Russia’s Winning Asia’s Mindshare — Can Ukraine Break Through the Noise?
As the war against Russian aggression continues on the ground, a parallel front is unfolding far from the battlefield — in the hearts and minds of Asia.
In a recent article for The Gaze, Bohdan Popov, head of digital at the United Ukraine Think Tank, warns that “information warfare has long gone beyond Europe,” with the Kremlin actively building “new rear-guards in Asia – in media, politics, and culture.”
Popov emphasizes that in many parts of Asia, “people do not expect the truth from CNN, but are ready to listen to RT Arabic,” pointing to deep-rooted colonial trauma and anti-Western sentiment that Russian and Chinese propaganda are now expertly exploiting.
From Indonesia to Pakistan, narratives portraying the West as hypocritical and Ukraine as a NATO puppet are spreading fast across Telegram and TikTok, outpacing the often slow, rational, and poorly localized responses from the US and Europe.
China, for its part, invests in a subtler approach: billions spent on “an alternative information field” through CGTN, Confucius Institutes, and algorithmically favored narratives that cast the West as aggressive and untrustworthy.
“This is the institutionalization of propaganda cooperation,” Popov notes, referencing the 2025 statement by Xi Jinping and Putin on shared “information responsibility.”
The West’s failure to adapt is glaring. According to Popov, “the formats are outdated” and “there is no local production.”
Instead of press releases and reports, Ukraine and its allies should focus on visual storytelling, influencer partnerships, religious dialogue, and fact-based humor that resonates locally.
Ukraine, he argues, is uniquely positioned to help — with experience in information defense, cultural adaptability, and a story of resistance that can cut through even in the most skeptical corners of Asia.
“Our experience is proof that freedom is worth the effort,” Popov concludes. “And that is a message even the most skeptical viewer in an Indian village can understand.”
Read the full article by Bohdan Popov on The Gaze: Propaganda in Asia: How to Fight the Kremlin's Influence