{"id":117899,"date":"2019-10-23T19:50:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T16:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=117899"},"modified":"2020-05-22T20:06:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T17:06:46","slug":"russkiy-mir-now-a-part-of-your-cable-package-how-russian-orthodox-church-becomes-an-instrument-of-hybrid-warfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/russkiy-mir-now-a-part-of-your-cable-package-how-russian-orthodox-church-becomes-an-instrument-of-hybrid-warfare","title":{"rendered":"Russkiy mir: now a part of your cable package. How Russian orthodox church becomes an instrument of hybrid warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rise of social media consistently inspires claims about the death of more traditional channels of communications \u2014 print, radio and TV. The actual state of affairs, however, demonstrates that television is far from such untimely decease in many countries, including Ukraine. According to Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 74% of Ukrainians still consider TV-channels to be a primary source of news<\/a>. Their agenda is indicative to forming public discourse, opinions and electoral behavior. It makes them a desired and valuable acquisition for those who desire to enhance and solidify one\u2019s political influence \u2014 deoligarchisation remains a primary goal and challenge for Ukrainian media environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such context, a recent restart of a \u201cKyivan Rus\u201d on cable should be watched closely for possible hidden \u2014 and important \u2014 implications. Before it fell silent for nearly 10 years, the channel was linked to Hennadiy Vasyliev, Prosecutor General in 2003\u20132004, 5 times elected as an MP with his last term as a representative of the pro-Russian \u201cParty of Regions\u201d that dominated Ukrainian politics since 2010 and until the Revolution of Dignity. He served as a Deputy Head of Presidential Administration in 2010\u20132011 under ex-President V.Yanukovych \u2014 and was also a benefactor of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKyivan Rus\u201d, founded in Donetsk in 2003 and positioning itself as a family-oriented channel, heavily promoted Orthodoxy and exported \u201ctraditional values\u201d in their ROC interpretation. Over time they have become one of the key pillars for the artificial ideology of Russkiy mir, <\/em>where Moscow Patriarchate plays a significant role of the morality warden in the face of the allegedly ever-threatening perversions of the \u201cdecaying West\u201d. To spread the message within its borders, Russian Federation has, among other means, a \u201cTsargrad\u201d channel with similar ROC agenda. Its founder and chairman of the board, Russian oligarch K.Malofeev has been also linked to the funding of the Kremlin\u2019s ongoing aggression in the eastern regions of Ukraine. Meanwhile, in Ukraine itself outlets such as \u201cKyivan Rus\u201d carry out the task of exporting the ROC agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the announced rebranding, it appears that the channel\u2019s core agenda will remain the same. This is evidenced by the latest interview of Olena Vavylova, its editor in chief, where she insists that <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are hooked on the TV-series that impose the so-called Western civilizational values and destroy our original Slavic ones<\/a>\u201d. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This rhetoric echoes strongly one of the predominant Russian narratives on Europe, according to which \u201chypocrisy, unjust, biased media, puppet politicians, pedophilism, Neo-Nazism \u2014 all have been showcased as commonplace in the EU. Homosexuality continues to be a part of it<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKyivan Rus\u201d is expected to rebroadcast Kremlin-tailored narratives on Ukraine as well \u2014 and even more so. Vavylova has already facilitated Russian state-TV messaging on Euromaidan as a coup and alleged rise of the far-right and promised to \u201cdefinitely talk about it with our audience\u201d. The channel is scheduled to have at least two political-oriented programs, with one of them hosted by Ivan Miglazov, an instigator behind the attempts to \u201crevive\u201d the abovementioned Party of Regions. Still, Miglazov \u2014 and Vavylova herself \u2014 are far from being the only members of staff with pro-Russian position. List of TV-hosts also includes Dmitriy Skvortsov and Yan Taksiur, founders of the \u201cRussian club\u201d, a manifesto of which insists on a \u201ctemporary status of the state of Ukraine<\/a>\u201d. With such a team, a promise to launch two special media projects dedicated exclusively to Crimea and Donbas looks more than troubling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context \u201cKyivan Rus\u201d appears to be another instrument in a tool-kit of malign informational influence disguised as a \u201cfamily-oriented\u201d and seemingly apolitical channel \u2014 a notion that is clearly far from truth, considering the number of political programs already declared for broadcasting. Aside from a disguise that grants protection from criticism \u2014 those challenging the agenda are likely to be accused of meddling into religious affairs, \u2014 such public image constitutes another threat. It touches upon the specific segment of audience that is less reached by other, more transparent and professional media of communication, and makes them more prone to accept the Russkiy Mir<\/em> values along with the political implications they carry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pushing the Kremlin\u2019s political agenda that is veiled by religious rhetoric has been heavily employed by the Russian Orthodox Church and Moscow Patriarchate of Ukrainian Orthodox Church with a varying degree of straightforwardness. Church officials in the Western regions of Ukraine would push the modified version of \u201ccivil conflict\u201d narrative, insisting on the necessity to stop \u201cthe fratricidal war\u201d by accepting the Kremlin\u2019s terms. In Russia and eastern regions of Ukraine the claims would be blunter, to a point where a blessing was given to kill \u201cfascist\u201d Ukrainians who fought against Russian invasion. Launch of the media-outlet that is likely to rebroadcast and amplify these narratives constitutes a serious challenge to informational security \u2014 especially given a number of other proxies promoting Kremlin\u2019s agenda, with 3 TV channels (112, NEWSONE and ZIK) linked to one of the most notorious pro-Russian politicians \u2014 V.Medvedchuk \u2014 being of particular importance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rise of social media consistently inspires claims about the death of more traditional channels of communications \u2014 print, radio and TV. The actual state of affairs, however, demonstrates that television is far from such untimely decease in many countries, including Ukraine. According to Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 74% of Ukrainians still consider TV-channels […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":117900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[700,699,748],"tags":[6270,6271,1124],"section":[726],"form":[31943],"yoast_head":"\nRusskiy mir: now a part of your cable package. How Russian orthodox church becomes an instrument of hybrid warfare | UACRISIS.ORG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The rise of social media consistently inspires claims about the death of more traditional channels of communications \u2014 print, radio and TV. 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