Russia doesn’t back any politician in Ukraine but uses elections to destabilize it

Every day, Russian propaganda generates fantasies aimed, on the one hand, at explaining why they do not want to follow Trump’s logic of a ceasefire and trilateral negotiations. But on the other hand, it is crucial for Russia to do this in a way that prevents Trump from realizing that Putin is essentially sabotaging the negotiations.

"Trump’s second presidency is fueling Russia’s expansionist ambitions. It has become increasingly evident that after Trump’s inauguration, Russian propagandists have widely adopted rhetoric about seizing and partitioning Ukraine, as well as destroying Ukrainian statehood altogether."

In this context, it is particularly interesting to examine the role that Russian propagandists assign to calls for immediate elections in Ukraine.

Notably, Russia’s plans do not even include securing the victory of any pro-Russian forces in these elections. Nor do they involve supporting pseudo-patriotic “useful idiots” of the Kremlin. Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov directly tells collaborators who fled to Russia that they are unwanted and that their Russian masters will not make any efforts to bring these insignificant figures to power.

Moreover, the issue is not about Russia trying to install anyone in power at all. This serves as a warning to local figures who continue to push the narrative that “the enemy is not in Moscow.”

Russia’s goal is to turn the very process of elections into a highly destabilizing event that will collapse Ukraine’s governmental institutions—creating a situation of “everyone against everyone.” From there, Russia aims to absorb individual regions into its territory, installing Kremlin-appointed, unknown “gauleiters” to rule over them.

Source

About the author: Olha Len, journalist.

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