Activists are reaching Russians behind Putin's propaganda wall

Russians have existed behind a wall of propaganda that protects them from the details of what is happening on the ground. But an idea is gaining traction online: If Russians learn the truth about Ukraine, they might rise up and oust the war's architect, President Vladimir Putin. In the past week, people have been testing that theory by sending messages to ordinary Russians through reviews on Tinder and Google Maps and under state-sponsored posts on Facebook before the platform was blocked in Russia last week.

"What you want to do is chip away at that false narrative," said Laura Edelson, co-founder of Cybersecurity for Democracy, "reaching Russians within Russia is really, really hard for anyone because the Russian state maintains such tight control over their media environment," she added.