In the eastern Ukrainian city of Makiivka, Oleg, a taxi driver-turned-rebel fighter, watched as Russian TV news channels glorified the Kremlin's foray into the Syria conflict.
"Nothing about Ukraine at all," said Oleg, who spoke on condition that his last name not be used. "We...have totally vanished."
After 17 months of blanket coverage of the Ukraine conflict that has cost thousands of lives and sent more than a million people on the run, Russia has switched the focus of its powerful state propaganda machine to Moscow's new exploit in the Middle East. But the tactics it is employing appear to be much the same.
#Russian press full of praise 4 airstrikes & Putin's 'diplomatic triumph'; focus v much on IS threat to Russia #Syria pic.twitter.com/OCmd6Kwzr9— Sarah Rainsford (@sarahrainsford) October 1, 2015
Similar to their coverage of Ukraine, news channels have worked to appeal to Russians' sense of history. In Ukraine, it was "our Russian and Russian-speaking brethren" who Russia sided with. In Syria, it's all about "our holy land."
Forget Novorossiya: Now Syria is Russia's holy land. "Without Syria there would be no Russia". Debate on state-tv. https://t.co/nmx4HQM4yF— Simon Kruse (@crusoes) October 2, 2015
As with Ukraine, where Russia denied direct military involvement, in Syria, Moscow claims a limited engagement, only targeting extremists from the Islamic State, despite evidence to the contrary. Shortly after Moscow launched its first airstrikes on Wednesday, videos from local activists showed the attacks had targeted areas controlled by more moderate rebel groups fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and killed dozens of civilians.
As they did in Ukraine, Russian officials moved fast to counter a narrative that posed a threat to its mission. Their comments were inevitably published uncritically by the state media.
Maria Zakharova, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, told reporters at the United Nations on Wednesday that Western claims of civilian deaths from Russian airstrikes were "biased and false reports." The accusations, which she said were unfounded, were all part of "the information warfare that we all have heard so much about" in Ukraine.
"There is a lot of distorted, repurposed and false information" in the foreign media, said Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman.
On Twitter, Russia's defense ministry kept up that argument following fresh airstrikes on Thursday and Friday.
Some foreign media publish rumors concening Russian #AerospaceForces actions in #SYRIA. This is absolute nonsense without any factual basis— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) October 2, 2015
#SYRIA: Emerging information provocations constitute fabricated materials prepared even before the operation started. They are not the news.— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) October 2, 2015
Twice a day we provide comprehensive information concerning Russian air operation in #SYRIA supported by facts pic.twitter.com/cc6KNTj7Za— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) October 2, 2015
The same war correspondents from pro-Kremlin and state-owned channels who covered the war in eastern Ukraine are now filing dispatches from the ground in Syria.
In broadcasts and on their Instagram feeds, they pose in front of tanks and share images from Damascus, where a television aired Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech to the United Nations on Monday.
Фото опубликовано @sashakots Окт 1 2015 в 10:18 PDT
More than anything, the media's pivot to the Middle East and abandonment of eastern Ukraine seems designed to bolster public support for the Kremlin's military intervention.
This exclusive from state-run RT at the Russian airbase in latakia, Syria on Friday provides a glowing review of the military's actions.
The Russian public's enthusiasm for war has fizzled in Ukraine, as shown by recent polls. Support is even lower for Syria, according to a survey conducted by the independent Levada Center last month. It found that 50% of respondents were either not interested in Russia's Syria policy or had no opinion. Only 14% said they would support military intervention in the war.
Part of the reason could be because Putin's exploit in Ukraine, which critics acknowledge was not meant to transform into a bloody, protracted affair, did not go according to plan. Western sanctions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine have led to isolation, economic troubles and falling incomes in Russia.
"Cleary one reason for Putin to switch focus to Syria is he didn't reach his goals in Donbass," said Alex Kokcharov, Russia and Ukraine analysts for IHS Country Risk. His actions in Syria actions, he added, "can be used domestically to distract from economic turmoil and falling incomes...and civil unrest."
Another may be because some fear entering a war in the Middle East again. The Soviet-Afghan war that lasted for nine years in the 1980s and cost the lives of thousands of Soviet troops is regarded as the country's Vietnam War and still weighs heavy on the Russian psyche.
Anchor on Russia's state-run @vesti_news putting Russians at ease: "So, this is not going to be a second Afghanistan."— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) September 30, 2015
But one big reason for the media push is to stick it to the U.S., which has led what has thus far been a mostly unsuccessful coalition to fight terrorism in the Middle East.
Russia says the West is just jealous of its "success" in Syria http://t.co/pWdjzpH1Zr pic.twitter.com/RZRj23E4Vm— Borzou Daragahi (@borzou) October 2, 2015
One thing Russian media have shied away from reporting is what the implications are for Ukraine. Right now there are some Russian 2,000 soldiers, military trainers and advisors in Syria, as well as dozens of Russian fighter jets, including Su-24Ms and Su-25 aircraft, as well as main battle tanks and other military materiel.
That is a fraction of Russia's total military might, and it is little compared to what the country has positioned near its border with Ukraine. There, tens of thousands of troops stand ready again to prop up the pro-Russian puppet authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions should violence erupt anew.
"The Russians certainly have the capabilities to press both conflicts at once. But that's not the preferred option," Ian Bremmer, a geopolitical expert and president of global political risk research firm Eurasia Group, told Mashable.
That is something Kiev is well aware of, said Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine's foreign ministry. "We are holding our breath," he said.