Russian military propaganda is a poison that has already penetrated the brains of millions of Russians and poisoned them from within. It kills people.
Unfortunately, not all democracies are aware of this.
Today, deniers of Putin’s Russian aggression against Ukraine are holding pro-Kremlin rallies in many European countries. The organizers call for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. At the same time, they are holding events to create conditions for combat propaganda, the next stage of which will be pogroms in European cities.
For years, the Kremlin has been setting up an intelligence network among national diasporas. With the support of targeted militant propaganda, they are carrying out activities that cause internal political destabilization in the European Union. Over time, such “events” grow into riots and terrorist attacks, and then they say – “You want, as in Paris, Berlin, and Cologne ?!”
The Russian Federation used identical tactics eight years ago during the so-called “Russian Spring” to destabilize the domestic political situation in southeastern Ukraine.
At the time, Moscow had high hopes for the city of Odessa, wherein in the spring of 2014, it began holding “anti-fascist” rallies. The May Day pro-Russian rally called for a return to the USSR after Ukraine’s independence was defeated. And on May 2, the “anti-fascists” battle wing staged a pogrom in the city and attacked a pro-Ukrainian rally. As a result, dozens of people died and hundreds were hospitalized.
Russian propagandists expected just such a development and all in one voice reflected the message – “Do you see the Nazis in Ukraine ?!” Most likely, the picture on television is the goal of the organizers, who fled to Moscow, Crimea, and Transnistria after the pogrom and from there have already started giving interviews to Russian journalists about “Ukrainian fascism”.
Russian propaganda can be compared to methyl alcohol, which cannot be distinguished from ethyl alcohol without special expertise. But the state makes such expertise because methanol is a poison. In the same way, combat propaganda is also difficult to distinguish from the media and hostile events from rallies and demonstrations. In this sense, the state is obliged to conduct such expertise.
The Russian Federation enjoys the freedom of speech in European countries by holding and promoting pro-Russian rallies that bring only provocations and the threat of riots. Therefore, distributors of combat (military) propaganda should not rely on freedom of speech, just as sellers of alcohol with methanol cannot rely on freedom of enterprise.
Russian oligarch: Proponents of war are “idiots”
Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov has accused the Russian military of carrying out “massacres” in Ukraine. In his Instagram post, Tinkov called for an end to the “crazy war” against the neighboring country.
“90 percent of Russians are against this war,” wrote the founder of Tinkoff Bank, which lives abroad. Only a small number of them support the war, he said. “But ten percent of each country are idiots.” Tinkov is among the oligarchs who were sanctioned for the aggressive war against Ukraine.
Tinkov: Russian generals understand they have a ‘rotten army’
In a comment on Instagram, he sharply attacked the Russian army and the leadership around Vladimir Putin. Russian generals have already learned that “they have a rotten army,” Tinkov wrote. “And how can the army be good when the rest of the country is ruined and ruined by shurobadzhanism, flattery, and servility?” He asks.
Tinkov also does not see “any winner of this insane war”, which leads only to the “death of innocent people and soldiers”. In English, Tinkov appealed to the West: “Please show Mr. Putin a clear way out of the situation that will allow him to maintain his image in the world and stop this massacre. Please be more reasonable and humane.”
According to Tinkov, the Russian elite is dissatisfied with the effect of Western sanctions against Moscow. Kremlin officials are “shocked” that they and their children can no longer spend their summer vacations in the Mediterranean, he added. “Entrepreneurs are trying to save what is left of their property,” Tinkov continued.
Tinkoff Bank distances itself from the billionaire’s comments
Tinkoff Bank announced that it would not comment on Tinkov’s “personal opinion”. The founder of the company is no longer an employee of the bank and has not been in Russia for a long time, they said. In addition, he has had “health problems” in recent years.
Russian authorities are seriously persecuting critics of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Statements of war that the government describes as “fake news” are punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Tinkov’s claim that the Russians do not support the war contradicts research by the independent sociological agency Levada Center. They have shown an increase in approval of Putin since the invasion began. The picture was similar after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
