A Guardian journalist published material about how Russian propaganda is seeping into the Italian media space and why local TV channels indulge it. In support of the thesis about the spread of misinformation among Italian television viewers, the mediaman cites the results of a study: almost 50% of Italians choose not to support either side in the Russian-Ukrainian war. It seems that “not everything is so simple”. In the end, this situation arises because the Italians launch typical pro-Russian guests, representatives of the Russian “authorities” into their media space. Which, in turn, spread narratives that benefit them. For example, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, such Russians have become invited guests on Italian television: among them Russian Foreign Minister Serhii Lavrov and his press secretary Mariia Zakharova, who at one time explained the supposed desire of the Ukrainians to have their state led by Putin. Russian ideologist Oleksander Duhin, who has repeatedly called for the destruction of Ukraine and its division. Find the full list of Russian guests here. The analysis also noted that compared to other Western European countries, Italy is more susceptible to Russian disinformation simply because media professionals allow Russians into the most popular TV shows to provide commentary. Consequently, the more freedom Italian journalists give to opponents of freedom of speech (after all, so are Russian propagandists), the more society becomes vulnerable to any Kremlin narratives. With propagandists it is impossible to maintain a balance of opinions.

Such actions lead to the fact that the public does not become interested in helping Ukraine, and especially may deny the existence of the war, the deaths of Ukrainian civilians and the shelling of civilian infrastructure by the Russians. And in people’s minds there may be an opinion that if Russian propagandists are invited as experts, then they are worthy of attention or, at least, they should also be listened to. Which, of course, is wrong. The journalist cited another study, which explains that Italy is among the EU countries where people trust Zelenskyi the least. According to the European Council on Foreign Relations, Italians were the most sympathetic to Russia among the member states surveyed, and 27% of them also blamed Ukraine and the United States for the war. Such results indicate that Italy’s policy is too liberal towards Russians, who take advantage of this for their own selfish purposes.