The European Union described the transformation of Russia into a “country of total propaganda”

The European External Action Service released an analysis of the disinformation campaigns that were promoted last fall. The authors of the report found that Russia launched most of these campaigns, and the most popular plot for Russian propaganda was "Western aggression against Russia." The diplomatic service came to the conclusion that Russia is turning into a "country of total propaganda."

Details. The authors of the report of the European Diplomatic Service analyzed one hundred fakes that appeared from October to December 2022. 83 of them were connected with Russia. Five more fake narratives directed against the West first appeared in the Chinese media and then reprinted by the Russian ones. The Russian authorities also participated in the promotion of fakes, the authors of the report note.

• Experts identified five of the most popular narratives in Russian propaganda. Most often, propaganda tried to promote the idea of ​​Western aggression against Russia (17 mentions). Ukraine was also called the aggressor - 15 times. Just as many times there is a narrative that “Western sanctions backfire.” The fourth most popular fake of Russian propaganda is about “the hypocrisy of the West” (14 mentions), the fifth is about “Nazi and terrorist Ukraine”.
• In six cases, experts were able to prove that Russian propaganda faked foreign media: it passed off two videos as reports from Euronews and Al Jazeera. The covers of European satirical publications were also faked: the French Charlie Hebdo, which was previously known , as well as the German Titanic and the Spanish El Jueves.
• Ukraine and its officials became the target of Russian propaganda in 33 out of 100 cases reviewed by experts. In 60 cases, the propaganda was directed against the international support that the West provides to Ukraine.
• For years, pro-Kremlin outlets have been setting the stage for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, experts say. Almost all the narratives used to justify the “partial mobilization” or the “special operation” itself can be traced back to 2013-2014 – the events of the Euromaidan and the outbreak of the war in Donbass.
• After the outbreak of the war, the Russian diplomatic services actually turned into propaganda departments, the report notes. Social media accounts of Russian diplomatic missions are now fully integrated into propaganda. official Russian representatives were involved in 88 analyzed fakes. As analysts say, Russia is probably turning into a "country of total propaganda."

Context. With the help of cartoons, Russian propaganda is trying to influence not only the Russian but also the Western audience. In early November, the analytical company Graphika Inc. reported that pro-Russian internet accounts are using political cartoons in an attempt to influence the outcome of the US midterm elections. According to Graphika Inc., the accounts that posted the images were linked to a "troll factory" linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin.

• An example of a propaganda campaign aimed at the West could be a series of fakes , which should turn Europeans against Ukrainian refugees. The campaign was described by Meta as "the largest and most complex operation of Russian origin since the start of the war in Ukraine," which was aimed at sowing fear and discord among Ukraine's European allies.