Russian Journalists Quit over Kremlin Media Propaganda
It was not necessary to think whether what was happening in Ukraine was a peace operation. This is a war. I want Russian citizens to hear me – I want them to learn what propaganda looks like, said Russian journalist Žana Agalakova
More and more Russian journalists are resigning because of the promotion of false narratives about Ukraine by their media outlets.
The latest was the case of Žana Agalakova, a former Paris correspondent for Europe on Russia’s state-run TV station “Channel One”, who spoke out loud about Russian propaganda.
I did not think at all whether to continue working. It was also not necessary to think whether what was happening in Ukraine was a peace operation. This is a war. I want Russian citizens to hear me – I want them to learn what propaganda looks like and to learn to be informed by other sources. I do not want people to be zombies anymore, she said.
However, she expressed fears that she would be accused by Russia of being a “high-paid spy”. Agalakova, 56, who previously ran the news, said she believed the Russian media had been ordered by the Kremlin to broadcast lies and propaganda for years, leaving little room for the independent media.
On Tuesday, Russian authorities announced that the well-known journalist, Aleksandar G. Nevzorov is under criminal investigation for posting about the Russian bombing of Mariupol on his Instagram account.
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Moreover, a few days ago, Marina Ovsyanikova, editor of the state television “Channel One”, displayed an anti-war sign that read “Stop the war!” and interrupted the broadcasting of the nightly news, saying: “They are lying to you!”
Lilija Gildeeva, host of the state-owned NTV channel, also resigned. She has worked for the media since 2006. Vadim Glusker, a journalist who worked for NTV for almost 30 years, also left with her.
After President Vladimir Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine, Dmitry Likin also quit as the longtime artistic director of Channel 1, Russia’s state television network, which is a major player in the Kremlin’s widespread propaganda apparatus. He said he was “not a politician”, and that the invasion would mean that he should be part of an operation with an agenda to “destroy lives”.
Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers approved a new rigorous law. The New York Times commented on this as:
A latest attempt to sow fear among critics of the war before adoptation of the law, which would provide up to 15 years in prison for deviating from the official narrative of what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
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