The war that Russia is waging against Ukraine is not only through arms, but also through words. Since the start of the conflict in the Donbass in 2014, Russian propaganda, which depicts Ukraine as a state that has fallen into the hands of a power “Nazi”, is clubbed. It has doubled again since the invasion of the country in February 2022.
Ukraine is well aware of the dangers of this propaganda, the way in which it infuses minds, in the country but also elsewhere in Europe. In order to counter the effects of this “war machine”, the President, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed, on January 7, a decree imposing individual economic sanctions against 119 people accused of relaying Russian propaganda and disseminating false information on the conflict.
Among them are well-known singers, actors, artists and cultural personalities in Russia, such as television host Leonid Yakubovitch, director Nikita Mikhalkov, comedian Yevgeny Petrossian or the editor-in-chief of the television channel RT (formerly Russia Today), Margarita Simonian. The list also includes some Belarusians, as well as three people with Ukrainian citizenship: football coach Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, who today works for Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg, television host Zhanna Badoeva, whose career began on Ukrainian television before continuing on the Russian channel Perviy Kanal, and singer Lolita Miliavskaya, banned from entering Ukraine in 2015 after giving a concert in Crimea annexed by Moscow.
These new sanctions, which entered into force on January 17, bring to 317 the number of propagandists sanctioned by the Ukrainian government. They provide for the restriction of business activities, the termination of financial and monetary obligations possessed in Ukraine, the prohibition to enter or travel through the territory and the deprivation of any awards, titles or recognition of the Ukrainian state. The Council of Ministers, the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine are responsible for ensuring their implementation and monitoring their effectiveness.
“A very clear signal to our partners”
The scope is above all symbolic: naming the propagandists of the Kremlin makes it possible to identify these “enemies of Ukraine”both at home and abroad, and to lead the way. “It is a very clear signal sent to our international partners, to encourage them to adopt, in turn, sanctions against these individuals.explain to World Vladyslav Vlasiuk, adviser to the office of President Zelensky and head of the Yermak-McFaul international expert group on sanctions against Russia. It is also the way to show Ukrainians that justice prevails. »
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