Propaganda has long been a powerful tool for shaping public opinion, influencing international discourse, and justifying military actions. In Russia’s war against Ukraine, propaganda has been a central instrument for creating narratives that legitimize aggression, undermine democracy, and manipulate perceptions both domestically and internationally.

This episode is a recording of a public event held by Central European University in Vienna. The speakers of the event were:

- Teresa Marques, a philosopher of language, Associate Professor at the Philosophy Department of the University of Barcelona

- Juliane Fürst, a historian, professor at the Department of Historical Studies at Central European University.

- Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, president of PEN Ukraine and chief editor of UkraineWorld.

The event was moderated by Fabio Lampert, Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Vienna.

It was organized by the Knowledge in Crisis, a Cluster of Excellence supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).

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Contents:

00:00 Intro

01:59 The story from Bucha

07:02 How can philosophers define propaganda?

13:31 How crucial was propaganda for the Soviet Union?

18:58 How does Russia frame information?

24:01 How does virtuality become reality?

33:34 Weaponization of the language

40:09 Putin’s rhetoric in the Russian-Ukrainian war

49:54 What role does the information play in the Russian-Ukrainian war?

01:00 How do we counter propaganda?

01:14 Q&A

01:18 How does Russian propaganda name this war: the tactic of blaming the victim

01:22 Skeptical view: Is propaganda ineffective?

01:36 How does propaganda shape the war perceptions of Russia’s National Republics?

01:44 Isolationism as a new narrative

01:56 Outro