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“The Ukraine Narratives” was partly designed to shock, showcasing the unjust violence being committed on the people who have no say in this war. We made sure to show the more tame material as opposed to the unnecessarily graphic, sometimes censoring the footage even in our “Adults Only” release of the report. We tried our best to remove the sadistic and voyeuristic aspect that may have been attached to the initial distributor’s video uploads and our use of this content certainly isn’t for entertainment, rather for exercising media literacy, the odds are that most watch this kind of material for less benevolent purposes, morbid curiosity is a powerful thing.
What you see is not self explanatory, “guesstimating” what might have led to the recording of violence is far from helpful and framing a depiction of violence as a battle between good and evil where the ends justify the means is inherently dehumanising. The side you dislike the most in this case are monstrous genocidal fascists, giving you ample reason to see a people as less than human. Ukrainian people are mostly portrayed as pigs and the Russians most certainly are at times depicted as subhuman too, a blatant attempt from amateur propagandists and trolls to piss off the viewer.
Violence is also demoralising. Not even too long ago a soldier fighting on either side of a conflict was not able to view what was happening around them at all times, but now they have ample video and photo material at their disposal 24/7, being able to view gruesome acts of violence which may lead to intense feelings of anger and fear.
The most prominent use of weaponized shock content in recent years must be the video productions originating from the so-called “Islamic State”, making sure that a killing is recorded in the highest resolution possible and that good editing and dramatic videography are employed make for a great viewing experience for the sadistic shock content enthusiast and the terrified opponent dreading to come in contact with his monstrous foes. Through shock media “IS” was able to greatly exaggerate their influence throughout the Middle East, portraying themselves as unbeatable and uncompromising crusaders, while in reality many of their warriors got outgunned and harboured their own fears moving into battle.
While in the case of the “IS” shock content was produced by the terror organisation itself, during the Russo-Ukrainian war content is recorded by all sorts of people on every side. Sadistic soldiers and mercenaries filming themselves disrespecting their fallen opponents, civilians recording attacks happening to themselves and even drone operators filming sexual encounters between members of the opposing forces before dropping a bomb acting like a punchline to a joke, most of this content is produced independent of a government structure. This does not mean that state media or independent propagandists don’t use the existence of this kind of material for furthering their own messages.
We want to remind you of a video we showcased on the Ukraine Narratives, where a member of Ukraine’s National Guard greases his bullets with pig fat. The video was uploaded by the National Guard themselves on Twitter, acting as demoralising material for the Chechen Muslims involved in the conflict.
Another example, the recording of a sexual encounter between two Russian soldiers from a drone above them. Two homosexual men engaging in a sexual act can most certainly be used to further a message of shame, weakness and humiliation, especially for soldiers originating from a country that is more (hostile) disapproving in disposition towards gay people like Russia is. The bomb being dropped on top of them, as described before, acts like the punchline to a joke. At this point, I want to reintroduce the quote from the beginning of the chapter.