cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29487222
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Feeding lies to every last Russian
[Radio] remains a crucial tool to reach audiences in remote areas. State-owned stations such as Vesti FM, ‘Radio of Russia’, and Mayak reach 98% of Russian territory and even people who might not have access to TV and the internet. Other notable stations are Kommersant FM(opens in a new tab), Business FM(opens in a new tab), Govorit Moskva(opens in a new tab) and Radio Sputnik(opens in a new tab), part of the same influence operation as RT.
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Unsurprisingly, [EUvsdisinfo] found the Russian airwaves full of the same deceitful toxic sludge as elsewhere.
On the show Soloviev Live (Vesti FM, 11.02.2025), propagandists Sergey Mikheyev and Roman Golovanov painted the EU as ‘powerless’ and ‘crumbling under internal divisions’. Mikheyev claimed that ‘dark times’ were ahead for Europe, arguing that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was showing the way forward by pursuing independent ties with the United States rather than aligning with Brussels.
Mikheyev pushed nuclear fearmongering to the extremes, warning that if negotiations between Russia and the West fail, Ukraine’s leadership could be ‘ruthlessly destroyed’ and Russia could move toward the ‘total annihilation’ of the country with nuclear warfare.
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Depicting Europe as declining and powerless is a familiar theme in pro-Kremlin media and often repeated on radio shows as well. On Formula Smysla (Vesti FM, 10.02.2025), propagandists Dmitry Kulikov and Fyodor Lukyanov claimed that Europe is ‘cosying up to Big Brother’ in Washington, desperate to maintain American security guarantees as its own military capabilities fall short.
They further asserted that the EU has been ‘devalued to a non-entity’ in global affairs, suggesting that future security negotiations will take place solely between the US and Russia – leaving European leaders sidelined.
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Radio shows are also being used to attack EU member states, according to recent events. On the Evrozona show (Vesti FM, 08.02.2025) host Vladimir Sergienko painted the Baltic states as aggressors, accusing them of preparing for war against Russia by cutting off Russian energy supplies and purchasing Western military equipment.
Sergienko also accused Denmark of engaging in ‘economic piracy’ by tightening controls on Russian oil shipments through the Baltic Sea. The Danish Maritime Authority’s move to enforce stricter inspections on aging Russian tankers was framed as an attack on Russia’s economy – another example of how pro-Kremlin outlets repurpose legitimate actions as supposed Western aggression.
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Residents of occupied regions liberated by the Ukrainian army in the fall of 2022 said that listening to Ukrainian radio gave them hope that they had not been forgotten. Radio broadcasts can be received by relatively simple battery-powered receivers and do not depend on infrastructure in the occupied territory itself. In 2023 the Lithuanian Ministry of Communications financed Ukrainian broadcasts(opens in a new tab) aimed at the occupied territories from Lithuania.
Yet for that very reason, one of the first things the occupying Russians did was jam Ukrainian broadcasts and seize control of TV and radio stations. By 2023, they had established a pro-Russian network of news sources that included stations like Za! Radio Melitopol, designed to flood occupied territories with Kremlin propaganda. This process continues, with the occupiers modernising TV and radio infrastructure to tighten their information grip.
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