Infoguerre

On the battlefield and in the information space, Russia is busy manipulating. Sugar-coating its missile attacks; blaming the EU or Ukraine for global food insecurity; or jailing critics of the Mariupol bombings a year ago. This week, on 16 March, it will be a year since the horrific attack by Russian forces on the Mariupol theatre which killed more than 600 people who had sought protection in the cellar of the Regional Academic Theatre. The theatre was among the first in a long series of what would become iconic locations where Russia’s deliberate targeting of civilians was well documented to the world. […]

On March 6, a video showing the execution on camera of a Ukrainian prisoner of war (POW) emerged on social media. The last words of the Ukrainian soldier were the call that has come to embody Ukrainian resilience – ‘Glory to Ukraine’. His execution contravened the Geneva Convention and may amount to a war crime. It also shows the impunity of Russian invaders in Ukraine. And as usual, Kremlin outlets tried to confuse the world with a myriad of contradictory lies to blur who is responsible… As usual, denial, deflection, distraction and discrediting the victims are the go-to tools in the Kremlin information manipulation playbook. Recall for instance the MH-17 downing, the Mariupol hospital and theatre bombings, the Bucha murders, or the Kramatorsk missile attacks, to name a few. […]

One year of draconic censorship laws has terrified Russian society. Multi-year prison sentences and thousands of court cases induce fear and self-censorship. Practically all inde-pendent journalists have either left Russia or closed down… Even before the 24 February invasion, the situation for inde-pendent media in Russia was very difficult with labels like ‘foreign agent’ or ‘undesirable organisation’ slapped on normal, professional journalists and publications. Poorly investigated attacks and even killings of high-profile journalists had contributed further to a chilling atmosphere. After twelve month, things have become even worse. The media land-scape inside Russia is fundamentally changed and now dominated by Kremlin orders. […]

More Kremlin lies are sowing distrust and anxiety. Russian state media claim Ukraine is preparing to invade Moldova’s Transnistria region. Recent weeks have seen an escalation of Moscow’s manipulative allegations which involve claims that Ukraine will attack Transnistria, that Maia Sandu is plotting with Kyiv, and that the dark forces of the US and the West are pushing Chisinau into a conflict. Possible goals include fostering instability, if possible, and diverting attention from the battlefield in Ukraine and from atrocious attacks on and deportations of civilians. The Kremlin’s accusations also come at a time when the Moldovan government has been taking steps to regain control of its information space. […]

Worn-out disinformation tropes cannot disguise the cynicism and real intentions behind the Kremlin’s Special ‘Peace’ Operation. Meanwhile, we witnessed another collusion between Chinese and Russian manipulative actions… Time and again, the Kremlin continues its cynical exploitation of ‘peace’. In Kremlinese, the word ‘peace’ equals a thinly veiled way of demanding that Ukraine surrender, give in to occupation, lose sovereignty, and accept Russifi-cation. At the same time, the Kremlin aims at misleading and distracting Western audiences unaware of the real Kremlin intentions behind their ‘peace’ talks. […]

The Kremlin’s disinformation and manipulation machine keeps churning out lies resulting in newly dug graves and immeasurable human suffering. Putin’s annual address to the Russian Federal Assembly was a farrago of paranoia and lies meanwhile President Biden humiliated the Kremlin by walking the streets of Kyiv in broad daylight wit Volodymyr Zelensky ! « A barrage of lies, grievances, and bizarre historical revisions in his attempt to justify the bloodletting he began a year ago » as Tom Nichols writes in Putin’s Desperate Hours. […]

A year ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked, illegal, and barbaric invasion of Ukraine. On 24 February, in his invasion speech broadcast in the early morning hours, Putin imagined a quick victory. Some Russian military units told officers to pack their dress uniforms and medals to wear in parades that would take place in Kyiv after their glorious entry. That never happened. Putin’s assumptions have been proven wrong. Actually, it is noteworthy how he has managed to achieve the opposite of his declared aims. […]

In his state of the nation address, Russian President Vladimir Putin falsely accused once again the West of starting the war in Ukraine. Putin laced his televised speech with disinformation speaking to an audience of military and political elites in Moscow. He vowed Russia would not be defeated on the battlefield, and that the offensive would continue. He also said that the majority of people in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region want to be Russian and, last but not least, announced that Russia would suspend its last major nuclear disarmament treaty with the US. […]

Pro-Kremlin disinformation about the EU and Western sanctions is an example of contradictions. Somehow sanctions are an illegal, unacceptable form of coercion, but they also have no impact on Russia at all. This disinformation narrative downplays the impact of sanctions for domestic audiences in Russia, and creates the false image that the West is collapsing. Internationally, the Kremlin wants to stoke unsubstantiated fears that Western actions against Russia have negative global consequences. […]