Can #Russia still win the #information #war? Public opinion in the west was quick to swing solidly against Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine with even the fringes of the far-right and far-left here muting their admiration of Moscow's strongmam, but that doesn't mean Moscow's spin machine has gone quiet. And while outlets like Russian broadcaster RT may now be blocked in places like France, Germany and the US, years of eroded trust in the so-called mainstream media mean that receptive audiences have long since defective to alternative news sources. That spin machine stunned the likes of France when for instance, an under-embargo junta in Mali managed to turn public opinion against the French fighting jihadists and in favor of the Russian mercenaries of Wagner, mercenaries now reportedly headed to Ukraine. And while the international community flags Wagner's track record of human rights abuses in Syria and the Central African Republic, many West Africans shrug off the evidence as well as Mali's spike in insurgent massacres of civilians on the group's watch. What is it about Moscow's narrative that's still so effective in many parts?

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