A parallel reality

Ukrainian blogosphere and social networks deride dominance of Russian propaganda and lies that were broadcast in early March via central TV channels of Russia. In particular, Old Woman and Cat page on Facebook, having almost 38,000 followers, saw dozens of witty cartoons and posters posted there (pictured).

Apart from joking about parallel realities in which Ukraine and Russian media live, bloggers are actively ridiculing new portal predatel.net, which aims to identify the “traitors of Russia,” that is, famous Russians who are not afraid to publicly support Ukraine and condemn the policies of Putin. The home page of this site reads: “We believe that Russia should help Ukraine... We believe that Russian citizens who insult our soldiers and are questioning the need to fight neo-Nazis are traitors, no matter how talented they are as journalists, writers and directors.” Unknown creators of the site listed Mikhail Shats, Valeria Novodvorskaya, Roman Dobrokhotov, Sergei Aleksashenko, Dmitry Oreshkin, Oleg Kozyrev, Artemy Troitsky, Irina Prokhorova and many others as traitors. An active window at the bottom of the site’s front page allows one to “suggest a traitor.” Dozens of Ukrainian Internet users responded with jokes stating that Vladimir Putin was the most dangerous traitor of Russia. Should such a drive continue apace, all thinking members of the Russian intelligentsia will soon appear on such sites.