EUvsDisinfo: Weaponising winter: how pro-Russian outlets justify strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure
Russia's winter attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities aim to force the country to surrender in the face of in the cold. Russian disinformation narratives justify these attacks and blame the Ukrainian leadership for them.
Breaking Ukrainian resistance
Russia is taking advantage of the bitter cold wave that has gripped Ukraine to inflict severe suffering on Ukrainian citizens by attacking the country's energy infrastructure. Among other strikes, on January 9, Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Kiev and its surroundings, targeting energy facilities that provide heating for the city's residents. On the night of January 14, the temperature in Kiev dropped to -17 degrees Celsius after this and other attacks knocked out power to much of the capital. In response, on January 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a state of emergency in the energy sector.
Although power has since been largely restored, Ukrainians understand that these ongoing attacks are an attempt to force them to surrender. This winter, the Russian strikes have been more intense than ever, with one Ukrainian official calling the attacks “an attempt to break the people.” But Kievans are holding out despite the cold. As one woman told a reporter: “The situation is very difficult, but it is better to live in the cold and dark than under a Russian boot.“
The victims are to blame
In the midst of this suffering, the Kremlin continues its long-standing campaign of information manipulation and foreign interference – blaming Ukraine for the harm that Moscow is inflicting on it. The narrative is that Ukrainian leaders are to blame because they are trying to protect their country. According to many pro-Russian media outlets and commentators, the destruction of energy infrastructure – with all the consequences for the civilian population that this destruction brings - is a necessary and legitimate means to force Ukraine to accept a humiliating peace agreement.
One tactic is to talk as little as possible about the real cause of the power outage - namely Russian missiles and drones - and to create the impression that the Ukrainians themselves carried out the attacks. One pro-Russian commentator, for example, expressed sympathy for the plight of the citizens of Kiev, but then hastened to declare that "the Kiev regime, the same people who sit up there on the throne, this powerful group in quotation marks, making incredible money with blood, do not want to end this war". The Russian attacks are necessary, the commentator continued, in the fight against “this nationalist, war-loving machine.”
Another pro-Russian media outlet spread a similar narrative in an interview with a Russian energy expert. The tactic is again to say almost nothing about the attacks, but to insist that only an end to the war on Russian terms can stop the suffering. “A full solution to the problems can only come after the end of the military crisis,” he said, referring to the war that Russia started and does not want to stop. He continued: “The longer this goes on, the more unstable the energy system will be and the longer it will take to restore it.” This is a disinformation tactic: the Kremlin’s war on civilians is portrayed as a purely technical problem. And this serves to cover up the crisis and its causes – the Russian attacks. Pro-Russian commentators even allow themselves to express feigned sympathy.
Propaganda weaponizes human suffering
Some of the posts have a triumphalist tone. For example, this article praises “one of the largest Iskander missile attacks” on January 12. A Russian general boasts that the hit Ukrainian energy facilities “are involved in securing the military-industrial complex. And in winter, these facilities become critically important when heating, water and electricity are cut off”. The same general makes it clear that the goal is to cause suffering. He says: “Let the people decide for themselves whether they need this conflict. If you can't turn on the lights or cook food, that's the government and administration led by Zelensky. Accordingly, he doesn't consider the possibility that the attacks are making Ukrainians more determined to resist.
However, one media outlet addressed the real issue by asking the question: “What is Moscow trying to achieve by shelling Ukrainian energy facilities?“ The article quotes, in its wording, Ukraine's response – “The Kremlin is trying to force Kiev to accept its demands to end the war“ – and accordingly gives Moscow's response: “because... the number of Ukrainians ready for peace under any conditions is growing“.
In fact, pro-Russian media outlets and commentators are extremely hopeful that the shivering Ukrainians will revolt to demand the return of warmth through capitulation. They welcome any sign of such sentiments when they appear in the Western media. The article cited above links to another article, which in turn refers to an article in the “New York Times“. The material describes the daily suffering of Ukrainians who are doing everything they can to survive in the cold. The content of the pro-Kremlin article is basically exactly like a retelling of the “Time“ report. But while the Times article mournfully describes the hardships of Kievans, the Russian retelling seems to revel in their suffering as a sign that Ukrainians’ will to resist is weakening. Meanwhile, in the Telegram, the New York Times article was distorted beyond recognition – supposedly, “American journalists” said that “many people are tired” of the war and that “territorial concessions need to be made to stop everything.”
Ukrainians are enduring the cold to resist Russian aggression. The pro-Kremlin media’s willingness to exploit their hardships is appalling – and they have done the same thing before – they have used hunger and basic needs as weapons.
Do not be fooled.
EUvsDisinfo/ translation: European Commission Representation in Bulgaria