get informed.

'It's all a lie': Russians are trapped in Putin's parallel universe

By Rob Picheta, CNN
Updated 7:44 AM EST, Mon February 27, 2023

One year ago, when Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine and began Europe's biggest land war since 1945, it waged another battle at home – intensifying its information blockade in an effort to control the hearts and minds of its own citizens.

Draconian new censorship laws targeted any media still operating outside the controls of the Kremlin and most independent journalists left the country. A digital Iron Curtain was reinforced, shutting Russians off from Western news and social media sites.

And as authorities rounded up thousands in a crackdown on anti-war protests, a culture of fear descended on Russian cities and towns that prevents many people from sharing their true thoughts on the war in public.

One year on, that grip on information remains tight – and support for the conflict seemingly high – but cracks have started to show.

Some Russians are tuning out the relentless jingoism on Kremlin-backed airwaves. Tech-savvy internet users skirt state restrictions to access dispatches and pictures from the frontlines. And, as Russia turns to mobilization to boost its stuttering campaign, it is struggling to contain the personal impact that one year of war is having on its citizens.

"In the beginning I was supporting it," Natalya, a 53-year-old Moscow resident, told CNN of what the Kremlin and most Russians euphemistically call a "special military operation." "But now I am completely against it."

"What made me change my opinion?," she contemplated aloud. "First, my son is of mobilization age, and I fear for him. And secondly, I have very many friends there, in Ukraine, and I talk to them. That is why I am against it."

Natalya, 53, supported Russia's invasion initially. But she has grown skeptical of Kremlin propaganda and fears her son will be conscripted.
Natalya, 53, supported Russia's invasion initially. But she has grown skeptical of Kremlin propaganda and fears her son will be conscripted.
CNN
CNN is not using the full names of individuals who were critical of the Kremlin. Public criticism of the war in Ukraine or statements that discredit Russia's military can potentially mean a fine or a prison sentence.

Ad feedback
For Natalya and many of her compatriots, the endless, personal grind of war casts Russian propaganda in a different light. And for those hoping to push the tide of public opinion against Putin, that creates an opening.

"I do not trust our TV," she said. "I cannot be certain they are not telling the truth, I just don't know.

"But I have my doubts," she added. "I think, probably, they're not."

'I don't trust anyone entirely'
​​Natalya is not the only Russian to turn against the conflict, but she appears to be in the minority.

Gauging public opinion is notoriously difficult in a country where independent pollsters are targeted by the government, and many of the 146 million citizens are reluctant to publicly condemn President Vladimir Putin. But according to the Levada Center, a non-governmental polling organization, support dipped by only 6% among Russians from March to November last year, to 74%.

In many respects, that is unsurprising. There is little room for dissenting voices on Russian airwaves; the propaganda beamed from state-controlled TV stations since the onset of war has at times attracted derision around the world, so overblown are their more fanatical presenters and pundits.

In the days leading up to last Friday's one-year anniversary of the full-scale invasion – according to BBC Monitoring's Francis Scarr, who analyzes Russian media daily – a Russian MP told audiences on state-owned TV channel Russia-1 that "if Kyiv needs to lie in ruins for our flag to fly above it, then so be it!"; radio presenter Sergey Mardan proclaimed: "There's only one peace formula for Ukraine: the liquidation of Ukraine as a state."