‘Sleepwalking Into a Russian World’ — A Guest Post by Adam Sybera
I asked analyst/journalist Adam Sybera, who just completed work on a film that exposes the pernicious power of propaganda, to write this guest post to wake up people in remaining democratic nations
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“This is how propaganda works. It does not collapse under truth but bends around it. It thrives on two elements — fear and ignorance — and it feeds on wounded pride, bitterness, and the sense of being ignored. As it turns out, the illusion of certainty, no matter how baseless, is more powerful than evidence.”
—Adam Sybera for Bette Dangerous
Author’s note: Journalist and analyst Adam Sybera has spent the past three years documenting Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Originally from the Czech Republic, Sybera worked as a ‘fixer’ on a new film that reveals the power of propaganda, which he briefed us on at last week’s Happy Hour. I asked him to write this guest post on what he calls a ‘grim soap opera’ to help us further understand the tyranny of propaganda.—hsc
Sleepwalking Into the Russian World
By Adam Sybera
The war in Ukraine has become a kind of grim soap opera for much of the international media. Headlines roll across our screens daily, each promising urgency, but too often stripped of meaning.
For an overstimulated audience, it is background noise. For politicians, it is an electoral liability. And into this vacuum, Russian propaganda is pouring billions, reshaping not only how the war is seen but how democracy itself functions.In early 2024, I was approached by a Czech production company, Punk Film, and film director Robin Kvapil with an unusual idea: to confront some of the staunchest pro-Russian voices in the Czech Republic with the war they insist is exaggerated or even fabricated.
Having spent time volunteering in Ukraine and documenting Russian atrocities, I knew such a project carried weight. To sharpen it further, I invited criminologist Petr Pojman, whose expertise in criminal behavior provided another lens to read the violence inflicted by Moscow.The three people we selected were not extremists on society’s fringes but ordinary Czechs. They had each endured personal tragedies. They were skeptical of mainstream coverage, preferring “alternative” sources. And they were willing to travel into Ukraine, cameras in hand, to document their experience.
What unfolded was not a conversion story. When confronted with mass graves, shattered schools, and entire villages reduced to rubble, denial did not vanish. It mutated. They conceded there was a war, but insisted Ukraine must have provoked it. They accepted Russian destruction, but reframed it as inevitable, even justifiable.
This is how propaganda works. It does not collapse under truth but bends around it. It thrives on two elements — fear and ignorance — and it feeds on wounded pride, bitterness, and the sense of being ignored. As it turns out, the illusion of certainty, no matter how baseless, is more powerful than evidence.
And here lies the danger. These voices, once marginal, are now mainstream. Same patterns are visible across the globe - made possible by a system interconnected by social media. In the USA, we see a President turning on his international allies, isolating the entire country, diminishing democracy, and cutting deals with authoritarians. What began as an information war is now shaping governmental policy.
Ukraine is less vulnerable because Ukrainians cannot escape the war — they live it daily. But the West, cushioned from the physical shock of invasion, is sleepwalking into Kremlin narratives. The danger is not that voters will suddenly become Putinists. It is that they will normalize indifference, reward appeasement, and punish leaders who speak plainly about the cost of freedom.
Our film, which premiered on the anniversary of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, does not attempt to convert or persuade. It simply shows what happens when denial collides with reality, and how resilient denial can be. The lesson is not about three individuals but about millions across the globe who are being pulled into Russia’s mind games.—Adam Sybera for Bette Dangerous
*** The Russian world (Russkiy mir, Русский мир) is a concept where Russia is a unique civilization and guardian of traditional values. It functions as a borderless project of neo-imperialism and revanchism aimed at reviving the influence once held by the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.
At its core lies the Russian criminal culture derived from the “thieves in law” code, which fosters the idea that to be Russian is to “think Russian” and eventually to “act Russian.”
Under Vladimir Putin, this vision has fused with what is termed “Ruscism”— a system defined by autocratic rule, ultranationalism, militarism, expansionism, corporatism reinforced by church–state alignment, political repression, censorship, and a cult built on perpetual war.
More about Adam Sybera here:
Adam Sybera is a analyst and journalist with the Kyiv Independent, based in Ukraine since the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, where he also volunteers with both military and humanitarian aid along the frontline. His work focuses on the war, Russian disinformation networks, and the fight against oligarchic influence and corruption. He contributed to the creation of documentary Change My Mind and continues to develop film and documentary projects that capture the human and political dimensions of Russian aggression.
He is a contributor to Insights Podcast, which dives into the realities of Ukraine, unpacking the latest developments, frontline stories, and geopolitical impacts. Through expert analysis and firsthand accounts, it provides listeners with a deeper understanding of the war and its broader implications. You can check it out here:
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Related:
Film trailer:
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