DISINFORMATION NARRATIVES OF HATE AS A TOOL OF ESCALATING RUSSIA’S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE (BASED ON STOPFAKE FACT-CHECKING PROJECT MATERIALS)

Abstract

Since 2014, Russian propaganda has been aggressively using narratives of hate as a tool to deprive Ukrainians of their human qualities, denying their right to self determination and sovereignty. Following the Soviet tradition of discrediting Ukrainian culture and history, Russian propaganda is trying to create an image of Ukraine as a global evil to justify the war and killings of Ukrainians. Based on the archives of StopFake, a Ukrainian fact checking organization, this ar ticle analyses Russian disinformation narratives intended to dehumanise Ukrainians. The article illustrates this narrative framework analysis through cases spotted and debunked by Ukrainian fact checkers during the period of 2014–2022. As well as dehumanising Ukrainians, we also examined how Russian disinformation has manipulated and distorted the concepts of fascism and genocide to form a negative image of Ukrainians and justify a war of aggression as a ‘humanitarian inter vention’. The report also examines the key arguments of Russian disinformation used to intimidate the audience. Among the main theoretical concepts we refer to in this research are dehumanisation and genocide.