Russia's Propaganda during the 2013-2014 Maidan Protests and the Crimean Crisis

Abstract

This paper aims to focus on the Russia’s propaganda during 2013-2014 Ukrainian crisis, also known as Euromaidan or Maidan as well as on its information warfare prior and during the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. This paper discusses what role 2nd generation information warfare with the emphasis on propaganda played in annexation of Crimea which happened basically without a single gunshot and as well as in portraying the situation during the Maidan crisis that began since November 2013. After a short introduction into the notion of propaganda and how it was used throughout history, especially in the Soviet Russia, the paper draws parallels between the Soviet and Putin’s regimes and shows that both regimes often used same methods to distribute one-sided messages among the populace with the emphasis on Putin’s control over media sources which allows him to transmit only messages favorable for the Kremlin. Chapter Three of this paper shows how Russia’s propaganda worked during the Maidan crisis through concrete examples of Russian media using various propaganda techniques including appeal to authority, appeal to fear, selective truth, demonizing the enemy, disinformation, lying and deception, oversimplification, quotes out of context, stereotyping and others. The paper discusses how information warfare made it possible for Russia to annex the Crimea peninsula relatively peacefully and how Russia’s informational, intelligence, military (though not officially admitted by Russia) and financial involvement led to proclamation of independence by Crimea and its further merge into Russian Federation. The conclusions include the diagram of the warfare Russia has been using in Ukraine as well as the author’s remarks on further possible development of the situation based on the analysis of Russia’s SIW we have witnessed thus far.