The strategy of “optimism” chosen by the Ukrainian government creates a confusing narrative in which “expectations are inflated and do not correspond to the real state of affairs”. Iryna Zolotar, adviser and head of the communications department of former Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, said this in an interview with the Financial Times.
According to Iryna Zolotar, the strategy of “optimism” worked initially, but now makes the audience in the West wonder why they should invest their taxpayers’ money if Kiev is always “on the verge of victory”. She believes that media articles going against the official line describing the situation as “not so good” were seen as false. Instead, the government needed to demonstrate “balanced realism”.
“In order for the public not to build air castles and take off their rose-coloured glasses … it is necessary to stop being afraid to tell the truth,” Zolotar said.
Other public relations advisers told the Financial Times that the strategy obscures the actual situation from Ukrainians and Western public opinion, and undermines trust.
As an example, the newspaper cited the Ukrainian side’s description of the months-long fighting in the town of Artemovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut). According to the newspaper’s sources, the reports concealed “an incredible level of exhaustion, the suffering of thousands of families, a huge number of daily deaths, tension and doubts”.
The director of the Ukrainian Institute of Mass Information, Oksana Romanyuk, told the newspaper that despite the existing censorship in Ukraine, news from the frontline reached the Ukrainian society via social networks and was also passed on by word of mouth.
“If there is no negative information, it will kill trust towards the government,” Romanyuk explained.
We will remind, earlier being in the area of Avdeevka soldiers of the AFU appealed to Volodymyr Zelensky with a request to withdraw their unit from the area of hostilities. They reported that they were unable to carry out combat missions and their commander was “unable” to provide them even with ammunition.