MUBARIZ ASLANOV07:00, 08/04/237 min.1344

Before the start of a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Russia went on the attack in the information field. 

This process could be observed very clearly at the beginning of 2022, or even at the end of 2021. And it was not the first such case in history. 

In 1937-38, the propaganda and information commissariat of Nazi Germany repeatedly “justified” the invasion of southeastern and eastern Europe. Almost a hundred years have passed, but the same method continues to work. 

Only this time the direction changed – the wave went from the east.

Russian propagandists managed to spread disinformation even in the information space of the South Caucasus and Turkey

The Russian propaganda machine used supposedly state-independent media to openly spread misinformation about some “neo-fascist organizations in Ukraine”, “aggressions against the Russian language or non-Ukrainians” and other lies. 

They called on the state – the Kremlin, which is allegedly indifferent to this issue – to openly invade Ukraine. 

And the preparation of Russian propagandists about “neo-fascism and nationalism in Ukraine” created the ideological basis for the military invasion of Russia on February 24, 2022, which I am a direct witness to. 

The attack, which began early on the morning of February 24, confirmed my conviction that the Kremlin was behind this propaganda.Russian propagandists spread slogans about “fascism in Ukraine” and “chauvinism in Ukraine” all over the world, trying to justify the actions of their army, the invader army that invaded a neighboring country …

They managed to spread disinformation even in the information space of the South Caucasus and Turkey. Sometimes I received questions from my colleagues from these regions on this issue. 

Just at the same time, as a foreign journalist, I interviewed and prepared reports in Russian in various parts of Ukraine (every month I go on business trips to different regions of the country, and no one interferes with my work even now).

And one incident that happened to me in the first days of the war gave rise to an even greater disgust for the propaganda of the Russian Federation.It was early March 2022. Kyiv was surrounded by the Russian army. 

The city was under heavy shelling. Most of my acquaintances left Kyiv. Even my colleague from Azerbaijan left. Due to the unexpected outbreak of hostilities, the markets were empty, and there was an acute shortage of food. 

The situation in the city was very tense, the banks did not work, so I could not receive the necessary financial assistance from Azerbaijan to live and work. But I didn’t even think about leaving.

One day in the house where I rented an apartment on Dmitrievskaya Street, almost half of the residents of which had already left, the doorbell rang. 

On the threshold stood a neighbor from the top floor, a woman in her fifties. In her hands she held a small bag of food and water. 

She handed it to me with the words: “You are here in a foreign land, please do not feel lonely. You can take us for your family. Whatever you need, please contact.

“The woman left, I didn’t even think to thank her, I was so touched by this act. She and I are people of different nationalities and profess different religions, a terrible war suddenly came to her house. But in this turmoil, she worries about a visiting person!

It is under the influence of the propaganda machine that the Russians take every destroyed house in Ukraine for a “fascist military base”

Most of the Ukrainians who stayed in Kyiv and knew me called me, asked what I needed, worried about me. Exactly the same as before the war. 

The war could not prevent Ukrainians from being tolerant and hospitable…Against this background, hostility to the propaganda machine of the Kremlin is only growing, but the scope of this paradox is also growing. 

Residential buildings in almost all cities of Ukraine, including the capital, are daily subjected to rocket attacks and drone attacks from Russia. 

I observe this in all regions of Ukraine where I have visited (Kharkiv, Zaporozhye, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnepropetrovsk and Donetsk regions). 

And just a few minutes after each attack, information about it appears in the Russian press: “Several more military facilities have been destroyed in Ukraine”, “Neo-fascist camps have been destroyed”, etc.It is under the influence of this propaganda machine that Russians mistake every destroyed house in Ukraine for a “fascist military base” and killed civilians for “destroyed Nazis.”

 And I’m not talking about the audiences of countries neighboring Russia, which also become victims of this monstrous lie…When people for the most part become victims not so much of physical as of moral and psychological terror, this leads to a global tragedy. 

We saw this in the example of Germany and the societies that were under its influence at the beginning of the last century. Therefore, to prevent a repeat of this situation, healthy media institutions must expand their reach and reach a wider audience. 

Healthy media is an institution responsible for the prosperous future of mankind. Of course, if we have the necessary factual and operational capabilities to work…

In my native Azerbaijan, we have experienced the bitter experience of a wrong foreign information policy

Currently, tens of thousands of foreign media representatives work in Ukraine. Of course, the bulk are media organizations representing Western countries. A number of official bodies of Ukraine also prefer to cooperate with them. At least, this is what I see against the background of my activities and observations of the work of colleagues from the East. 

And I consider this a serious mistake. Today, heroic Ukrainians are fighting for the future of Ukraine on all fronts, and there should be no gaps on the information front. 

There is no need to differentiate between audiences.In my native Azerbaijan, we have experienced the bitter experience of a wrong foreign information policy.Unfortunately, since 1988, “thanks” to the intrigues of the Kremlin, about the first Karabakh conflict, which began with an attempt by Armenia on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, a wave of unbalanced information spread both in Soviet society and abroad. 

The propaganda machine has veiled the truth. Aggression against Azerbaijanis and massacres in Karabakh in 1988-1994 were practically unknown to a wide audience. 

Nobody wrote about them, except for one or two media outlets.In November 2020, during the second Karabakh war, Armenian strikes on the Azerbaijani city of Ganja with Iskander-type missiles were presented by the Armenian and Russian press as alleged strikes on some kind of military facility. 

In reality, as a result of these strikes, residential buildings were destroyed in Ganja, civilians were killed, among whom were young children…

But we didn’t despair. We were able to convey the truth to the world. And they proved that the truth will prevail sooner or later. So it will be in Ukraine.

Mubariz Aslanov, special correspondent for Report.az and BakuTV

(C)UNIAN 2023