We explored 225 Telegram channels including news resources and the channels of official authorities sharing content for the temporarily Russia-controlled parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. We collected the total of 6,984 posts mentioning the coming pseudo elections. Based on the obtained data, we identified topics and narratives of propagandists about the pseudo elections, and estimated the frequency of mentioning political parties. We detected that Russians posted suspiciously similar texts to promote candidates in different regions.

Last week (September, 4–10), the negotiations took place between Presidents of Turkiye and Russia, where Vladimir Putin admitted Russia might resume the “grain deal” if his country’s demands are fulfilled. In particular, when sanctions are relaxed for Russia’s agricultural sector. On September, 9–10, in New Delhi (India), a G20 summit took place. As a result, the participants adopted a compromise statement about Ukraine. Armenia conducted joint military exercise with the USA, which caused a wrathful reaction from the Kremlin, the same as the fact that the US transferred to Ukraine the depleted uranium munitions. The Office of the President of Ukraine criticized the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, and qualified their opinions about the lack of sufficient evidence for the Russia-committed genocide in Ukraine a “political toothlessness” and “indirect encouragement of a criminal.”

Messaging service Telegram’s marketing strategy is to present itself as a platform for total freedom of speech in response to the moderation policies of other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Telegram professes to consider content moderation as a philosophical question of ethics and morale, as if any interference has the exclusive function of “disciplining” users. However, this philosophical issue has quite tangible consequences in practice. For example, the findings of an independent impact assessment of Facebook on human rights in Myanmar showed(opens in a new tab) that under-moderation of content in Myanmar language contributed(opens in a new tab) to the act of genocide against the Rohingya Muslims.

At the same time, Ukrainian troops continue to liberate the occupied territory and are on the verge of a breakthrough. The increasing number of explosions on the territory of Russia, the destruction of the strategic objects of the aggressor, and the landing of the Ukrainian military in the occupied Crimea indicate the inevitable failure of Putin's venture in Ukraine. Finally, more and more countries are agreeing to support the security guarantees of Ukraine and to join the exercises of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters.

Last week (August 14–20), an important news was the decision of Denmark and the Netherlands to transfer 61 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Also, Ukrainian pilots have already begun testing on Swedish Gripens aircraft, which in the future will make it possible to get these 4th generation fighters.

Last year in the third month of Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine,  Civil Network OPORA decided to carry out a survey of Ukrainian media space.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine led to radical changes in the lives of Ukrainians. Some people took up arms and heroically defend our Motherland on the frontline, others joined the volunteer movement and provide the army with everything necessary. Some entrepreneurs are developing their business to support the long-suffering Ukrainian economy even in war-time. Living conditions have changed a lot in Ukraine: some people lost their property due to Russian shelling of peaceful cities, others lost their jobs, health, security, and the opportunity to provide their children with a good education. Some Ukrainians have spent their entire lives in the occupied territories.

Last week (July 3–9), Ukraine actively worked to get guarantees of NATO ⁠accession at the Alliance summit in Vilnius to be held on July 11–12. Five commanders who defended Mariupol returned from Turkey to Ukraine. This caused public hysteria in the Kremlin, as well as the decision taken by the United States to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine.

In view of the aforesaid, it is critically important to get an understanding of the specifics of media consumption habits assumed by different groups  of civil society of Ukraine. Indeed, any measures aimed at disseminating reliable news from official sources and counteracting disinformation will prove ineffective, if they are not implemented on the platforms actively used by civil society for media consumption purposes. Therefore, we take this opportunity to present the results of a research...