I have minimal knowledge of IStories. I have heard about them, but never really read their articles.
I respect Marokhovskaya, but I disagree with her overall approach. Marokhovskaya claims that:
“They’re poisoning Russians,” she said, explaining how she views Kremlin propaganda. “Information in our world is one of the most important things, and I am completely against manipulating people’s minds.”
On what basis is the poisoning theory true? Where is manipulation? Sure, government run media spreads lies, but it’s not like the vast majority of the population doesn’t know this. And they have had access to fully uncensored youtube channels with russian language content (from both organizations in russia and reputable foreign media organizations) since ~2010.
Later in the article the head of IStories the video (YT?) department states:
“We don’t say to them that you’re idiots, that you’re war criminals,” Artem said. “We just present real life in Russia as it is. We’re talking to real people. We’re talking about their problems. We’re always trying to find something that’s interesting to just ordinary people.”
1.1 million russian men have been directly involved in the invasion of Ukraine. Around 1.5 million “civilians” have partaken in russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territories. The vast majority of the russian population are genuine supporters of genocidal imperialism.
And I recognize that an organization like IStories has an incentive to downplay the genuine universal support for genocidal imperialism among russian population. But look at it from a practical point of view. What has the russian opposition (and organizations like IStories) achieved in the last ~15? Nothing! They are a complete failure. Coddling the russians’ genocidal imperialist mindset clearly bring no results. So perhaps it is worth considering other approaches?
A counter argument to the article.
I have minimal knowledge of IStories. I have heard about them, but never really read their articles.
I respect Marokhovskaya, but I disagree with her overall approach. Marokhovskaya claims that:
On what basis is the poisoning theory true? Where is manipulation? Sure, government run media spreads lies, but it’s not like the vast majority of the population doesn’t know this. And they have had access to fully uncensored youtube channels with russian language content (from both organizations in russia and reputable foreign media organizations) since ~2010.
Later in the article the head of IStories the video (YT?) department states:
1.1 million russian men have been directly involved in the invasion of Ukraine. Around 1.5 million “civilians” have partaken in russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territories. The vast majority of the russian population are genuine supporters of genocidal imperialism.
And I recognize that an organization like IStories has an incentive to downplay the genuine universal support for genocidal imperialism among russian population. But look at it from a practical point of view. What has the russian opposition (and organizations like IStories) achieved in the last ~15? Nothing! They are a complete failure. Coddling the russians’ genocidal imperialist mindset clearly bring no results. So perhaps it is worth considering other approaches?