Information on the war

It is recommended to consult a variety of news outlets, some examples are listed below.

A special mention is liveuamap, which covers the conflict with a visual map and markers.

Russian state media

Russian media has had a strong crackdown with the latest censorship laws, resulting in suspension of many independent media outlets (such as the Moscow Independent, which meanwhile works again). What’s left are basically media that report inline with state propaganda and follows Russia’s official narrative and is used to systematically spread propaganda and misinformation (it may be good to consult the links first in order to better understand the texts).

While many articles are written in Russian, some are also in English, Google translate or DeepL offer a great way to read the Russian ones as they offer a more authentic view.

It is recommended to read them and get an impression for yourselves! Be aware that some contain absurd lies – don’t be surprised to stumble upon extraordinary claims.

These sites should be read in the original Russian language and translated as the English version often differ a lot!

Russian propaganda

The following are by different definitions propaganda and shouldn’t be considered “news” or “media”, but represent more directly a propaganda channel by the state. They can nonetheless be useful to get an impression of what the Russian leadership wants or claims.

• TASS
• Ria Novosty
• Russian pravda
• RT news: A less extreme version that directly targets a western audience. It’s propaganda is more subtle such as by doing selective reporting.

Russian independent media

There are still independent Russian media outlets operating, sometimes outside of Russia. They can be treated similarly to Ukrainian free media: basically as free media, however with a possible bias given their Russian origin. The fact that many reports are quite in line with other free media from around the world speaks a clear language.

• Meduza (was also quoted by Russia in the UN)
• Moscow Times

Ukrainian media

Ukrainian media outlets are mostly independent from state propaganda as the freedom of speech is not impaired in Ukraine and media outlets seem not to be (systematically or largely) censored.

It is to note however that they can have a somewhat biased view, mostly by a more selective reporting (also stemming from the fact that more information is available from Ukraine controlled territory). Also, their country is currently under attack with their buildings shelled and the people around them killed.

• Kyiv independent
• Ukrainian pravda: they contain usually the most recent news and are great to follow closely the war. This reduces the time for the verification of information and may results in one or the other mistake; they are trying to update articles if new information is available. They transparently cite the source however and allow the reader to verify the information themselves.

Independent media from different states

There is a variety of independent, well known media outlets around the world that cover the current events such as Al Jazeera, NY Times, CNN, BBC and many more.