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Sebastian Suherman
Mr. Joshua Blackburn
English 9
30 September 2015

The Effectiveness of Pro-Russian Propaganda in Ukraine

Propaganda is often used during wartime. Last year, Russia invaded the Crimea
region of Ukraine in hopes of turning the region into a part of Russia again. On March 16th
last year, a voting event was set to determine whether or not Crimea will secede from
Ukraine. Some of the people in Crimea supported the region becoming Russian again. Others
want to be Russian because they think that the new Ukrainian government wouldnt be able to
support them, thus turning into fascism. However, not all of the citizens in the Crimean

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region support becoming a part of Russia again. The pro-Russian supporters tried to
encourage non supporters to support Russia. To do this, they used several types of
propaganda. They created propaganda posters and billboards all over Crimea, and these
billboards were quite effective. Ukraines propaganda billboard that is used to persuade the
Crimean citizens to change their nationality to Russian is effective because it uses the Nazi
symbol to emphasise the message, it uses the majority of the peoples opinion, that being
Russian is better, and because the billboard uses a short-but-clear message.
The way that the pro-Russian community are conveying their message is very
effective. Instead of using a lot of words, they only used a few words. Even so, they managed
to give out a strong and clear message to the citizens. The poster spells out March 16, we
choose Between the two pictures the text says or" ("Billboard Explains Taylor). The
usage of short statements in the billboard helps it by making it more eye-catching and easier
to read and remember. Not only so, because it is quite easy to understand, more people would
be able to get the message and spread the message out. However, the poster isnt complete
without pictures, as it would be hard to understand without the usage of the pictures.
The billboards usage of the Nazi symbol is effective in emphasising the message that
the pro-Russian community are trying to convey. Nazis are based upon a fascist and racist
government. Fascism appeared first in the early 20th century, and is defined as a totalitarian
and authoritative government (Merriam Webster). Most people in Crimea considered this as a
threat for their region. This is backed up by president Vladimir Putin and ousted Ukraine
President Victor Yanukovych who had repeatedly referred to the new leadership in Ukraine
as fascist." ("Billboard Explains How Crimea Referendum, Taylor). Therefore, the ProRussian militants are portraying their secessionist drive for Crimea as a struggle against their

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perceived fascism of the new government in Kiev (Crimean Nazi Billboard , Mitchell).
By using the swastika, the pro-Russian community are trying to say that staying Ukrainian
would lead to a Nazi-like government ruling over Crimea.
Ukraine has been part of the Soviet Union before they became an independent
country. Up to eighty-two percent of the Crimean citizens thought that choosing to secede
from Ukraine is a good choice for them ("One Year After Russia Annexed Crimea
Rapoza), especially because most citizens were born when Ukraine is part of the Soviet
Union. Most of the adult citizens have fond memories of Russia (Rapoza). They believed that
being a part of Russia will be a good choice for them and their country. Not all the citizens
share the same opinion, as they think that Ukraine is their home now, and that changing
countries would mean losing their homes (Taylor). These citizens are the main target
audience that the billboard is intended for, and it was quite effective at doing so because it
was based upon many true stories. They often share the same opinion that the new Ukraine
government is bad for them. In fact, the people who created the billboard are part of the
group that supports Russia (Mitchell). Since there are more people that was born in Russia,
the affects of the propaganda would be able to be spread further.
This propaganda contains a lot of different techniques being used, such as glittering
generalities, card stacking, emotional appeal, and emotional transfer. Glittering generalities
could be seen because it tells the audience that being Russian would lead to a better life. Card
stacking could be seen because the billboard doesnt tell the audience about the downsides of
changing nationality. Emotional appeal could be seen because it uses the Nazi symbol, which
is often connected to hard times. Emotional transfer could be seen because the billboard tries
to transfer the emotions related to the Nazi symbol to the viewers. These helps the
propaganda to be eye-catching and effective in convincing viewers.

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Ukraines propaganda billboard that is used to persuade the Crimean citizens to
change their nationality to Russian is convincing, owing to its usage of the Nazi swastika to
exaggerate the message, it uses most of the citizens opinion that being Russian is better, and
due to the billboards usage of a short-but-clear message. Even though this propaganda is
great, it wouldnt work on other countries as it uses the Crimean map, and also because it uses
Cyrillic, which is the main language of only several countries. Altogether, the propaganda is
very effective. Its usage of the different methods make it eye-catching and persuasive.

Works Cited

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"Crimea Profile - Overview - BBC News." BBC News. BBC News, 13 Mar. 2015. Web. 25
Sept. 2015.
"Fascism." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
Gallup, Sean. On March 16 We Will Choose. 2014. Getty Images. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
Mitchell, Andrea. "Crimean 'Nazi' Billboard Highlights Propaganda Problem: U.S. - NBC
News." NBC News. 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
"Nazi Ideology." Nazi Ideology. Nazism.net. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
Rapoza, Kenneth. "One Year After Russia Annexed Crimea, Locals Prefer Moscow To
Kiev." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 20 Mar. 2015. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
Taylor, Adam. "Billboard Explains How Crimea Referendum Is Being Framed: Russia vs.
the Nazis." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Sept.
2015.