The research “Words That Kill: How Russian Propaganda Shapes Mobilization and Combat Motivation”
NGO LingvaLexa has released the results of the research “Words That Kill: How Russian Propaganda Shapes Mobilization and Combat Motivation,” which analyzes the role of war propaganda in waging Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
This research is unique in its empirical foundation and scale, as it is based on a survey of 1,060 Russian prisoners of war, enabling a direct examination of the relationship between belief in propaganda narratives and battlefield behavior.
The aim of the study was to shift the discussion on the destructive consequences of Russian propaganda from rhetoric to the realm of quantitatively measurable evidence relevant for building criminal cases aimed at ensuring accountability for this category of crimes. The research demonstrates a clear link between belief in Kremlin narratives and soldiers’ combat motivation:
- the average level of belief in propaganda among respondents was 47.61%, while 76.95% believed at least one propaganda narrative to some extent;
- soldiers who believe propaganda are six times more likely to perceive the war as justified and legitimate;
- belief in Russian propaganda significantly increases the level of dehumanization toward Ukrainians;
- belief in propaganda increases willingness to return to combat participation and reduces the likelihood of voluntary surrender.
Taken together, these findings confirm that propaganda is not merely an informational phenomenon but a behavioral catalyst of aggression. The results of the research may be used as evidence of the substantial contribution of key architects of Russian propaganda to the waging of the war of aggression, as well as a tool for developing counter-propaganda policies, deradicalization programs, and measures aimed at preventing large-scale mobilization.
The research was conducted directly within detention centers for prisoners of war in accordance with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and the procedural norms established by Ukrainian law, receiving ethical approval from the National Psychological Association of Ukraine. The conditions of the research allowed for the recording not of abstract or hypothetical judgments, but the deep-seated attitudes of combatants with real combat experience, establishing via regression modeling statistically significant links between ideological beliefs and actual behavior, such as the circumstances of capture (voluntary surrender versus forced capture) and intentions to return to military service.
The research was produced by LingvaLexa in cooperation with the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the European Association of Military Social Psychology, the Kyiv School of Economics, and Mitrax Law Firm. This research is printed with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as a part of the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine – a Driver towards Reforms and Democracy project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia, funded by Norway and Sweden. The contents of this research can in no way be taken to reflect the views the Government of Norway, the Government of Sweden and ISAR Ednannia.
The full text of the research is available at: Words That Kill. How Russian Propaganda Shapes Mobilization and Combat Motivation
