Shows about western terrorism in Crimea are aired alongside videos about Ukrainian shrines to Hitler
If you want to understand how Russians see the world, it helps to watch Russian TV. The Kremlin’s control over the airwaves permeates every part of Russia’s television schedules. There are no longer soap operas or series during waking hours, just relentless TV shows about Russia’s place in the world. The popular and execrable “news” discussion show 60 Minutes now often lasts two to three hours. It is as if General Hospital and Days of our Lives were replaced with 200 minutes of state propaganda.
Such shows depict Russia’s horrific assault on Ukrainian towns, cities and people as a special military operation. They are punctuated with clips of Vladimir Putin celebrating a successful and preemptive mission to free Donbas from genocidal Ukrainian butchers. Russians and non-Russians alike see the human misery and detritus of an unprovoked invasion by a fascistic army — except Russians think that army belongs to Ukraine.
