On September 19, 2022, the Russian occupation troops and administration intensified their activities to initiate illegal referendums due on September 23–27, 2022, in the occupied territories. In the Kremlin's view, a fake referendum would create “legal grounds” for Russia to annex these territories. The acceleration of the related processes is directly linked to the successful counter-offensive effort of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkiv region and in the South. It is also related to th...

The discourse about good and bad russians should be channeled into a constructive line. The Righteous cannot wait for the putin regime to be overthrown after losing the war, at the cost of thousands deaths of Ukrainian military and civilians. They must act now.

With the support of the EU, Ukrainian authorities will benefit from policy and communication expertise of a consortium of civil society organisations with a view to overcome the consequences of the war and bring Ukraine closer to EU membership.

Last week (September, 12–18), Russians have not been unanimous in their positions, again. On the one hand, at the international negotiations, putin said he will "do his best to have the war end,” and accused Ukraine of not wanting to negotiate. On the other hand, dmitriy medvedev demanded “total capitulation of the Kyiv regime on russia’s terms” and threatened NATO with the “third world war.” Clearly, medvedev’s aggressive position and putin’s statement about the “unchanged goal” of the so-ca...

In addition, russia wants to wind down the "grain deal" and has launched a disinformation campaign against Ukraine in order to shift the guilt for food security problems, discredit our state in the eyes of the world, and minimize resistance to their invasion. To this end, russia is spreading the message that Ukraine allegedly hardly sells any agricultural products to Asia and Africa. However, in Kyiv, this information was refuted and the data was published confirming that 102 vessels have alr...

Civil Network OPORA has explored the public discourse of the occupying state in six months of the war against Ukraine, with the help of War Speeches online tool. Most of all, the propaganda focused on justifying expansion and colonial policy. The prevalent narratives were about the "fight against the Nazis," "protection of the people of Donbas," "multipolar world order" a. o. The russian side resorted to aggressive but also primitive propaganda to disrupt the supply of Western weapons. The kr...

With no end in sight to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin is currently preparing to stage fake referendums in occupied regions of the country as a prelude to annexation. While there is little danger of the international community officially recognizing the results of such obviously rigged and illegitimate ballots, Russia’s referendum plans nevertheless have the potential to significantly escalate the war and must be prevented from proceeding.

Is there a standard occupation technology that russia implements in different territories of Ukraine? How to distinguish survival from collaborationism? And how can the state preserve the trust of TOTs residents and prevent a gap between those who stayed in the occupation and those who avoided it?