Days after Russiantanjs rolled into Ukraine, Maria, a 37 year old mother in western Russia, download a virtual private network. An effort to circumvent the blockade descending across the county's internet.
The instinct proved correct. As the Krimlin began reversing years of relative internet freedom and restricting American, Western Europe news sites and social media networks. The VPN provided a lifeline, allowing her to chat with a friend in the United States and read updates on Facebook and Instagram. Refreshing news about the war every 20 minutes. Maria thinks the conflict is a "tragedy" and says reading about it leaves her with "anger, sadness and empathy."
But Maria says that her mother believes what she sees on Russian-state television. Where the Russian invasion is seen as a righteous military campaign to free Ukraine from Nazis. The different visions have lead to butter arguments. And after one that left her mother in tear, Maria vowed to never speak to her again.
Some Russians- Often with social, educational or professional ties to the United States and Western Europe - are trying to peirce Putin's propaganda bubble, at times leaving them ad odds with their own families, friends and coworkers. The war in Ukraine is only deepening the divide that was already present between young tech-savy people and the older generations who get their news directly from TV. And who have always been more comfortable with Putins radically conservative ideals.
Nearly 85 percent of the country's population is online, according to data from the World Bank. But only some of those people use American social media. In 2022, about half of Russian users use Instagram, and only a fraction were on Facebook and Twitter. According to data from research firm eMarketer.
Many Russian who go online have come to rely on a range of digital tools to outmaneuver Russian censors. They seek out independent news about the war online, splitting them from others whose information comes from government propaganda that floods tv, government-backed website and large swaths of social media networks that remain unrestricted, like Telegram or VK, which are home to many pro-government groups.
The ideological gulf was reflected in interviews with half a dozen people in Russia, who in most instances spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid the county's fake news laws.
"Shock, depression and hatred," are the words Mikhail Shevelev, a Moscow-based jounalist, uses to describe the "very serious" and "drastic" divide that has emerged between independent news sources and those who get their news from TV.
It's really difficult for anyone - even Russians who do not live in Russia - to understand the vast scale of absolutely illogical perceptions of information and outright lies," he said.
Older Russians make the primary veiwership of Russia's state television news, which has been flooded with reports of fake U.S. Bio-warfare labs and Ukrainian "Nazis".
At the same time Putin is using increasingly Advanced censorship technology. In addition to recent restrictions on Facebook and Twitter, Russia has blocked the websites of many Western media Outlets, including Britain's BBC and Germany's Deutsch Welle. In response to sanctions and public pressure many tech companies including Microsoft, Apple and Amazon have suspended some sales in the country, further contributing to what's being called "the digital Iron Curtain".
Still, Russians seem determined to get around the restrictions, despite the risk of imprisonment. According to digital intelligence firm Sensor Tower, the top 5 VPNs in Apple's app store and Google Play store were downloaded 6.4 million times between February and March. In the three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, the same VPN apps were downloaded only 253,000.
Independent Russian media organizations, which have moved their reporters outside the country, still report some of what's happening in Ukraine, and there are still some discussions happening on community groups on VK, Russias most popular social media network, according to Russians who spoke to the Washington Post. Some Russians are also finding Independent News on Telegram and on YouTube, whick Russia has not yet blocked.
Alexander, a tech worker from Moscow in his 20s said he is aware of people who have unfriended each other online, writing post about how they'll never shake a certain person's hand again because of their different opinions on the war. "My aunt, she stopped talking to a few of her friends whom she knows since childhood," he said.
Bot accounts, widely assumed to be run my government employees, muddy the picture by commenting and posting pro-government messages on VK, said Daris, a Moscow resident in her 20s. "It's sometimes difficult to distinguish a bot from a genuine government supporter."
Some Russians who use VPNs are finding that the post and arguments around the war are too intense and are pulling back.
Lucy, a 29 year old designer from the North Caucasus region in Russia, says that she has cut back on Instagram because of angry comments against Russians. She has relatives in Ukraine who have had to flee the Russian attacks, and said that she is half Ukrainian herself. But the heated environment and online has pushed her away from social media.
"At the beginning, I empathize with a lot of them I may not be there but I am a very sensitive person. I can feel the pain they're going through." she said. As the war progressed she began getting death threats online. And she unfriended many Ukrainian accounts she had come to rely on.
Putin's years-long campaign to tighten his grip on Russia's once open information intensified in November 2019. When the country's "Sovereign internet law" came into effect. The law required internet providers in Russua to install government issued black boxes that would enable the government to control web traffic. Internet users who violate the law will face immediate incarceration.
Some people in Russia are also turning to Tor, an open-source system that allows for anonymous communication, to visit services. Twitter and Facebook have built versions of their programs that will work with the software. Artem Kozliuk, head of Russian digital Rights group, Roskomsvoboda, said that he and others are navigating and increasingly complex VPNs and special browser plugins to access basic information everywhere. His organization is putting together a guide to help people navigate the different services.
It's the control of power, it's the control of narrative, is the control of the population" said Ilya Yablokov, a lecturer at the University of Sheffield. He believes Russian censorship abilities so far have allowed the government to control the narrative inside the country's boarders. But that may not always be the case.
" The question is for how long are they going to be winning?"
The Kremlin has created the same rift in Russia as in the US. Their fingerprints are clear.
