Ukraine has been abandoned by the West and is being led by Zelensky to disaster, according to narratives about the Russian offensive in Kharkiv that are being promoted on Telegram. The offensive is presented as "unstoppable", and the purpose of the narratives is to strengthen Russian support for the war and demoralize the Ukrainians.
Ukraine, accused of provoking the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region
Narratives about the Kharkov offensive are not only featured on Telegram channels specializing in war, but also on those presenting general news, both domestic and foreign, which enjoy great popularity among Russians. According to the channel "Russia Seidchas" ("Russia today"), for example, Ukrainian strongholds exist only on paper, therefore after the "liberation" of some localities in the north of Ukraine, the Moscow troops will enter the regional center of Kharkiv. "The siege of Kharkiv is imminent," several news channels say.
Rossia Seidchas has also published a series of videos showing long queues at car registration offices or private notaries in the context of the entry into force of a new mobilization law in Ukraine, which provides for the confiscation of property of men who do not appear at the military commissariats as required. "It's getting harder and harder to live in a fascist state” reads the post, which explains that men have started registering their cars, apartments and houses in the names of their wives or mothers. The methods used to enlist men into the army are presented as fascist and inhumane.
The "Preamoi Efir" ("Live") channel, which is watched by more than 4 million people, writes that Russia has no plans to occupy Kharkiv , but is forced to create a buffer zone to secure its border regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin is quoted as saying that Moscow had never intended to attack Kharkiv, but the Ukrainian military again challenged it to take action and defend its civilians in Belgorod and other border regions. According to this false narrative, which ignores the fact that Russia invaded Ukraine and has committed numerous war crimes, Moscow is forced to respond to Ukrainian provocations and attacks.
The same Telegram channel accuses the Ukrainian authorities of disinforming the public opinion: "Families with children began to leave the city en masse , but the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, claims that there is no danger." In order to sow panic, the Telegram channel writes about thousands of people fleeing the country or about men trying to reach the territory of the Republic of Moldova by illegal means in order not to be killed on the front by the "victorious Russian army".
The "Readkova" channel writes that the West is gradually abandoning Ukraine and that after the Secretary of State Antony Blinken hastily left Ukraine, "frightened" by the Russian offensive, parliamentarians in Kyiv are very worried about the fate of their country. Some deputies would have understood, finally, that the army of the Russian Federation cannot be stopped, and "the number of those willing to die for the American flag is getting smaller by the day."
Most of Russia's Telegram news channels cover the war in Ukraine as a conflict between the West’s aggressive interests and Moscow’s legitimate interests, with the Ukrainian people portrayed as manipulated and deluded by President Volodymyr Zelenksy. According to these narratives promoted on Telegram, Ukrainians don't want to die, they don't want to fight, they don't know the truth about the situation their country is in, and only Russia can help them.
"Z" channels: Ukrainians are waiting to be freed by the Russians
Unlike Telegram channels that present readers with daily news and video streams of general interest, those dedicated to the war in Ukraine (the so-called "Z" channels) are preparing the public opinion for further escalations. The readers of these channels are convinced supporters of the war, representing the most radical segment of society - the ideological core of the Putin regime.
"Voennyi portal SVO" ("Special Military Operation Portal") presents a video made by the Ukrainian authorities to help the urgent evacuation of some villages in the Kharkiv region as evidence that Russian speakers are resisting the Nazi authorities and are waiting to be freed by Moscow's troops. In reality, some old village people are shown saying that they have never left their village, that they have cats and dogs around the house and that they do not have the moral and physical strength to leave. The Ukrainian military is asking the children and grandchildren of these elders to support the evacuation process by informing their relatives about the dangers of the Russian offensive.
Z channels claim that the Ukrainian army has fallen into chaos and Russian victory is imminent. "The commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine blame each other for the catastrophe in Kharkiv," writes the Special Military Operation Portal . Despite the fact that military actions are taking place 70 kilometers from Kharkiv, Telegram channels describe the occupation of the regional center as a fait accompli. The purpose of these news feeds is to discourage any form of Ukrainian resistance in this northeastern region.
The local successes of the Russian army are presented by the Telegram channel "Operation Z" as an unstoppable process. The occupation of some localities is called "liberation", and a series of maps of territories where "Nazism no longer exists" are presented.
The methods used by the Ukrainian authorities to enlist men into the army are described by "Operation Z" as “inhumane and undemocratic” . The channel contains a series of comments by Russian experts, but also fragments of shows with out-of-context statements by some Ukrainian military about the need to organize a much tougher mobilization. "Whoever does not want to get out of the car when stopped by the military commissar, must be shot in the leg," writes the Telegram channel, citing a radical Ukrainian expert.
These propaganda narratives aim to discourage mobilization and present Russia's actions as correct, just, circumstantial, while Kyiv is portrayed as disorganized, undemocratic, and without a future. Zelensky is called a Nazi and accused of sending his nation to death.
“Independent experts” urge Russians to pray for the “defenders”
Apart from news channels or those specifically covering the war in Ukraine, there are some Telegram pages managed by various experts who present themselves as "independent" of the Kremlin. The channel of Yuri Podoliaka (2.9 million followers), a Soviet colonel in the reserve, writes about the successes of the Russian army in the Kharkiv region, urging Russians to pray for the defenders and heroes of the Russian Federation .
The same channel reports that the Ukrainian army is "demoralized" and writes that, desperate to leave Ukraine, many men are drowning in rivers in the west of the country. According to these narratives promoted on Telegram and picked up by the pro-Kremlin media, men not only do not want to be killed in the war, they cannot imagine fighting against their "brothers", who are coming to free them.
The topic of the Russian offensive in Ukraine was also discussed on the Telegram channel of the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (over 2.1 million followers), who congratulated Vladimir Putin on the occasion of his inauguration, asking him to deploy tougher methods in the war in Ukraine. "I am convinced that we need to act harder, first of all to liberate Odesa and Kharkiv and destroy the Nazi regime," reads the Telegram channel "Kadyrov-95", starting from which most of the official narratives in the Chechen Republic's media are built.
The purpose of the narratives: to mobilize Russians and discourage Ukrainians
Telegram channels controlled by the Kremlin are read daily by millions of Russian speakers. While news channels portray the new Russian offensive in Ukraine as a defensive reaction, with Russia being forced to create a buffer zone (a project announced by the Kremlin in April), channels read by staunch Putinists and fans of Operation Z promote the propaganda narrative regarding the liberation of Ukraine from Nazism. The narratives promoted on Telegram are intended to increase Russian support for the war and justify Moscow's actions.
Beyond the Russian audience, these channels also target Ukrainians, given Telegram's influence in the ex-Soviet space. The purpose is to create panic and thus discourage Ukrainian resistance.
