Ukrainians are often asked: “Why don’t you like Russian opposition media?
Why do you criticize international organizations that give awards to Russian
journalists? After all, they’re against the war and against Putin.”
If you don’t do a deep dive into what Russian opposition media outlets and
opinion leaders are saying and writing, then this attitude would indeed seem
odd. As the full-scale invasion began, the authors of this book closely followed
the Russian liberal media environment, including the most prominent media
outlets and opinion leaders. We agree that some of the work of Russian
independent journalists from TV Rain, Meduza, Novaya Gazeta, and others
is of high quality, and that some Russian journalists continue their work
under a threat to their lives. However, some of the work produced by these
media outlets is in perfect harmony with Kremlin propaganda and Russian
imperialism. This is not journalism. It violates the profession’s values and
norms. The purpose of this book is to analyze whether Russian opposition
media outlets are complying with professional standards in covering Russia’s
full-scale invasion of Ukraine or whether they are spreading propaganda
narratives of the so-called “Russian world.”
The project was implemented by the Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy