US, Ukraine quietly try to pierce Putin's propaganda bubble

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Ukraine have knocked back Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to falsely frame the narrative of his brutal war, but they are struggling to get a more accurate view of the Kremlin's invasion in front of the Russian people.

While the Russian military suffers thousands of deaths and fails to capture key cities, Putin is intensifying his two-decade crackdown on information. The Kremlin has shut down Russia's last three independent media outlets, barred major social media platforms, created new laws against journalists who defy its propaganda and insisted on calling the war a “special military operation.”

The result is a Russian public with little to no access to any alternative to Putin's own anti-Ukraine, anti-Western narrative. It's a heat shield for Putin against any backlash to the war and Western sanctions that have crippled Russia's economy.

Breaking through Putin’s propaganda bubble is a key strategic goal for Ukraine and its Western allies. They have tried a series of actions, overt and subtle, to reach ordinary Russians, from encouraging the use of software that circumvents internet blocks to having government briefings for TikTok influencers. The hope is independent voices still operating in Russia, those from the West, and direct pleas from Ukrainians can convince the masses that they’re being lied to about the war next door.

The question is no longer “what we do to stop disinformation,” former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said, it's how to promote information inside Russia. “Very hard question,” he added.

Among the most important steps, he said, is to “fund Russian independent media working outside of Russia.”

The Associated Press spoke to half a dozen current and former officials in the U.S. and Ukraine about...