What Global South media write about Ukraine
The Center monitors the information space of the Global South and identifies narratives favorable to Russia. In recent days, the key topics related to Ukraine were:
– phone calls between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin;
– Munich Security Conference;
– negotiations between the US and Russia in Riyadh;
– Russian drone attack on the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.
The phone calls between Donald trump and Vladimir Putin and the talks in Riyadh between the US and Russia became the leading topic. The assessments of the talks were mostly positive, while the media in most countries of the Global South were alarmed that representatives of the EU and Ukraine were not invited to the talks in Riyadh. China welcomed the talks but consistently promoted the idea that they should involve all stakeholders, especially the EU.
The Munich Security Conference was actively reported on in the countries of the Global South. In particular, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for the creation of the European Armed Forces was widely circulated. In China, the Munich Conference was seen as evidence of a “division” in the West, and they used it to intensify the promotion of the narrative that the EU needs to get closer to China.
The Russian drone strike on the Chornobyl nuclear power plant received a lot of attention and caused concern in the Global South. Disinformation from Russian propagandists blaming Ukraine for the strike was not credible and was not widely disseminated in most countries in the Global South, except for Russia’s allies such as Venezuela. In most countries, publications on this topic have references to Ukrainian sources. Chinese journalists have largely ignored this topic.
The main narratives of Russian propaganda:
– Ukraine is being prepared for surrender, defeat is inevitable;
– Russia will not make concessions, and peace is possible only on Russia’s terms;
– The West deceived Ukraine into fighting against Russia;
– The war in Ukraine is a conflict between NATO and Russia.
