Photo: Getty images
The Kremlin is launching an information campaign against Finland and the former Soviet republics similar to the one that preceded the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This is stated in a new report by the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), published on 20 April.
According to the analysts, Moscow is deliberately militarising its own society, increasing anti-Western rhetoric and preparing the population for a possible long-term conflict with NATO. “The Kremlin continues to rethink the narrative to justify the war against Ukraine, trying to draw Russians into a militaristic worldview,” ISW said.
An example of such propaganda was the interview of state propagandist Pavel Zarubin with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The latter, in response to the EU’s recommendation not to attend the 9 May parade, accused the EU of “spreading neo-Nazism” and promised to “destroy this ideology once and for all”.
ISW emphasises that these statements are a continuation of the Kremlin’s strategy, which appeals to Soviet myths about the victory in World War II. Their task is to create an enemy in the face of the West and to legitimise the Kremlin’s aggressive policy among Russian citizens.
According to analysts, such information tactics send a dangerous signal to countries on Europe’s eastern flank, which could become new targets of Russia’s hybrid influence.
