Leading Russian scholar says Putin is losing the information war against Ukraine

Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, scholar Ian Garner says President Vladimir Putin had built a reputation of being a deft master of propaganda through online, social media and digital anti-narratives.

"He was a great social media strategist and a mastermind behind the scenes,” said Garner, who is an independent scholar with a specialized focus on Russian warfare.

Garner now believes there is evidence that the Russian regime is losing the information war on a global scale.

“This is major war against a neighbouring nation and a nation with deep shared cultural roots," said Garner.

"They have the same and similar language, a shared culture, food and traditions and film stars.”

In fact, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a TV and film star in both countries before he became the president of Ukraine, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko was a former heavyweight-boxing champion.

“Klitschko and Zelenskyy are media-savvy guys," said Garner.

"These guys have worked in the media for a long time.”

Garner said Klitschko and Zelenskyy have further cemented their status as war heroes and have clearly spent years not just planning for a military invasion.

"They have spent eight years polishing this information system and getting the systems ready and boy, they are doing a great job of it,” said Garner.

According to Giles Crouch, a digital anthropologist in Halifax, the Russians stumbled with the information narrative early in the conflict.

“The Russians tried to create the story of what was going on and people didn’t buy into it, to begin with," said Crouch.

"Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians stepped up and created the narrative, and once you lose the narrative, you can’t get it back.”

As for the images of Putin emerging through mainstream and social media, contrasted with those of Zalenskyy and Klitschko, Garner said any aura that Putin previously had has now eroded.

"Putin looks old and isolated, and basically looks like he’s lonely," said Garner. "On the other hand he’s given Zelenskyy, who is young and virulent, the image of being everything that Putin wants to be.”

Garner also said Putin's behaviour has given U.S. President Joe Biden an opportunity to appear as a strong elder statesman during this crisis.