War? What War?

Read this, from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60600487

Synopsis: Ukrainians often have family in Russia. Some on the Ukrainian side have been calling home while hiding from bombs, and the family side in Russia does not believe them and tells them they are being overly alarmist and paranoid. They doubt the first-hand experience of their families because the Russian media they are exposed to (mainly TV, internet, Russian version of Facebook called VKontakte, etc.) has convinced them that the Russians are helping Ukrainians, not bombing them. The Russians in the family ignore or explain away evidence that their media contradicts, including the first-hand testimony of their kin.

The people on the Russian sides of these families are not evil or cruel. But their ability to judge rationally has been destroyed by the uncritical way they consume media. I can say this confidently because I know many people in Russia who get the same media and who manage to avoid being sucked in to the lies. It is possible to stay vigilant, even in Russia, even now. These Russian families, though, are more likely to believe a monopolistic media narrative than the first-hand testimony of their Ukrainian loved ones. Artillery shells are falling on their own family’s apartment complex in Ukraine, but they are incapable of believing it.

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