What Global South media write about Ukraine
The Center for Countering Disinformation monitors the information space in the Global South to identify narratives favorable to Russia. Recently, the key topics related to Ukraine have been:
– the prospects for peace negotiations in Ukraine and the role of US President-elect Donald Trump in this process;
– losses among DPRK military personnel in the war against Ukraine;
– a massive Russian missile attack on Kyiv;
– the suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine.
The issue of potential talks regarding peace in Ukraine and Trump’s involvement is a focal point in China, India, and several Southeast Asian countries. However, in the Middle East and Latin America, there is notably less interest in these topics.
In China, skepticism about the likelihood of a diplomatic resolution to the war in Ukraine is on the rise.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements about the Oreshnik missile system, intended to intimidate the world, have been widely echoed by media in smaller authoritarian states friendly to Russia, such as Cuba and Venezuela. However, these narratives receive little to no mention in the media of “major” Global South nations like India and China.
Chinese state media have cautiously started to reference the participation of North Korean soldiers in the war on Russia’s side. Meanwhile, this subject attracts significant attention in other Global South countries.
The main narratives of Russian propaganda:
– Russia is close to defeating Ukraine;
– By supplying weapons to Ukraine, the West is prolonging the war and not contributing to peace;
– Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure are a response to the shelling of Russian territory by Western weapons.
