EUvsDisinfo: The Kremlin again blames the West (The Kremlin who cried, ‘West!’)
Not since yesterday, Kremlin disinformation agents have been promoting the idea that Russia is allegedly under siege by malevolent external forces, usually of Anglo-Saxon origin. This narrative is among the most actively used in connection with Russia's war against Ukraine. However, we observe a mirror dependence: the more support for Ukraine grows, the louder the voices from the Kremlin accuse the West of aggression against Russia. Bare threats of nuclear holocaust alternate with senseless and demonstrative building of verbal sand towers. Recent days have provided further confirmation of this trend. The Kremlin unleashed a new barrage of lies and accusations about Western troops in Ukraine, repeated the fabricated danger of “Western intervention” in Georgia and complained about the EU's plans to use the frozen money of Russian oligarchs for public benefit.
Enemy at the gates
Since French President Emmanuel Macron admitted to the public space the possibility of deploying troops in Ukraine, the Kremlin's disinformation network has not stopped dealing with this topic. Apparently commentators are scrambling to defend the long-standing narrative that the West is using Ukraine to wage a proxy war against Russia. The debate in the West is only theoretical at this point, but for the Kremlin-controlled media, the enemy is almost at the gates. Some publications claim that French troops are already on the front line in Ukraine, others – that NATO is actively preparing to start a war against Russia, and a third – that Russia has already destroyed secret Western bases in Ukraine.
Sequential Inconsistency
The Russian leadership actively uses disinformation, but consistency often eludes it. For example, when Western leaders began announcing that Ukrainian strikes on Russia should be authorized, Kremlin propagandists quickly switched from denouncing the West's “proxy war” to accusations against Ukraine that it is trying to provoke a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. This is how we witness inconsistencies in the Kremlin's narrative about Ukraine's relations with the West. This cause-and-effect relationship is emphasized, which arranges the Kremlin's disinformation according to the moment.
„Second Front“ in Georgia
The same mirror projection by which the Kremlin accuses the West of aggression and warmongering is currently playing out in Georgia. After the Georgian parliament ignored the will of its people and the presidential veto and passed the infamous “transparency law”, numerous pro-Russian voices in Georgia began vigorously defending the renegade move and repeating the Kremlin narrative that the West wants to use Georgia to open up “ ;second front“ against Russia.
Accusations of alleged Western meddling and an insidious incitement plan to use Georgia to wage war against Russia have accompanied the controversial law since it was drafted in 2023. Such a plan may simply be the product of conspiracy theorists' paranoia. However, Kremlin propagandists picked it up and spread it in order to discredit and weaken civil society in Georgia – the pillar protecting the country's path to the EU so far. Several media close to the Russian leadership even openly exult in praise of the Russian imperial doctrine of “spheres of influence” and welcome the adoption of the “transparency law”: they see the law as an instrument that will move Georgia away from the West and closer to Russia.
They are robbing Russian money!
Meanwhile, on the domestic front, the ground was also fertile for advancing the all-time favorite accusations against the evil West, which is trying to destroy pious Russia. This time it's personal. As the West clamps down on the frozen assets of Russian oligarchs, the Kremlin has unleashed loud accusations that the EU and the G7 are trying to embezzle Russia's hard-earned cash, and has also issued threats of “retaliatory measures”. Some online media focused on describing the potentially devastating consequences for the West. Other outlets, for their part, defined the plan to use the proceeds from the frozen Russian assets as “proof” that the West is waging a hybrid war against Russia.
Not lifting, but “optimization“ of taxes
And finally – bringing into play all sorts of imaginary threats supposedly looming over Russia from all directions provided a much-needed distraction from Russia's tax hikes. Sorry, in the sophisticated language of the Kremlin this is not called “raising taxes”. We should rather call it “planned optimization of the scale of progressive taxation”. Or “improving the existing system”. Or “lowering the income threshold”. This is precisely the wording presented to the Russian taxpayers who foot the bill for Russia's war against Ukraine. If the Kremlin is to be believed, this is not an alarming sign of a rapid emptying of the coffers, but rather an indication of progress. Don't be fooled.
EUvsDisinfo/ translation: Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria