The BRICS summit was the most discussed topic on Russian TV and social media in October 2024. During the 16th annual summit in Kazan, Russia presented a range of initiatives to counter the West’s isolationist policies and strengthen President Putin’s authority. News about the BRICS summit garnered 600 million views and more than 8 million reactions.
The Institute for Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia conducted a detailed analysis of relevant messages on major Russian television channels and video platforms using the specialized AI-powered tool War of Words and examined social media using the Osavul AI platform.
The second major topic in Russian media in October was the advancement of Russian forces in Donbas. According to media monitoring, Telegram posts regarding the city of Vuhledar received 442 million views and 10 million reactions, while posts about Selydivo garnered 400 million views and almost 12 million reactions.
The migration crisis in Russia also ranked among the top three topics in Russian media and social networks in October. Relevant messages reached 479 million views and more than 12 million reactions on Telegram, 58% of which were negative. The most active discussions on migration occurred in the middle and at the end of the month, during the passage of key legislative initiatives. On October 15, a bill to combat sham marriages was passed, and on October 29, four additional bills were adopted, significantly increasing penalties for organizing illegal migration.
The worsening economic situation and shortages of popular goods and services in Russia were also reflected in discussions on Russian social media. In October, posts about inflation in Russia accumulated 183 million views and 2.4 million reactions. Almost 40% of these posts had a negative tone. The peak of views occurred following the statement by the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, about the necessity of raising the key interest rate to 23%.
Russia’s recruitment of regular North Korean military forces to participate in the war also became a popular topic in the Russian information space. On October 18, video evidence of North Korean soldiers in Russia surfaced online for the first time. On that day, the related news gained almost 14 million views. The total number of views of posts on this topic in October reached 94 million, with nearly 2 million reactions.
In October, Ukrainian forces continued to target deep Russian rear areas. Ukrainian drones struck military bases and strategic facilities up to 2,000 kilometers from the front line. Posts in the Russian segment of Telegram about drone strikes and air defense operations garnered 18 million views and nearly 100,000 reactions, the majority of which were negative.
In October, there is again a clear difference between the results of official sociological surveys regarding trust in President Putin (more than 80%) and the reactions of Russians on social networks to his mentions. According to the results of media monitoring for October, Russians left about 190 thousand comments under Telegram publications that mentioned the president, of which 57% were negative.
This figure is close to the same indicator last month.
