some important trends in Russian propaganda now. Important to follow how they change, and why. A short thread with some takeaways -- More in our regular coverage of RU propaganda (link at the end of the thread). 1/8
one of the new narrative is that Russia's war in Ukraine is actually a... "war for Russia's independence". The independence meant here is the independence from the "West". Russia is presented as a "colony" of the West which tries to liberate itself 2/8
another narrative is that this war is a "genocide of the Russian people" and destruction of the "Russian genotype". The war was not "willed" by the Russians, was "provoked" by the West to annihilate a united "Russian people" (Russians and Ukrainians are the "same nation") 3/8
two important conclusions from these narratives. 1) they are "upside-down" of the Ukrainian description of this war. Ukrainians say this is war for Ukraine's final independence from Russia, and that Russians have been organizing genocide of Ukrainians for decades/centuries 4/8
2) these RU narratives develop an idea that Russia is waging a "defensive" war. Instead of "punishing" narrative (Russia will punish Ukrainian "Nazis"), there is a "defensive" narrative (Russia is alone against the global "Nazis", imperialists, colonialists, genociders) 5/8
our hypothesis is that the defensive narrative can help military mobilization much more than the "punishment" narrative. People are much more motivated if they are told to "defend" their land 6/8
But all in all, it's remarkable how Russia puts everything upside down. It is an empire that presents itself as a colony, a fascist state presenting itself as fighting fascism, and waging a genocidal war saying it suffers from genocide. 7/8
our live coverage of Russian propaganda: ukraineworld.org/articles/infow… #AgainstRussianLies, #GreyZone 8/8
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