It has been a hundred days since Putin launched his “three-day war” against Ukraine, perhaps expecting a quick victory or believing his lies and propaganda. However, it is important to understand that the Kremlin’s information manipulation and disinformation attacks against Ukraine were launched years before the war, which began on February 24, 2022.
The Russian state-controlled disinformation apparatus, often led by generously funded media outlets like Russia Today and Sputnik, self-described information weapons, had been producing myths and false pretexts for the invasion of Ukraine for years, dating back to at least 2014. The EUvsDisinfo database has collected more than 5000 individual cases of disinformation targeting Ukraine, which is over a third of all cases in our database.
These pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives range widely, from accusing the West of plotting world domination to claiming an unholy alliance between Ukraine and Satan himself.
There are two narratives in the Kremlin’s playbook that have risen to unprecedented prominence and stand far above the rest. The first is the rampant claim that hysterical “Russophobia” has captivated the world. At its core, this disinformation narrative is quite simple – anyone who opposes or criticizes Russia, or its actions, is doing so out of irrational fear and unfounded hatred of all things Russian.
Initially, the “Russophobia” disinformation narrative mostly targeted Ukraine, as well as those EU member states that have been vocal about Russia’s increasingly aggressive and belligerent behavior, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, or the Baltic states. However, while the EU’s response to Russia’s war (here) in Ukraine became stronger, pro-Kremlin disinformation began to raise accusations of "Russophobia" that is spreading like wildfire across EuropeSpreading fear and hatred, while playing the “victim card,” also quickly became a favorite pastime for the Russian diplomatic corps and government officials.
As far as disinformation tactics go, this is a fairly common approach – to deny and distract from valid criticism by invoking false injustices. Of course, as in the fable about the boy who cried wolf, invoking “Russophobia” in response to every step the West takes to dissuade Russia from continuing its aggression means that the credibility of the Kremlin’s claims of “Russophobia” is rapidly weakening.
Second, there are the baseless claims that Ukraine has become a breeding ground for Nazis who pose an existential threat to all things Russian. The invocation of Nazism in pro-Kremlin disinformation is neither new nor particularly creative. “Denazification” was one of the main points of Putin’s speech on February 24, which laid out the justification for Russia’s “special operation.” For decades, the defeat of Nazism in World War II has been portrayed with great sanctity and reverence.
So, creating a false Nazi threat in Ukraine has a powerful psycho-emotional impact on Russian society as a call to war. The ecosystem of pro-Kremlin disinformation was saturated with “Nazi Ukraine” narratives in the weeks before the war, igniting the nation into feverish support for the ideas of “denazification.”
(Full article at EU vs Disinfo, available in English)