RUSSIAN ANTI-WESTERN RHETORIC

Key messages and tactics of Russian propaganda

1. Russia shifts the responsibility for the attack on Ukraine to other foreign states. The Kremlin often resorts to the "mirroring" tactic, accusing others of its own crimes. Russian military’s crimes are  blamed on the Ukrainian defenders. In addition to various accusations, there are  attempts to justify Russia's actions. With the help of such messages, Russia seeks to justify its crimes on the territory of Ukraine and create its image of a "peacemaker. A lot of effort is put into spreading the message that Russia has been provoked to launch a full-scale invasion. The primary blame for the war in Ukraine is on the "collective West" and NATO, less often on individual states - the USA, Canada, Poland, Britain, and even France. The list of "reasons" for the attack on Ukraine is also extended; it starts from "saving Ukrainians" to "preventing world hunger." For example, one of the "explanations" is that the attack happened to save Ukrainians from "foreign rule" because the USA, in collaboration with the "nazi" Ukrainian authorities, planned to turn Ukraine into a "legal organization" in America. At the same time, the "collective West" is accused of breeding terrorists since 1945.  With similar theses, Russians tries to promote the so-called need for the "denazification" of Ukraine.

2. Russia puts a label on "Anglo-Saxons". Such labels need to be used in as many different messages as much as necessary. For example, according to this scheme, Russians try to divide Ukrainians into "normal ones" (in the sense of Kremlin propaganda - "pro-Russian") and the so-called "banderivtsy / nazis". If Russia acts according to the old scheme, then this topic will be promoted, and there might be an attempt to deepen the "split" (as the Kremlin sees it) between the European states. For a long time, Russian propaganda tried to convince Ukrainians that Europe is allegedly "bad" and that "no one is waiting for Ukraine there". Even more radical messages against Europe are being pushed on Russian society. This discourse continues to develop, and there are no reasons to believe it will be abandoned in the near future. There is no established list of states and territories that Russia refers to as the so-called Anglo-Saxons. Depending on the Kremlin's policy change, different countries either enter or leave it [the Anglo-Saxon label]. However, Russian propagandists have recently tried to put the United Kingdom and the USA under this label. One of the consequences of it was a (so far, a single one) message about their pro-Europeanism in a positive (in Russia's view) sense: "Europe is divided into a conditionally pro-European part and a pro-Anglo-Saxon part." Also, little by little, Russians are trying to shift the emphasis from the "collective West" to the so-called "Anglo-Saxons": "Anglo-Saxons are deceiving Europe, drawing it deeper and deeper into the war with Russia" or "Europe, like Ukraine, is not an enemy of Russia."

3. Russia uses distorted history to justify its aggression in Ukraine. Rewriting history is an all-Russian trend aimed at replacing basic things, which are then layered with modern solutions. In particular, it was argued that Russia could not be an aggressor because it is supposedly thanks to it that "other European states have appeared" in the world - meaning Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, etc. Such messages are not new to Russia. Propaganda speculates on historical facts, claiming that Ukraine (and now other European countries) are "not full-fledged states" that supposedly have no right to exist because they do not have their own history, culture, etc. Instead, they should "be in debt to the great Russia" and its "great Russian culture." In this way, Russia also wants to assert itself at the expense of other states, diminishing their importance. In a pseudo-historical context, it was mentioned that "Ukraine was never sovereign", because at first it was a part of different states, and then it was constantly "managed by Western curators". For example, Vladimir Putin called Ukraine a country "named after Lenin", claiming that Russia created sovereign Ukraine and that Ukrainian culture as such is a fake concept because it did not exist before.

4. Russia intimidates other states that they need to prepare for war. Using this method, Russia seeks to create the appearance of its power and show that it is better not to argue with it because some states would be "digging their own graves" by going against Russia. These intimidation tactics have been known since the Cold War, so it is expected that Russia will resort to them in its attempts to polarize the world. The Kremlin mainly addressed its threats to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, France, and other European states; blackmailing them by saying that Russia would not stop at Ukraine and would continue with the war if it [Russia] will be "interfered" with or more sanctions will be introduced against it. Apart from the EU states, there were also hints about Kazakhstan.

5. Russia opposes itself to Europe and spreads the myth of "world Russophobia". This Kremlin’s myth consists, in particular, of Russians’ attempts to present themselves as victims, which is conducted through the flashmobs on social networks, and lots of complaining. By depriving their messages of context, Russian propaganda reproaches Western companies for leaving or suspending work in Russia, highlights incidents in other countries with attacks or threats against Russians, criticizes sanctions against Russia, etc.

At the same time, they spread the thesis that it is not Russia that suffers from the sanctions introduced against it because of the war in Ukraine, but so do the countries that introduced them in the first place, in particular, the USA and the EU countries. In such posts, it was said that due to the sanctions the prices of energy carriers would only increase for the EU countries, while sanctions would not affect Russia in any way. Using such messages, Russian propaganda seeks to create the appearance of a "decaying Europe" in which prices are rising, businesses are closing, and people are suffering. Propagandists seem to suggest that in such conditions, the EU "will not last long and collapse", unlike Russia. The thesis about the "decaying West" is not new; it has been used for a century and a half, contrasting Russia, which is apparently actively developing, and Europe, which is having "very very hard times".

6. Russia distorts reality, claiming that "Ukraine was bothering everyone and that the continuation of this war is profitable for the West." In addition to the anti-Russian sanctions, global support for Ukraine has become an equally irritating topic for Russia. Any help to Ukraine is presented in the Kremlin as the desire of the West to "continue the war against Russia, especially using the hands of Ukrainians", to exhaust Russia, introduce new sanctions, and destroy its economy. Russia believes that the Western support for Ukraine is not genuine - it is allegedly beneficial for them that the war in Ukraine would last a long time. In fact, a protracted war in the center of Europe will not have good consequences for other countries either. Russia continues to promote the thesis that "Ukraine has bothered and disturbed everyone" and caused envy. The context of "envy" entails the fact that Ukrainian land is a "sweet piece" (a trump card) and, allegedly, if it were not for Russia, Ukraine would have come entirely under "the Western rule".

At the same time, Russia has also been promoting the message that "Europe and the USA have started doubting Ukraine’s victory", meaning that the American and European leadership no longer believes in the victory of Ukraine as much as before and thinks that it will have to make concessions to Russia. Similar theses were spread about the Japanese citizens, who allegedly went against their own government and took the side of Russia in this war. In this way, propaganda seeks to minimize the value of the aid that comes to Ukraine from Western partners, devalue the attempts of allies to end the war, and create the image that "no one needs Ukraine".

Most often Russians use the word "West" with a critical and negative connotation. Due to the needs of the information war, Russian propagandists revived the black-and-white picture of the Cold War world during which Russia represented the "good ". Meanwhile, the broad concepts of the "West" or "the myrmidons of the West" are used to degrade everyone considered an enemy of Russia. Therefore, Russia continues to stick to the label about "the collective West", on which it then builds its narratives and messages about "foreign governance", "the war of the West against Russia", "giving up on Ukraine", etc.