Demostat: Part of Serbian Public Still Sees Russian Aggression as Ukraine Justified and Legitimate

Demostat (logo)

Over a year into the war in Ukraine, the “pro-Putin” and “anti-Western” propaganda in Serbia is still quite strong, leading part of the public to remain convinced that Russia’s aggression on its neighbor is justified and legitimate, the Demostat research and publishing center reported on March 22. The center added that, ever since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Serbia has also seen a steady increase in anti-Ukrainian narratives and the spread of various harmful stereotypes.

According to the Demostat report, “false narratives” about Ukraine were disseminated by the Serbian media and via social networks even before Russia attacked Ukraine, on Feb. 24 of last year. Ranging from allegations of Ukraine committing genocide to claims the country has a strong neo-Nazi movement supported by the central government and enacted in its policies, the purpose of said narratives is to glorify Russia and discredit Ukraine, Demostat maintains.

Furthermore, said Demostat, data that contradict such pro-Russian propaganda is being suppressed, such as the fact that Ukraine is one of the rare European countries that did not recognize Kosovo’s unilaterally-declared independence, or that it was one of the first to condemn NATO’s 1999 bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or that the Red Army forces that participated in liberating Belgrade and Serbia from fascist Germany in 1944 included Ukrainian troops.