We start with a series of policy papers. The war in Ukraine is the most obvious and cruel symptom and outcome of the societal and political transformations inside RU, but neither is it the only one, nor will its cessation mean a return a to status quo ante. 1/

Hence we plan to stay analytically engaged with trends and developments inside RU.Any war is a great simplifier while being an enormously multilayered phenomenon.Before developing political strategies we need to understand complexities and nuances of the participating societies.

The first piece by @Fyodorrrrr Krasheninnikov looks at the virulent question of effectiveness and efficacy of Kremlin's war propaganda and shows that reductionist assumptions about its inner workings are counterproductive. The key messages: 3/

1) For a Russian consumer, Putin’s information machine does not look like an endless monologue of one cynical propagandist,but like a full-fledged discussion, in which almost anyone,who agrees with the basic thesis “Putin is right”, can find something for her- or himself. 4/

2) Before attempting to convince any particular person that Putin’s propaganda is inadequate, one must find out to which of the information bubbles he or they belong.The intrinsic complexity and inconsistency of Putin’s loyal audience is often downplayed or completely ignored.

3) The reasons for the war, its meaning and course – none of this has any single explanation for all Russians, which could be refuted by a set of facts, and thus prove that this war is immoral and criminal. The war supporters ground their stance in different motives. 5/

Read on: library.fes.de/pdf-files/international/19797.pdf and stay tuned for more. 6/

If you want to know more about the topic, you can read about the second part of the series here:
or read it directly here: library.fes.de/pdf-files/international/19799.pdf