War fatigue sets in as Russians switch off their televisions
Russian television viewers are being turned off by non-stop Kremlin propaganda, with the country’s three main channels losing a quarter of their audience since President Putin ordered troops into Ukraine, a survey has suggested.
Before Russia’s invasion in February, the three main television stations — Channel One, Rossiya 1 and NTV — were watched by 86 per cent of the population. That figure has now fallen to 65 per cent, according to Rosmir, an independent research centre in Moscow.
The viewing figures slumped for Russian state television, which is referred to as “the zombie box” by opposition figures, even as the Kremlin tripled spending on its propaganda efforts from the start of the war six months ago.
After Putin launched his attack on Ukraine, the airwaves were purged of almost all light entertainment programmes. Channel One has devoted 16 hours to current affairs shows and news programs featuring Kremlin-friendly pundits who tell viewers that Ukraine is a “Nazi” state which is in the process of being “liberated” by the Russian “special operation”. Presenters and pundits have also urged the Kremlin to launch nuclear missiles at Britain, forcibly sterilise anti-war activists and “demilitarise” Nato.
The Kremlin has sought to control the information that Russians have access to by banning all opposition websites, as well as Facebook and Instagram. However, the bans can be easily circumvented by installing a virtual proxy network (VPN), which masks an internet user’s location. The use of VPNs has rocketed from 9 per cent of the population last year to 24 per cent, or 35 million people.
“Russians are tired of propaganda,” wrote The Moscow Times, an independent website whose staff were forced to flee the country after the start of the war.
Although opinion polls indicate that between 55 and 70 per cent of Russians back the war in Ukraine, Kremlin critics say that gauging the true level of support is tricky because people are afraid to say what they really think. Dozens of people have been arrested and are facing up to 15 years in prison on charges of “discrediting” the Russian army.
