Russian Propaganda from V to Z: Projecting Banal and Everyday Nationalism in Unsettled Times
Journal: Nationalities Papers
Year: 2025

Abstract How do autocracies use nationalism to normalize and contain unsettled times? The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 marked a decisive point in Russia’s politics from which there could be no return to an antebellum normality. Rather than attempt to mobilize the Russian public to war, state-run television sought to normalize the war as a banal reality for domestic audiences. Drawing on a content analysis of 1,575 reports from the state-run First Channel [ Pervyi Kanal ] from 2022 to 2