NEW RESOURCES

Internet Archive Blog: A New Approach To Understanding War Through Television News: Introducing The TV News Visual Explorer & The Belarusian, Russian & Ukrainian TV News Archive . “As the TV News Archive enters its third decade, it is increasingly exploring the ways in which it can preserve the domestic and international response to global events as it did with 9/11 two decades ago. As a first step towards this vision, over the last few months the Archive has preserved more than 46,000 broadcasts from domestic Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian television news channels…”

Alliance for Securing Democracy: How Russia’s Leading Search Engine Spreads Kremlin Propaganda on Ukraine: Introducing ASD’s Yandex Dashboard . “To better understand Russia’s information environment, the Alliance for Securing Democracy developed a dashboard to show what a Russian citizen or a Russian language speaker outside Russia’s borders would see on the leading Russian language search engine and news aggregator Yandex.ru. ASD’s Yandex Dashboard catalogues the information and sources that Russian speakers encounter as part of general news consumption, as well as when actively seeking information about the war in Ukraine, through Yandex’s search engine.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

CNN: Google and Russia’s delicate dance. “Russia has spent months either driving out American tech firms or watching them leave of their own accord over its war in Ukraine. But the country now finds itself stuck in a stalemate with one big tech company: Google.”

Ars Technica: “Everything is gone”: Russian business hit hard by tech sanctions. “Russian companies have been plunged into a technological crisis by Western sanctions that have created severe bottlenecks in the supply of semiconductors, electrical equipment, and the hardware needed to power the nation’s data centers.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Kyiv Post: Zelenska, Caputova discuss creation of Ukrainian Cultural Center in Slovakia. “Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, has met with the President of Slovakia, Zuzana Caputova, to discuss the establishment of a Ukrainian Cultural Center in Slovakia. Zelenska wrote this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.”

C4ISRNET: Ukraine war shows danger of unencrypted communications, says US Army secretary. “There is a lot to be learned from the war raging in Ukraine, including the value of secure communications and the hazards posed by indiscriminate cell phone use on the battlefield, the U.S. Army’s top civilian said.”

WIRED: How the Kremlin Infiltrated Russia’s Facebook . “IN DECEMBER 2021, two months before the invasion of Ukraine, the new CEO of Russia’s second-most-popular social media network sat next to an immaculate Christmas tree and introduced himself to staff in a video message. For the occasion, Vladimir Kiriyenko—a man usually only pictured in suits—donned dark jeans with New Balance trainers. Throughout the one-hour video, he mostly avoided eye contact with the camera, instead directing his comments about the company’s future to Ochir Mandzhikov, VK’s vice president of communications. But not everyone at VKontakte (VK), Russia’s equivalent to Facebook, was convinced by their new leader’s performance.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Washington Post: In Chernobyl’s delicate nuclear labs, Russians looted safety systems. “Six hundred ninety-eight computers. 344 vehicles. 1,500 radiation dosimeters. Irreplaceable software. Almost every piece of firefighting equipment. The list of what Russia’s occupying forces stole, blew up or riddled with bullets in and around Chernobyl’s laboratories is still being compiled.”

New York Times: U.S. Technology, a Longtime Tool for Russia, Becomes a Vulnerability. “U.S. officials have long been proud of their country’s ability to supply technology and munitions to the rest of the world. But since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, the United States has faced an unfortunate reality: The tools that Russian forces are using to wage war are often powered by American innovation. Still, while the technology made by American and European companies has been turned against Ukraine, the situation has also given the United States and its allies an important source of leverage against Russia.”

Moscow Times: Proton VPN Says ‘Likely’ Blocked in Russia. “Russian users are encountering issues accessing the Proton VPN service due to likely interference by Russian authorities and internet providers, the Swiss-based company said late Wednesday.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Scientist: Professors at Bombed Kharkiv University Struggle to Continue Their Work. “In professor Nikolay Mchedlov-Petrossyan’s office at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in eastern Ukraine, several windows are covered with wood, letting only a little sunlight in…. Kharkiv has been gravely damaged by Russian shelling, but while many professors were forced to flee the university, some have stayed behind. Mchedlov-Petrossyan, the head of the department of physical chemistry, is one of them. He recently returned to his office, where he teaches online and works on his research as best he can.”

International Centre For Defence And Security (ICDS): War in Ukraine Exposes Russia’s Influence in Africa. “Despite Ukraine’s successful political and information campaign in many western capitals, the country is struggling to win over popular support in other parts of the world, including Africa, which does not necessarily share Kyiv’s image of Vladimir Putin and his grand strategy. Of the 54 countries in Africa, 28 voted to condemn the invasion of Ukraine at the UN. While only Eritrea of those remaining 26 countries voted against the resolution, the alarming neutrality of the remaining 25 still demonstrates the effectiveness of Russian power politics and information warfare in some parts of Africa.”

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