Dr. Olena Snigyr
Infoguerre

The Kremlin Mobilises the Church for War… for Africa

The Kremlin uses the Russian Orthodox Church to spread disinformation, weaponize historical memory and conjure the perception of protecting ‘traditional values’ across Africa. In its confrontation with the West, Russia seeks allies among the countries of the Global South, particularly in Africa. Recently, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has become involved in this effort. On 29 December 2021, the ROC decided to establish its own exarchate in Africa, encompas-sing all African countries. Its activity is already noticeable in almost 30 African countries and its declared ambitions are to expand its influence throughout the whole continent. By Dr. Olena Snigyr, chief consultant in the Research Center for Russian Federation Problems at the Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies (NISS) […]

BY-Indoctrination-Stalin-and-pope_DR1
Infoguerre

Belarus: The Indoctrination of Minors is Rising in Scale and Taking on New Forms

The indoctrination of Belarusian youth with pro-Soviet and pro-Russian propaganda is quickly rising in scale and taking new worrying forms. The inclusion of propaganda in their curriculum, the influence of the Orthodox Church in schools and orphanages, and the use of ‘military and patriotic’ clubs are hard evidence of an ambition to further control the thoughts of Belarusian citizens. Operation Brainwash is turning Belarusian youth favourable towards Russia and the USSR and hostile to Ukraine. EuvsDISINFO has previously reported on the state-sponsored indoctrination of youth in Belarus with Soviet-style, anti-Western propaganda following the falsified 2020 presidential elections and subsequent large demonstrations against the authorities. This worrying trend has continued. Lately, authorities have launched nationwide anti-Ukrainian propaganda campaigns and pushed Belarusian youth to embrace the ‘Russkiy Mir’ (Russian World) ideology that the Kremlin is now spreading more aggressively. […]

DR_2024-0502_Moscow Crusaders_Cover
Infoguerre

Turning the War Into a Crusade

Moscow is doing all it can to ruin hopes for peace and build a crescendo ahead of Putin’s re-coronation on 7 May and the traditional WWII victory parade on 9 May. As we begin the month of May, Russian state propaganda is tuned to two frequencies: drumming up support for Putin ahead of his re-coronation on 7 May and eroding peace prospects and support for Ukraine, especially in Western societies. The volume is turned up everywhere. The streets of Moscow are being decorated with (even more) pictures of Putin, hero-like pictures of soldiers, and banners calling for remembering the battles of the 1940s. Then 7 May will give way to 9 May, the date for the traditional victory day celebration, a cornerstone of the modern Russian raison d’être. […]

2024-0404_DR_Defacing France
Infoguerre

Francophobes in the Kremlin

Instead of sending love letters to the Élysée, the pro-Kremlin disinformation apparatus has taken France into its crosshairs by spreading lies and gross misogyny. Is Moscow afraid of something? Pro-Kremlin information manipulators are no strangers to mud-slinging, especially if they believe that they can advance their political agenda and the interests of their Kremlin masters with it. During the past weeks and months, we have paid attention to a continuous disinformation campaign that is targeting France and its first family. The campaign targeting France proves that coveted Russian ‘traditional values’ are nothing other than a façade hiding an ugly reality of misogyny, hate speech, and brutal discrimination against minorities. […]

Amiral Philippe De Gaulle
Pages d'Histoire

Tel père, tel fils : le premier compagnon et le dernier

« Il faut agir au-delà de soi et travailler pour plus grand que soi » … « Comme il est dur, pourtant, d’être De Gaulle après De Gaulle, d’en avoir l’allure, la voix, les gestes et de ne pas être lui. L’Amiral répondait aux murmures par la rigueur de sa conscience, son indifférence à la mondanité, déclinant toute prési-dence parlementaire ou honorifique, quelle qu’elle fût. Dans son œuvre de mémorialiste, il montrait toujours la grandeur collective, et non la sienne, effaçant ses hauts faits derrière ceux des autres. Le témoin expliquait l’Histoire, l’officier expliquait le combat, l’Amiral expliquait le Général.» Il y a des moments où une Nation se retrouve. Ce fut le cas lors de l’hommage rendu à l’amiral Philippe de Gaulle dans la cour d’honneur des Invalides. Les mots choisis par le président Emmanuel Macron pour honorer la mémoire et le parcours hors-normes de ce grand soldat ont été une occasion de renouer avec le temps long cher aux militaires.
[…]

