CV
Dr. Ella Itkin is a visiting researcher in the Russia research field at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Her current research at INSS examines issues of soft power, as well as the intersections of ideology, propaganda and civil society in contemporary Russia. Ella studied history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees with distinction. She received her Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University, where she wrote her dissertation on public housing in the Soviet Union. In addition to her work at the INSS, she is a research fellow at the Cummings Center for Russian and East European Studies at Tel Aviv University.
Ella Itkin
Visiting Researcher
Publications
All PublicationsThe Russian Presidential Election from the View of Russian Military Bloggers
How do the Telegram channels of military bloggers shape Russian public opinion?
16 April, 2024The West as the Enemy: Conspiracy Theories in Putinist Russia
Conspiracy theories play a major role in Russia’s contemporary political culture, and in the Putinist regime, they have been harnessed to justify the invasion of Ukraine and the repression of Russian citizens. Key to these justifications is the way that conspiracy theories portray Russia as an alternative to a corrupt and Machiavellian West, an enemy who is the absolute Other. In practice, this narrative makes it possible to identify enemies, whether external or internal, according to shifting political needs and circumstances. Since the narrative also frees Russian politics from the constraints of historical facts, the regime has been able to frame the Russia–Ukraine war as a continuation of the Second World War and as the moral struggle of light against dark.
2026-05-20 All magazine articles