Authors

Natalia Moen-Larsen¹; Ilya Yablokov²;  ¹ Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway;  ² The University of Sheffield, UK

Discussion

Putin’s regime has managed to solve many problems with intimidation, corruption and massive propaganda, but in 2020 it has encountered the issue that was stronger than any of the its  instruments. COVID-19 pandemic had disastrous consequences for Russia: with negligence of authorities and due to the lack of medical professionals, COVID-19 caused major losses for the society.

 

Yet, the Kremlin’s relationship with COVID-19 is the saga of state-run disinformation and the lesson that every propaganda has limits. First, the Kremlin’s media made fun of the global pandemic. Then the Kremlin tried to hide the real death toll by rigging the official stats. Finally, it claimed to invent the first coronavirus vaccine and invited the Russians to get a jab. However, mass vaccination was met with an unprecedented resistance that shook the popularity of the regime and made it's propaganda to tumble over.

 

This paper investigates the Telegram channel ‘Covid-19 resistance’, one of the biggest grass roots online communities. It analyses posts, narratives, and sentiments of Russian COVID-19 sceptics throughout the pandemic (March 2021-June 2022). The paper argues that the mass distrust to the government vaccination programme triggered the emergence of the mass resistance to the mandatory vaccination that was expressed in the anti-Kremlin conspiracy theories. The war in Ukraine, in turn, saw the spread of COVID-19 conspiracy theories to justify the invasi