Kremlin portrays Ukraine as the world's “main terrorist”

Since November 2023, the main narrative of the Russian Federation has been that peace-loving Russia wants negotiations and peace, while “puppet” Ukraine, under the influence of the evil West, does not want peace.

In recent weeks, we can most likely talk about a change (or rather, an expansion) of this narrative. It all started with a clash between Tuareg and official troops in Mali, after which the Tuareg took photos with Ukrainian flags. From that moment on, the Russians began to promote the message that Ukraine supports terrorism and ISIS. The news chain on terrorism also includes publications about a Ukrainian supporter who wanted to kill Trump and "leaks" in the Turkish press suggesting that Ukraine was negotiating with certain terrorist organizations. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a report that “documented” more than a hundred terrorist operations conducted by Ukraine.

Read also: How Russian propaganda exploits ambush on Wagner convoy in Mali to denigrate Ukraine

Today, Russian media, citing sources in Syrian intelligence, accuse Ukraine of training terrorists, together with the United States, to use UAVs in the war in Syria.

All these stories contribute to a communication puzzle that likely represents an effort to shift the main communication framework used by the Russians.

It is important to note that this is not just about preventing Ukraine from being allowed to fire ATACMS deep into Russia. It’s a broader signal that could gain momentum and start to “live on its own” - or, in other words, self-replicate - about 3-4 months after the campaign begins. By the end of this year or early next year, it could reach its full impact. But this will only happen if we don’t act now to dismantle this myth as thoroughly as possible.

From what I understand, the terrorist track is supposed to complement the peace track. Essentially, it frames peace-loving Russia as wanting negotiations and peace, while depicting Ukraine as the leading country for training terrorists worldwide. In some countries, it will be portrayed as being done with Western help and at its request, while in the West, it will be depicted as an independent initiative by Ukraine.

On the one hand, this story is part of a somewhat forgotten campaign of accusations of selling Western weapons to terrorists. On the other hand, it will explain to Russians why they need to continue the war and increase the size of the army by almost 200,000 people.

In short, this poses a serious information challenge that requires a comprehensive response - not just occasional statements, but a full-fledged proactive counter-campaign.

Source

About the author: Vadym Denysenko, political scientist.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.