Posted on Mar 26, 2023
A scrappy newscast in Kyiv aimed at Russians counters Putin's propaganda machine
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https://www.npr.org/2023/03/26/ [login to see] /a-scrappy-newscast-in-kyiv-aimed-at-russians-counters-putins-propaganda-machine
Ilya Ponomarev was the only member of the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, to vote against Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Today the 48-year-old former parliamentarian from the Siberian town of Novosibirsk is running an online television channel out of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to counter Russian propaganda.
Ponomarev's goal is nothing less than to foment an uprising against Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia.
NPR meets Ponomarev in his studio, where a team of Ukrainian and Russian journalists, technicians and TV anchors are hard at work.
The channel, called February Morning (a reference to when the invasion began), also runs dozens of Telegram channels - the news messaging app where most Russians get their information about the war.
Ponomarev believes the war in Ukraine can only end with the total military defeat of Russia.
Ilya Ponomarev was the only member of the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, to vote against Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Today the 48-year-old former parliamentarian from the Siberian town of Novosibirsk is running an online television channel out of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to counter Russian propaganda.
Ponomarev's goal is nothing less than to foment an uprising against Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia.
NPR meets Ponomarev in his studio, where a team of Ukrainian and Russian journalists, technicians and TV anchors are hard at work.
The channel, called February Morning (a reference to when the invasion began), also runs dozens of Telegram channels - the news messaging app where most Russians get their information about the war.
Ponomarev believes the war in Ukraine can only end with the total military defeat of Russia.
A scrappy newscast in Kyiv aimed at Russians counters Putin's propaganda machine
Posted from npr.org
Russia
Ukraine
Propaganda
Posted 1 y ago
Responses: 3
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel I'm surprised he has "jumped" out a 16 story window.
..."Ponomarev's vision is a Russia without Putin and a democratic regime
Ponomarev moves around Kyiv in an armored vehicle and has a bodyguard. Not because he fears Ukrainians. A series of assassinations has shown that a Kremlin critic, even outside Russia, is never safe.
"I'm very high-profile here and people like me," he says. "They hug me on the streets, they appreciate what I've done in Ukraine and in this regards I am extremely comfortable."
Ponomarev also believes the return of Crimea to Ukraine is inevitable.
"I agree that it's a red line," he says. "But it is not a red line for the world, it is a red line for Putin."
He says Crimea is Ukrainian land and Ukrainians are totally in their right to reclaim it. He offers a hypothetical to explain why Ukrainians refuse to accept the annexation.
"It's like if somebody would occupy Florida," he says. "And you would say, 'oh it's just a peninsula, just forget about it somebody else will use it.' "
Ponomarev says for the last two decades Putin has been victorious in everything he's done. But that's changing. He says Russians see they're not winning the war.
"Obviously the propaganda is saying things are fine," he says. " But people do see the map. They see that the Russian army is not advancing. They see that for like nine months they are fighting for the minuscule town of Bakhmut that they cannot win. They see Russia was kicked out of Kharkiv and pulled back from Kherson."
Editor Rybalchenko says the hate mail from viewers who accuse them of lying has made her think about giving up at times. But she takes heart from the larger number of comments now coming from the other side.
"Many people write us from Moscow, from (Saint Petersburg), from Volgograd, and they write that 'we are in Russia but we believe that you are right and the Ukrainians will win this war.' "
This war won't end in Ukraine, says Ponomarev. It will end in Moscow."
..."Ponomarev's vision is a Russia without Putin and a democratic regime
Ponomarev moves around Kyiv in an armored vehicle and has a bodyguard. Not because he fears Ukrainians. A series of assassinations has shown that a Kremlin critic, even outside Russia, is never safe.
"I'm very high-profile here and people like me," he says. "They hug me on the streets, they appreciate what I've done in Ukraine and in this regards I am extremely comfortable."
Ponomarev also believes the return of Crimea to Ukraine is inevitable.
"I agree that it's a red line," he says. "But it is not a red line for the world, it is a red line for Putin."
He says Crimea is Ukrainian land and Ukrainians are totally in their right to reclaim it. He offers a hypothetical to explain why Ukrainians refuse to accept the annexation.
"It's like if somebody would occupy Florida," he says. "And you would say, 'oh it's just a peninsula, just forget about it somebody else will use it.' "
Ponomarev says for the last two decades Putin has been victorious in everything he's done. But that's changing. He says Russians see they're not winning the war.
"Obviously the propaganda is saying things are fine," he says. " But people do see the map. They see that the Russian army is not advancing. They see that for like nine months they are fighting for the minuscule town of Bakhmut that they cannot win. They see Russia was kicked out of Kharkiv and pulled back from Kherson."
Editor Rybalchenko says the hate mail from viewers who accuse them of lying has made her think about giving up at times. But she takes heart from the larger number of comments now coming from the other side.
"Many people write us from Moscow, from (Saint Petersburg), from Volgograd, and they write that 'we are in Russia but we believe that you are right and the Ukrainians will win this war.' "
This war won't end in Ukraine, says Ponomarev. It will end in Moscow."
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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