Hostile Narrative Brief: War in Ukraine A Year of Aggression: A Case Study of Slovakia
Kristína Šefčíková / 19 Apr 2023
February 24, 2023 marked one year since the start of the unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. These events have been accompanied by attempts to undermine support among Ukraine’s allies by spreading disinformation, conspiracy theories and generally, hostile narratives towards Ukraine exploiting socially contentious issues. To better track these hostile narratives, the Prague Security Studies Institute researchers joined the International Republican Institute’s Beacon Project in their series of reports monitoring the online media space of Slovakia, among other Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.
The present report delves into the hostile narratives about Ukraine spreading in the Slovak information space in the time period of 15 February 2022 – 14 February 2023. The analysis specifically focuses on the most popular Facebook posts based on the number of interactions since Facebook is still the most used social media platform in the country. Beside the main topics of refugees, sanctions, energy security and NATO/military support, the report also touches upon pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives such as denazification of Ukraine, secret biolabs and fear- -mongering about nuclear escalation of the war.