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How Misinformation Led to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine with Mikhail Zygar

Politics &
Economics

An exploration of the heart of Russo-Ukrainian relations and the myths that perpetuate conflict

What are the connections between propaganda about the Russian Empire and the invasion of Ukraine? 

Mikhail Zygar, a renowned Russian dissident journalist, is the founding editor-in-chief of Russian news TV channel Dozhd, who was forced to close his company and flee the country after condemning the invasion. In July 2023 he came to Intelligence Squared to share his insights into the power struggles and myths that shape Russo-Ukrainian relations today. Drawing on his new book War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, Zygar explored how pervasive historical myths about Ukraine led Russian President Putin to underestimate the growing influence of Volodymyr Zelensky, the television comic who ultimately became Ukraine’s president. He also delved into historical events, such as a German monk’s fear of the Ottoman Empire, that gave rise to the fabricated concept of a united ‘Russian world’.

Event Name

How Misinformation Led to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine with Mikhail Zygar

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Speakers for the motion

  • Mikhail Zygar

    Writer, journalist, filmmaker, and the founding editor-in-chief of Russian news channel Dozhd

  • Edward Lucas

    Columnist at The Times and expert on energy, cybersecurity, espionage, information warfare and Russian foreign and security policy.

Speakers are subject to change.

Speakers

Speaker

Mikhail Zygar

Writer, journalist, filmmaker, and the founding editor-in-chief of Russian news channel Dozhd

Mikhail Zygar is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker, and the founding editor-in-chief of Russian news channel Dozhd, which provided an alternative to Kremlin-controlled federal TV channels by giving a platform to opposition voices. The recipient of an International Press Freedom Award, Zygar writes a weekly column on Russia and the war for Der Spiegel and also writes for the New York Times, Time Magazine, Vanity Fair, and Foreign Affairs. He is also the author of All the Kremlin’s Men, The Empire Must Die, and War and Punishment. Currently a guest lecturer at Columbia University, he lives in New York with his husband.  

Edward Lucas

Columnist at The Times and expert on energy, cybersecurity, espionage, information warfare and Russian foreign and security policy.

Columnist for The Times and consultant specialising in European and transatlantic security. Formerly a senior editor at The Economist, he is now a senior vice-president at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). He has written several books including The New Cold War, a prescient account of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Deception, an investigative account of East-West espionage, and Cyberphobia, about the phenomenon of cybercrime. He is an advocate for Magnitsky Law sanctions against Chinese officials.