Peace and sudden memory improvement (Peace and sudden memory improvement)
The week presented unexpected challenges to the Kremlin's information manipulators and disinformation launderers. They have had to both maintain the momentum in the shameless vilification of Ukraine and the West for the Crocus City Hall attack, and to explain the whole series of logical contradictions in the Kremlin's peace narratives. In the end, the propagandists did what they do best – bet on their twisted Orwellian reality in which war means peace and occupation – liberation.
Strive for peace – only in words
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, Russian propaganda mouthpieces have systematically pushed all kinds of misleading narratives about peace. However, the Kremlin's big talk about peace is nothing more than an empty PR stunt, as the peace rhetoric serves Russia only to maintain its war against Ukraine. Thus, about a week ago, Switzerland announced a high-level conference for a just peace in Ukraine, which will be held on June 15-16 near Lucerne. For the past two years, the disinformation media has used the topic of peace solely as an attempt to distract the world from what the Kremlin is doing in Ukraine. In reality, Russia only wants peace in words and continues to drop bombs on Ukrainian civilian targets. At the same time, Ukraine is working diligently with its international partners and the world community to achieve a just and sustainable peace based on the “peace formula” of ten points proposed by President Zelensky in October 2022
(Not) open to dialogue
Now Russian disinformation brokers are seeking to blur the picture and discredit any legitimate attempt at peace. They are hard at work hammering home the mantra that any talk of solutions without Russian involvement is pointless. We heard similar rhetoric around the meeting in Jeddah – so it is no wonder that some Russian officials are frivolous about being able to engage on the subject of peace. The Kremlin reinforced its disinformation narrative with the well-known trick of “blaming the West” and complained of an insidious Western plot to deceive Russia and that the West was preparing to issue ultimatums to the Kremlin. Thus, for Moscow, two things can be true at the same time – that Russia is open to dialogue and that Russia will not negotiate on anything. Conversations naturally require at least two participants. However, Russia's overall attitude on the subject thus far, including its incessant spat on Ukraine and its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, suggests that Russia's desire to engage in meaningful dialogue is not genuine.
Old alternatives to a new voice
Russian disinformation ideologues seem to understand that this may not be enough to build Russia's image as a model peacemaker to its global partners. And just then, their memory suddenly became serviceable. The Kremlin's chief manipulators first debunked disinformation claims that the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian peace talks could have brought peace if the Anglo-Saxons had not intervened. No doubt this represents a cynical reversal of the aggressor roles – victimization and portrayal of Ukraine as the warmongering country. Equally important is how Putin has suddenly rediscovered his own imperial calls for Ukraine from 2022 to “accept the new geopolitical reality” – i.e. to accept that Russia can – and will – annexed the territories of its neighbors. With this, the Kremlin is making a frank attempt to divert the world's attention from the proposals for a just and sustainable peace presented by Ukraine. In fact, in the disinformation network of the Kremlin, the Ukrainian proposals receive coverage “a la Navalny“ – i.e. they are not mentioned, even in passing.
Sudden Rediscovery
In another case of a sudden memory refresher, the Kremlin's disinformation troubadours have rediscovered China's position on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis since February 2023. After recent events, Kremlin ideologues have suddenly started hailing this document as the only way forward. It is paradoxical how 14 months earlier, when the Chinese ideas were first presented, Russian disinformation paid little attention to them, and now it is trying to convince its audience that Ukrainian ideas for a just peace are incompatible precisely with the Chinese proposals.
Looking for terrorists
And finally, on the domestic front – in Russia itself – peace is the last thing on the agenda of conspiracy theorists. Almost a month has passed since the attack in “Crocus City Hall” near Moscow. The Kremlin-controlled media is taking advantage of the tragic event to push shameless lies. The focus this week has fallen on the unjustified connection of Ukraine to the attack – specifically on the attempt to mislead the Hispanic audience. The Kremlin media is already presenting the “participation” of Ukraine as an indisputable and generally accepted fact and seek to discredit Ukraine as a servant of terrorism playing on the whistle of the treacherous West. They ignore the fact that the Islamic State (IS) has both claimed responsibility and provided corroborating evidence. Russian publications try to explain this inconvenient truth by constantly repeating that IS is a tool in the hands of Ukraine. But no matter how forcibly extracted confessions the Kremlin uses as “evidence”, we will not allow ourselves to be deceived.
EUvsDisinfo/ translation: Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria