The Kremlin is rewriting Wikipedia
A new version of history is taking shape
WIKIPEDIA had faced trouble from the Kremlin before, with Russian censors threatening it almost from the start of the Ukraine war in 2014. But it was only in late 2023, with the appearance of glitzy ads across Moscow, that a serious plan to replace it became clear. RuWiki, as the censors’ project is known, is mostly a straightforward copy of Wikipedia. But the most sensitive moments of history have been left out or rewritten. The Kremlin’s ideologues hope that millions of Russians will now embrace these new versions as the truth.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Ignorance is strength”
Europe July 13th 2024
From the July 13th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Europe
The deal that freed Evan Gershkovich was more than a prisoner swap
It freed Russian prisoners of conscience as well as Westerners taken hostage by Vladimir Putin
The Olympics are teaching the French to cheer again
France’s politics is a mess, but the games are glorious
Humiliated by Azerbaijan, Armenia tacks towards the West
Courting the EU and America without alienating Russia is a difficult trick
Vienna’s social housing, lauded by progressives, pushes out the poor
The city’s most hard-up rely on the private sector
Will a new “pact” of ten laws help Europe ease its migrant woes?
It will require an extraordinary number of institutions to work together
Amid the bombs, Ukrainians rediscover the beach
Odessa gives itself permission to tan again