), pro-Russian blogger Andrii Ivanov, the group "Sasha Psikh — politics as it is," and the group "Polk Pobedy."
In Slovakia, the “far-right Ukraine” narrative was most often disseminated using sub-narratives about the criminal activities of far-right organizations, activities of far-right parties in the war in Donbas (and Crimea), and far-right Ukrainian political elites.
In both countries, pro-Kremlin actors tried to discredit the Ukrainian political elite and the military — and thus the country's defense against Russian occupation — by accusing them of sympathizing with the far right.
Another common feature was a large share of posts devoted to the Ukrainian far-right and events from the 20th century. However, in contrast to Slovakia, historical revisionism in Ukraine also sought to create an East-West divide.
The presence of religious actors is also an important difference. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was a significant contributor to the “far-right Ukraine” narrative.

Full text of the study by link.

The study is an output of the project Content, Development and Dissemination of the Central Legitimizing Narrative of Kremlin Propaganda in Slovakia and Ukraine (Obsah, vývoj a šírenie ústredného legitimizačného naratívu kremeľskej propagandy na Slovensku a Ukrajine), based on the contract No. MVZP/2022/2/1 on the provision of a subsidy in the field of International Relations and Foreign Policy of the Slovak Republic within the competence of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. The views and statements expressed do not represent the official position of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. The authors are solely responsible for the content of the document.