MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. A sharp rise in patriotic sentiment in the Russian segment of the Internet is determined by remarks by anti-Russian users in Ukraine who draw Russians in political discussions, experts of the Civil Society Development Foundation said in a research paper titled "From the Internet Party to Putin’s majority" presented on Wednesday.
According to the Foundation’s experts, there is no antagonism between television and the Internet in Russia. They point out that over the past several years Russian television has established its presence on the web, becoming a full-fledged participant in the information processes, adding that it failed to become part of the protest movement.
Political analysts also point out that the scale of "patriotic mobilization" in the social networks has substantially exceeded the protest sentiment after the parliamentary elections in late 2011. The growth in patriotic sentiment began at the end of 2013 against the backdrop of the Olympic Games in Sochi, reaching its peak in the summer of 2014 following Crimea’s incorporation into Russia.
"It may be noted that an upsurge in activity of the patriotically-minded sections of the population in the social media was also influenced by more politicized anti-Russian Internet users in Ukraine, who provoked policy-related discussions involving hitherto inactive layers of Russian users," the research paper says.