Inside a Parallel Media Universe

According to state media in Russia and China, there is no Russian invasion and no war, and the US is to blame for the “crisis” in Ukraine.

• If you were to watch Russian state television, you’d learn that Russian troops are liberators, Ukrainian leaders are Nazis, and that there is no war in Ukraine.
• Such is the alternate reality peddled by Russian state broadcasters, which dominate the media landscape in Russia and are the main vessel by which the Kremlin spreads its propaganda.
• It’s getting increasingly difficult to find alternatives to the Kremlin line now that the state has made reporting the truth about the war an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
• Many analysts fear that, as Putin’s invasion increasingly turns into a tragic and unwinnable debacle, he will only further crack down on dissent at home in a manner reminiscent of Stalin.
• Chinese state media largely follow the Kremlin script, refusing to refer to the war in Ukraine as a war. In China’s parallel media reality, “the crisis” in Ukraine is solely to the fault of the US.
• Still, some are rising up to challenge these false narratives. This week, one employee of a Russian state broadcaster appeared on live television with a poster that read: “They’re lying to you.”