In Ukraine, it’s not that easy to find out what’s going on in Donetsk or Luhansk, how people live there and what they think - about December’s “Normandy Format” talks in Paris, for example.
Sometimes you can find information “from the other side” of the frontline on specialist internet sites - or a report by Hromadske TV. Central TV channels and major internet outlets have concentrated on countering Russian propaganda, fake news and disinformation. (Counter-) propaganda TV programmes such as “Civil Defence” on ICTV have also appeared. But it hasn’t been possible to set up a reliable channel of information from the areas outside Kyiv control.
This situation is a total information disaster for Ukraine. The Ministry of Information Policy, created under the previous government, has not solved the problem. It has also decided to concentrate on counteracting Russian propaganda and disinformation, as well as introducing tough restrictions on Russian media. And although no one in Ukraine would deny the importance of taking a hard stance on the “information war”, this policy has led to the isolation of occupied areas from the rest of Ukraine.
