Russia’s unprovoked attack on the innocent people of Ukraine has finally focused international attention on the dangers of Vladimir Putin’s ambitions. Now, as it becomes clear that the fastest way to end this disastrous loss of life is to put pressure on Putin from within, piercing the Kremlin’s information blackout is more important than ever.
For much of the last several decades, the United States and its European partners failed to take the threat of Putin’s domestic propaganda seriously. Cold War institutions like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which I lead, were seen as — at best — anachronistic and — at worst — no longer necessary. Successive U.S. administrations focused on trying to sell American policy to audiences abroad rather than helping to counter authoritarians as they blocked their populations from accessing the truth.
Instead of bolstering support for independent media outlets in closed or closing societies, many leaders in democratic societies began to focus their attacks on the media in their own countries.
“Journalists can’t really be objective” is a statement I have heard far too often during my time at RFE/RL — from authoritarian strongmen and politicians in the United States and Europe alike.
In the meantime, Putin was systematically numbing the Russian public. He methodically dismantled the independent Russian media and invested billions of dollars in disinformation campaigns designed to exert complete information control at home and undermine democracy abroad.
Until recently, this strategy was incremental: deny radio and television licenses to foreign-linked media, threaten independent outlets with onerous regulations, and kill a pesky journalist here and there. It was death by a thousand cuts. But once the war began, it wasn’t a significant leap to what we have witnessed since the war began: outright blocking of websites, shutdowns of social media platforms, and even making it a crime to report facts about the war.
The options for those Russians who want to find out the truth are now much more limited. It is very difficult at this point to do overt reporting from inside Russia. The audience must use a virtual private network or other circumvention tools to reach websites outside the country.
In neighboring Belarus, a woman was sentenced to 15 days in jail for “possessing” RFE/RL Belarus Service YouTube videos on her phone. It is no longer unimaginable that Russians may face similar threats in the months to come. Some have already had their phones checked by police at protests or as they try to leave the country.
The result is apparent in the interviews Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is still able to do inside Russia. Those Russians who are brave enough to make their concerns about the war known on camera are few and far between. If they don’t toe the Kremlin lie, the risk is severe — a treason charge and the possibility of up to 15 years in prison.
Yet, despite these risks, millions of Russians are still not satisfied with the narratives they are being fed by Russian state television every evening. They are seeking out alternative views, visiting our websites as well as those of other now banned outlets, even if they are not yet willing to vocally voice their own opinions in public.
In this environment, this is not a war that will be won by lecturing Russians about the righteousness of American policy or superiority of our way of life. What is needed is a willingness to redouble our commitment to invest in the truth in the form of supporting independent journalism for Russian audiences.
That means supporting brave Russian journalists wherever they can work safely, inside or out of the country. It means investing in new technologies and delivery methods to stay one step ahead of the Kremlin’s online and television censors. It also means not allowing Putin’s lies to go unanswered — as many did for far too long when the West was distracted with other challenges.
Throughout our 70-year history, from Poland to Czechoslovakia to the Soviet Union, we’ve found that the truth always has a way of breaking through — even in the bleakest of times. Just as our radio broadcasts could not be completely jammed in the past and we were eventually invited into Russia by Boris Yeltsin, Putin’s 21st Century information power grab will ultimately fail.
Putin realizes the stakes. The Moscow Times recently reported that in the first months of this year the Kremlin tripled its spending on its state media. A clear vulnerability to the truth is perhaps the greatest sign of authoritarian weakness. Some facts are so revealing that they cannot be washed away by lies and propaganda, even if they do buy him more time.
The question now is whether the United States and our partners are similarly willing to expand resources and support for the brave Russian journalists who are countering Putin’s propaganda with the truth.
Jamie Fly is president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). He is based in Prague, Czech Republic.