What Is a Fact? Disinformation, Trust and Ukraine in the UK – Join the Discussion in Oxford

On 19 February, 5–6.30 pm, at St Antony’s College, Nissan Lecture Theatre (University of Oxford), Resilience & Reconstruction, the Oxford University Ukrainian Society and the Oxford Ukraine Hub will host “What Is a Fact? Disinformation, Trust and Ukraine in the UK”, a research presentation and discussion on how “facts” are made and contested in a public sphere marked by mistrust, polarisation and algorithmic news feeds. 

Designed for Oxford-based academics, researchers, policy practitioners and students working on democracy, information disorder, security studies and Eastern Europe, the event will examine how Kremlin-aligned narratives intersect with local grievances about “broken Britain”, why conventional fact-checking often fails to shift attitudes, and what it might take to rebuild shared reality and trust. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of “ambient” disinformation and emotionally driven trust judgments, fresh empirical insights into UK attitudes to Ukraine, Russia and British democracy, and concrete starting points for research, communication and policy engagement around information integrity and democratic resilience.

Speakers Steven Lacey, Dr Olha Mukha and Thomas Brayford will explain how everyday experiences of economic precarity, institutional failure and media fatigue shape whether people accept or reject information about Ukraine and Russia, and how those experiences can be exploited by hostile state and non-state actors.

The event offers participants a deeper understanding of emotionally driven trust judgements and the micro-dynamics of how people form political opinions in an overloaded information environment. Attendees will come away with fresh empirical insights, including ideas for future collaboration between universities, civil society and practitioners.

The event is free to attend and open to all interested participants.