Staline
Françoise Thom

De-Stalinization and de-Putinization

After so many hopes had been raised in Russian protest circles and in the West with candidate Boris Nadezhdin, despite his program which raised many questions, the hammer fell: the Russian Electoral Commission did not validate his candidacy on the pretext of a few thousand invalid signatures. But the emergence of a candidate, even if he has been rejected, who advocates an end to the war and a new rapprochement with Europe, is symptomatic. Historian Françoise Thom sees a sign of the end of Putin’s rule and a post-Putin era… Stalin starved Ukraine in 1933 while obliterating the Ukrainian intelligentsia; after the war, he waged a merciless war on Ukrainian resistance fighters, most of whom came from annexed areas. […]

Putin must become-Stalin
Françoise Thom

Déstalinisation et dépoutinisation

Après tant d’espoirs suscités dans des milieux contestataires russes et en Occident par le candidat Boris Nadejdine, malgré son programme qui posait de nombreuses interrogations, le couperet est tombé : la Commission électorale russe n’a pas validé […]

Poutine Photo-Credits Platon CC
Françoise Thom

La paralysie de la volonté

Sous Poutine s’est achevé le processus de fusion du pouvoir avec la criminalité organisée. La dynamique expansionniste s’est intensifiée en se dotant du camouflage d’un messianisme idéologique. La Russie n’est un État qu’en apparence. En réalité, c’est un agrégat de bandes criminelles gravitant autour d’un parrain tout puissant. Cette structure mafieuse du pouvoir russe s’est mariée sans peine avec la pratique impériale : pour Poutine, l’essentiel est le contrôle des élites des pays cibles, comme un parrain — le capo di tutti capi — surveille ses lieutenants. De là son obsession des « révolutions de couleur », qui lui font perdre la face en détrônant ses satrapes. Considérer le régime de Poutine comme « nationaliste » c’est faire un contresens majeur. […]

Général Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
Françoise Thom

Where is the Will of the West?

Under Putin, the process of merging power with organized crime was completed. At the same time, the pace of expansionist dynamics has accelerated, under the camouflage of an ideological messianism. Russia is a state in appearance only. In reality, it is an aggregate of criminal gangs revolving around an all-powerful godfather. This mafia-like structure of Russian power has merged organically with imperial practice: for Putin, the main thing is to control the elites of target countries, just as a godfather, the capo di tutti capi, supervises his henchmen. Hence his obsession with “color revolutions”, which make him lose face by dethroning his satraps. To regard Putin’s regime as “nationalist” is to seriously misread the situation. […]

11 novembre 2023_Julius -Leber Kaserne, Berlin - Photo © Joël-François Dumont
Pages d'Histoire

11 novembre : Mémoire d’un jour ou jour de mémoire ?

L’histoire de la France contemporaine ne se limite pas à trois dates : le 14 juillet — jour de la fête nationale, le 11 novembre — jour où fut signé l’armistice de 1918 qui mit fin aux combats de la Première Guerre mondiale (1914-1918) — et le 8 mai 1945 — jour de la capitulation sans condition de l’Allemagne nazie — trois dates « inscrites dans le marbre ». Trois jours qui ont en commun de rassembler les Français autour de leur armée pour honorer la mémoire de nos anciens tombés au champ d’honneur. Trois jours célébrés aux côtés de nos plus fidèles alliés rejoints par la République fédérale d’Allemagne, qui a succédé à l’empire allemand, notre ennemi d’hier. Trois grandes célébrations organisées chaque année autour de l’Arc de triomphe — mais aussi à l‘étranger — par nos compatriotes expatriés autour des missions militaires françaises et alliées et de nos associations patrio-tiques qui gardent fidèlement cette mémoire. […]