Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tUkrainian woman says Russian troops should carry seeds so flowers grow where they die<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t An unidentified woman reportedly confronted Russian soldiers as they invade her homeland.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n
Social media has played a large role in endearing the West to the Ukrainian cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ukrainian media is highlighting the Russians as aggressors committing atrocities against an otherwise peaceful neighbor, a former senior Army information warfare officer told Military Times, <\/b>who asked to speak on background to discuss propaganda missions freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn the Russian side, they are trying to portray themselves as not as being the aggressors, but rather as number one defenders of ethnic Russians located inside of the Ukraine,\u201d the retired officer said. \u201cThat\u2019s why they try to portray that Ukraine is committing atrocities against ethnic Russians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia has largely relied on its tight state-held grip over information flow within its own borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost of the traditional media inside Russia is controlled and they are also on different social media platforms, with high levels of censorship,\u201d Singer noted. \u201cIf the war drags on, casualties grow, and the economy slumps further, it will be harder and harder for Putin to sustain their early narrative of an emergency \u2018rescue\u2019 and quick and easy win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both the officer and Singer believe that Ukraine is winning the propaganda war at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen even Switzerland is joining in the sanctions, you\u2019ve lost that narrative battle,\u201d Singer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian media has been particularly savvy in playing up the eleventh hour rise of its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose line, \u201cI need ammunition; not a ride,\u201d may rival the likes of William Shakespeare\u2019s \u201ccry havoc and let slip the dogs of war\u201d in terms of quotability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe went from relatively little known outside Europe to global icon,\u201d Singer said. \u201cThat rise of support and sympathy was a key part of Ukraine convincing other states to aid its cause. Great strategy, from a natural communicator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyy essentially became a hero, the voice of freedom from tyrannical oppression overnight. But to Russians, he is the villain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI heard one media source refer to him as the the George Washington of Ukraine,\u201d the former officer said. \u201cBut in Russian media, he\u2019s portrayed as being illegitimate and the guy responsible for these atrocities against ethnic Russians within the Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is, as the intelligence officer noted, up to the media to help determine truth from sensationalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBoth sides are trying to control the narrative,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, that\u2019s the story. Right. They\u2019re using these unconfirmed reports and social media to portray things the way they want them portrayed to garner global public opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine, however successful it has been with sharing and having signals boosted on feel-good stories, it\u2019s not without its share of disinformation, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early in the conflict, the Defense Ministry\u2019s official Facebook page was caught sharing footage of a supposed aerial dogfigh with the caption \u201cMiG-29 of the Air Force of the Armed Forces destroys the \u2018unparalleled\u2019 Su-35 of the Russian occupiers\u201d. It turned out to be from a video game called \u201cDigital Combat Simulator, according to BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSocial media has made it increasingly difficult to find fact from fiction, the former intelligence officer said, adding that journalists need to be the ones defining that line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Western media\u2019s responsibility to be more objective in their reporting,\u201d the Army officer noted. \u201cWhat\u2019s changed is that now, the media has become so ubiquitous sources of media are so ubiquitous, that how those stories get written and portrayed is it even more important than it ever has been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n