The information coverage of the rocket attack on the pizzeria in Kramatorsk on June 27, 2023, both by the official Russian authorities and by Russian propagandists, is characterized by an increase in radicalism. As a result of the strike, a number of civilians (including children) were killed, and even more were injured, but this time the Russians did not refrain from killing civilians, as it was before.

On the contrary, commenting on the attack on Kramatorsk was accompanied by the highest praise, including the head of the defense committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. There were also messages aimed at causing distrust and hostility of Ukrainian civilians towards the Armed Forces, and even accusing the civilians of having killed themselves.

It can be expected that this radicalization of information policy and propaganda will lead to an increase in the number of war crimes and their severity. Earlier studies already pointed to a direct connection between propaganda and the genocidal nature of the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine.