Ukrainian woman challenges Putin by telling Russians about war on porn and gambling sites

Almost six months after Vladimir Putin invaded their country, Ukrainians are having to devise ever more creative strategies to counter the Kremlin’s propaganda.

One of the latest efforts has seen a Ukrainian woman take out adverts on porn and gambling sites in an attempt to educate Russians and Belarussians about the realities of the conflict. These have included still images as well as video.

Anastasiya Baydachenko, the head of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), said she believed 80 per cent of the material was reaching its intended audience.

“Adult and gambling sites have a Russian audience, and ad platforms can sell us this traffic,” she told Business Insider, explaining that it was an easy and affordable way to disseminate information.

“We strongly believe that we should try to deliver truthful messages to those who have been under decades of state propaganda,” she added.

The IAB chief executive said the task of spreading the truth was more difficult now that the Putin regime had cracked down on independent Russian media and blocked access to websites such as Facebook.

“There’s no independent media and media traditionally named as opposition or alternative are at least partly – if not fully – directed from the state,” she said.

Shortly after its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin introduced legislation which banned the publication of material which goes against its narrative about the war. Anyone deemed to have breached the law can be imprisoned for up to 15 years.

As a result of the crackdown, the few remaining independent news outlets in Russia had to suspend their operations. Novaya Gazeta - a paper edited by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov - and the radio station Ekho Moskvy were among the outlets which closed.

The Russian invasion has caused millions of Ukrainians to seek refuge elsewhere in Europe and has led to thousands of civilian deaths.

At least 5,327 Ukrainian citizens were killed between 24 February and 31 July, according to the UN. However, the true death toll is likely to be much higher.