A RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA FAKE: OLENA PIDHRUSHNA IS AN ATO SNIPER

Abstract

The hybrid warfare waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine is being conducted at several levels and directions, information being one of them. Russian propaganda fakes are directly related to the issue of national security of Ukraine, namely, a crucified boy in Slovyansk, slaves for the National Guard of Ukraine, «fascists» on the Maidan, Yarosh's business card, and so on. One more example of the Kremlin's destructive information work in May 2014 was the fake that Olena Pidhrushna, the captain of the Ukrainian biathlon team, the Olympic champion in the relay at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, was a sniper involved in an Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in the east of Ukraine.

The article analyzes the peculiarities of the Russian media construction of a fake «about sniper O. Pidhrushna in the anti-terrorist operation zone», its refutation by the Ukrainian side and the consequences of the fake for the athlete. Using the structural and functional method of the research, the author clarifies the content and structure of this fake, the creation of the effect of «fake in a fake». The conducted event and content analyses gave grounds to conclude that the developers of the fake purposefully selected events, statements made during the professional career of O. Pidhrushna, snatching them from a specific situation, a television story. Having compared the real facts from the biography and sports achievements of O. Pidhrushna with the manipulative information provided by hostile propaganda in the fake, the author establishes causal links in the «construction» of the fake, as well as its related grounds. Special attention is drawn to the fact that the fake negatively affected the emotional state of O. Pidhrushna, forcing her to reconsider her views. It is proved that the slow overcoming of the topical problems of the Ukrainian society by the authorities creates a favorable ground for the emergence of various fakes, their perception by society. The author claims this fake was a well-thought-out and purposeful information and propaganda attack on the titled Ukrainian sportswoman and domestic sports in general. The article provides evidence for confirmation of the athlete’s statement that «the ideological machine of our neighbors works so powerfully that it does not give a chance to conduct a dialogue, to explain one’s personal position. This applies even to athletes who are always out of politics». Nevertheless, O. Pidhrushna believes that sport plays a crucial role in understanding and establishing peace.