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the Russian government is not known for
relenting to criticism of its actions
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the massacre in Buchan Ukraine blamed
internationally on Russia's forces made
us think about moscow's reaction is
there a playbook for how the Kremlin
spreads this information when it's at
the center of a global outcry
we have found three tactics that it has
used again and again
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first up spreading confusion with
massive amounts of misleading
information
the aim appears to be to muddy the
waters for those who want to know more
Russia's Mass deployment of this
information and propaganda has a long
history by now
that includes its attempts to influence
the 2016 U.S elections it's on Twitter
Facebook Instagram YouTube and Tick Tock
and usually the tone is aggressive and
tries to deflect how propaganda works is
that it's not always 100 percent lie
it's usually would take some percentage
of true fat in each country so Ukrainian
forces shooting captured Russian troops
these claims have been largely ignored
by Western Powers how do you explain a
ban on kitties from this country at
International exhibitions so what you're
saying is that things just aren't adding
up as the as they should con especially
what the Western media is saying yeah I
think the major of the major strategy
that we see there is costing doubt is
questioning everything and the
propaganda aim of propaganda is to to
see this doubt that this impression that
arises that you know there is no truth
the truth is an illusion that we can see
it from different angles many pieces of
this information even contradict
themselves
when Russian opposition leader Alexei
navalny fell sick on a plane in 2020
suspicion quickly fell on the Kremlin
for possibly ordering his poisoning
but according to Russian officials
navalny poisoned himself and was working
with America's CIA while Russian doctors
give an entirely different explanation
is
foreign
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suspected Russian spies confessed to
Lacing navalny's underwear with poison
with many different versions of the same
story a lot of contradictions arise
but these contradictions don't really
matter the goal is not a coherent
narrative but rather to sow uncertainty
as to the truth with all these views out
there who knows what's right
is basically the main instrument
of presenting unpleasant things inside
Russia itself would like really kill
navalny we are effective enough to do so
well to kill him so it
was not uh it was not us because
otherwise he would be there for a long
time ago so if he would like really to
fight the war in Ukraine the cave wasn't
our hands because we are so a big
military machine and so on so we just
offered several contradicting versions
and yes people's mind are confused
adding to the confusion is another
tactic often deployed by Russian
propagandists copying the look and feel
of current media reports from respected
Outlets
when the BBC and the New York Times used
open source investigations to learn more
about the killings perpetrated in
butcher Ukraine the Russian foreign
Ministry shared videos that pretended to
use a similar approach however Mr
zielinski did leave out many photos of
the deceased wearing white armbands
the Russian government and pro-russian
accounts claimed the situation was
staged and that some bodies were moving
a DW investigation found no proof the
massacre in butcher had been staged in
any way
copying the style of trusted well-known
news outlets and tactically pretending
to use the same investigative methods
makes it harder for audiences to work
out what's actually true another element
of Russia's reaction to Western critique
seems to be to turn the allegations
around rather than defend itself it
shifts the focus through attacks bold
responses of strength and disinformation
this is how they view the world in
general
so you should be strong no matter what
how can you show that you are strong by
telling I don't care about your opinion
so mirroring is just uh
one of the like techniques used to to
show that you are strong like I don't
care if you find my arguments convincing
to Russia Annex Crimea in 2014 Western
Nations hit Moscow with sanctions Russia
hit back with sanctions of its own
Banning many food products from Europe
and the US
this move actually hurt everyday
Russians as food prices grew
the Kremlin even went as far as
destroying food already imported in the
country a display of strength and
indifference to Western sanctions
the same Defiance is visible now in
Putin's reactions to the West's much
more severe sanctions against Russia as
well as weapons for Ukraine
foreign foreign
was poisoned in 2020 Putin stressed that
if the Russian government with all its
power actually wanted someone dead it
would of course succeed
foreign
Civil War takes it further rather than
defend itself against the criticism of
the support and has provided to the
Assad regime here Russia attacks a key
Western critic with made up evidence
in 2017 the Russian defense Ministry
accused the U.S of covering or colluding
with Isis combat units in Syria
but the pictures in the Tweet were not
even from Syria but Iraq and one picture
wasn't from a war at all but a
screenshot from a video game
the Kremlin spokespeople also tend to
attack opposing views moving the focus
away from the allegations themselves
they like to imply or point out that the
West is just as bad as it accuses Russia
of being
this narrative can be found scattered
through different pro-kremlin sites
often with misleading information
you might not get suspicious when you
read about a fake popular Uprising or
this fake article about the George Floyd
protests but all of these websites can
be linked to Russia
the false narratives they spread are
taking on a life of Their Own
Vladimir Putin's strategy seems to be
working
every time they are faced with criticism
and even officials they are trying to
turn it the other way around so on one
hand they silently acknowledge that okay
you can you can have these arguments but
what about this issue in this particular
EU member State and what about you in
the west what about the U.S not
respecting the rights of black people
for example so they are trying to twist
it turn it link it to something
problematic which is going on in
individual European or Western societies
a Hallmark of Russia's use of this
information and propaganda is its big
picture purpose and the use of History
to try to legitimize Russia's actions no
matter the costs
yeah I think what helps us to understand
that propaganda is something that is
very like long-term uh thing it is a
build over years it is kind of it's
something that uh in fact builds like a
whole other world view like a filter on
on a reality
this means delegitimizing those who
might be perceived as the Enemy Within
the propaganda narrative by labeling
them as Nazis or terrorists
Nazism the Kremlin has called its
invasion of Ukraine not an invasion but
rather a special operation to disarm
Ukraine of Nazis and fascists Artie's
editor-in-chief even linked Europe and
its response to Russia to the Nazis of
World War II and Russia to the
persecuted Jews
like why is this obsession with Nazis
why all these rhetorics from the World
War II uh from the time after the World
War II with denisification
demilitarization
um yes that's uh that's all actually has
to do with instrumentalization of the
past that has been uh going on in Russia
in the past years that the regime
instrumentalizes the memory and the
traumata of the second World War uh to
um to mobilize people
more broadly Russian propaganda portrays
Western Nations as failing in general
predicting their downfall today we
discussed that
the compiler and
the global order we ask what does the
transition from a unipolar western
hegemony to an interconnected
multi-polar world really look like there
is
largely widespread narrative that the
Western era is going to the to an end
that West is in Decline is
the war in Ukraine has now put the
Russian disinformation campaign into
overdrive
at home anyone who questions the Kremlin
narrative risks being gagged blacklisted
or thrown into jail
abroad Russia often successfully
manipulates the international media
landscape leaving the public confused
and leaders in the west slow to react
with Russians increasingly unable to
access independent information it is up
to the International Community to see
the kremlin's Playbook and Putin's
propaganda machine for what it is