About the project

Syto tracks the cognitive war— Russia's systematic effort to shape public consciousness through information manipulation. We monitor pro-Russian media and Telegram channels, surface recurring strategic messages, and publish them as narrative cards with an explanation of the manipulation and counter-messaging tools.

Our core unit of analysis is the narrative: a persistent strategic claim pushed across dozens of channels at once. We track narratives, not individual posts — and we show how they evolve over time.

For each narrative we show: what exactly is being claimed, which propaganda technique is used, what real grievance the message exploits — and how to counter it effectively. We also track who each narrative targets: Ukrainians at home, military families, Western publics, and others.

We analyse pro-Russian propaganda through two lenses — defined not by source type but by intended audience:

• In Ukraine — Telegram channels and accounts delivering anti-Ukraine narratives inside Ukraine.
• In the West— English-language outlets carrying the same narratives to Western audiences via RSS/web (“Russian propaganda in the West”).

The same narrative can appear in both lenses simultaneously — but with different framing and persuasion tactics tailored to each audience.