Russia is creating its own Ukrainian-language propaganda media in Crimea

The Russian occupation authorities in Crimea first destroyed the independent Ukrainian media on the peninsula, and now set about creating their own pro-Moscow Ukrainian-language propaganda resources that are pro-Moscow in content.

In fact, the needs of Ukrainian-speaking citizens are not being addressed, so the Russian authorities are simply trying to deceive the UN International Court of Justice, which is considering discrimination against Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians in the Russian-occupied territories of Crimea.

Currently, two resources have been created in Crimea: the bilingual website (Ukrainian and Russian) “Pereyaslavska Rada 2.0” and the Ukrainian-language quarterly magazine “Crimea Today”.

The site publishes materials with a rather manipulative view of history. In particular, the authors of the resource presented the anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet authorities on May 18, 1944, as a day of remembrance for the victims of the deportation of the peoples of Crimea. The accents are changed in the materials and the crimes against Crimean Tatars are not mentioned, but it is claimed that “Crimean Tatars, Greeks, Bulgarians, Germans, Armenians and other peoples inhabiting Crimea were deported”.

According to Andriy Shchekun, editor-in-chief of the Crimean Svitlytsia newspaper, the quarterly magazine Krymska Svitlytsia, created by propagandists, will have a circulation of 700 copies. Accordingly, in this case, it is not a question of satisfying the demand but only of being able to declare to the international community that such a publication exists.

Journalists from one of the few Crimean Tatar sites, QHA Media, point out that the current tactics of Russian propaganda pursue two goals: “On the one hand, it’s shown for the world a supposedly tolerant attitude towards ethnic Ukrainians in Crimea, and on the other – to continue its propaganda against Ukraine in general, in particular among the Ukrainian community on the peninsula”.

According to Andriy Shchekun, it is now important to provide the international community with truthful information about the real human rights situation in Crimea. Because Russia is launching a repressive machine to silence all those who are fighting for their rights.

It will be recalled that the Russian Federation refuses to comply with the order of the International Court of Justice of April 19, 2017, on the application of interim measures in the case of Application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (“Ukraine v. Russia”). The illegal restrictions of the right of the Crimean Tatar people to maintain their representative institutions, including the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, have not yet been lifted, and the resumption of education in the Ukrainian language has not been ensured.