Study Links Russian State Propaganda to War Crimes
LingvaLexa researchers found that Russian prisoners of war who believe Kremlin propaganda are more likely to dehumanize Ukrainians and view the war as legitimate.
A study by the Ukrainian nongovernment organization LingvaLexa, supported by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, found a direct correlation between the belief in Russian state propaganda and the dehumanization of Ukrainians. After surveying 1,060 Russian prisoners of war, researchers determined that 76% of respondents endorsed at least one of 18 tested narratives, such as claims that Ukraine is a "Western puppet" or that NATO is using Ukraine to wage war against Russia.
The findings show that soldiers with the strongest belief in state propaganda are six times more likely to view the war as legitimate and express a willingness to rejoin the Russian Armed Forces. Furthermore, 43% of the prisoners surveyed did not attribute full human characteristics to Ukrainians.
These results are now being utilized by the Reckoning Project and Global Rights Compliance. These organizations are using the data to build legal arguments to hold Russian propagandists accountable for inciting atrocities and aiding criminal conduct during the conflict.
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