This week in our rubric on the top hybrid influences in Ukraine:
- Vaccination remains one of the issues most heavily exploited by the pro-Russian actors, which aim to discredit Western vaccines and undermine trust towards the government and local healthcare system. Anonymous Telegram channels are a major tool in this campaign.
- Public dissatisfaction with Ukrainian court sentencing activist Serhii Sternenko to 7 years in prison are pictured as nationalist to reinforce the “Ukraine as a Nazi state” narrative.
- While TV channels, which served as a major hub for promotion of the Kremlin narratives, remain banned, local agents of influence regroup. Taras Kozak, their legal owner, filed a lawsuit against this decision, and another pro-Russian channel “Nash” pumps up its audience. The most important development, however, is the plan to launch a new channel in April based on Medvedchuk-linked 112, ZIK and Newsone.