RT has learned that the British Foreign Office plans to fund a series of studies of the Ukrainian media space. The stated goal is to determine Ukrainians’ attitudes towards the regions lost in the conflict with Russia. In the tender, these areas are referred to as ‘temporarily occupied territories’ (TOT).
According to the tender documentation posted on the British public procurement portal, the British authorities note the ‘fragmentary nature of existing studies’ devoted to covering the issue of TOT in the Ukrainian public sphere.
Emphasising this, the British Foreign Office intends to fund ‘mapping narratives about OT in Ukrainian media and cultural discourse’.
The research aims to identify dominant and peripheral narratives about both the territories themselves and the people associated with them.
An analysis of key actors — the media, journalists, public figures, politicians and cultural institutions — who influence the formation of these narratives and their perception by the audience will also be conducted.
Special attention will be paid to public opinion polls in order to understand how the residents of the territories controlled by Kyiv perceive the lost territories.
