Russia and Ukraine are waging an information war in front of the international media.
In a familiar video, Volodymyr Zelensky urged the UN Security Council to condemn all forms of ” energy terror “. The choice of the word terror is not left to chance at a time when the two belligerents are passing responsibility for the bombings around the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant.
At the same time, kyiv seeks to neutralize Russian propaganda by asking Eutelsat to no longer carry the RT channels, from Russia Today, even if a distribution agreement with Russian companies allows the operator to reach 15 million homes in Russia and represents several tens of millions of euros in revenue. In a grandstand at WorldOleksandr Tkachenko, the Ukrainian Minister of Culture, recalls this week that Eutelsat is 22% owned by France and distributes “ two major Russian pay TV platforms that are actively doing propaganda, Tricolor TV and NTV-Plus. »
Ukrainian information that looks like propaganda
So if it is obvious that there is Russian propaganda and fake news, what about Ukraine? Tuesday, at Média en Seine, at Radio France, a citizen was surprised that AFP respects the instructions of the Ukrainian government to wait several hours before transmitting the images of a bombardment in kyiv or Lviv when it occurs. The idea is to prevent Russian forces from adjusting their fire based on real-time photos of the damage. “Sif the Russians made the same demand, we would accept it “, specified Karim Talbi, editor-in-chief at the agency.
Some would say that Western media tend not to discuss Ukrainian news, even though it looks a lot like propaganda. We saw it, it is true, when Zelensky maintained that the missile which fell in Poland was Russian even though it came from its own anti-aircraft defense.
2,000 to 3,000 journalists present in Ukraine
But at the same time, the ubiquitous videos on social networks and the presence of 2,000 to 3,000 journalists in Ukraine make it very difficult to manipulate the false mass grave type of Timisoara. We saw it in Boutcha, as explained by Etienne Leenhardt, of France Télévisions, who initially did not believe in this massacre, the ability to get there in a few hours made verification easy.
On the Russian side, no journalists or in the form of a press trip to Zaporijjia or Mariupol. This is what makes the difference between a system of absolute control, where any deviant information can be worth 15 years in prison, and information under control, which is that of Ukraine, with its common news bulletins for a purpose military, on its five free channels.