Here is what Russians, who get their news from the Kremlin’s so-called information technologists (read: propagandists), are being told about the war with Ukraine by the Russian News Service, TASS.
The first lie shows the war depicted as a morality play between good and evil. The “good” combatants are from the self-anointed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. They are depicted bravely fighting neo-Nazi “formations” backed by Kyiv (not the Ukrainian army). These small republics have had to seek the help of Russian peacekeepers (notably lacking blue helmets) to stave off crazed Ukrainian nationalists intent on murdering them. Winning this War of the Donbas is vital. If these Ukrainian formations were to win, they would attack Mother Russia itself, despite facing impossible odds. There is no absence of news about this righteous war. Readers are given hour-by-hour accounts of the retreat of the Ukrainian Nazis, defeated by the forces of good.
With its fourth lie, TASS instructs its readers that the invasion of Ukraine is not really a battle of Slav Russians versus Slav Ukrainians. The perfidious United States and NATO have recruited professional mercenaries to carry the battle to the Russians. Russians kindly disposed towards Ukrainian friends and relatives need not worry, according to TASS. Russians are killing mercenaries, not their Slavic brothers.
Finally, TASS readers are being told that Ukraine’s military is collapsing. That its soldiers are surrendering, and being treated well when they do. There are no Ukrainian military successes. TASS informs its readers that a Russian jet that crashed did so due to pilot error, not Ukrainian missiles. For its small Ukrainian audience, the message is clear: The battle is hopeless. Lay down your arms and go home.
Kremlin propaganda accuses adversaries of Russia’s own behaviors. It is the Kremlin that has a convenient working relationship with the ultra-nationalists in parliament. Neo-Nazi organizations are welcomed in Russia’s politics and in its military. False-flag use of bodies to blame opponents is a classic Russian trick. Placing military targets in residential areas was a standard feature of the 2014 war. Calling the Russian troops that are directing military operations “peacekeepers” is a ruse tried back in 2014 at the Minsk peace talks.
Public opinion surveys show that a majority of ordinary Russians believe the garbage of lies described above. As long as this is true, Vladimir Putin has a free hand. We must give serious thought to how to turn this around.