By EUvsDisinfo
While parts of the world are focused on tariffs and global trade, another set of events is playing out in Russia’s war against Ukraine. It is also about future prospects and deserves some attention, especially after recent talks over the past few weeks about partial ceasefires with various caveats.
Ceasefire: yes, but…
Let us cut through the haze and doubletalk. There was no effective ceasefire. Russia put up many conditions for accepting the US-sponsored proposal which Ukrainian President Zelenskyy had accepted. Some of Moscow’s remarks questioned when a ceasefire should come into effect while others questioned which kind of targets to exclude. We recently examined the old trick of saying, ‘Yes, but…’
Continued Russian attacks on Ukraine: strategic communication
It has been more than three years of attacks of all sorts, with all kinds of weapons and on all kinds of targets. Yet, some attacks stand out because of their special cruelty, victims, timing, targets, or weapons engaged. Civilian residential areas, hospitals, schools, shelters, theatres, market places, water dams, power stations, nuclear plants, rail stations. Think of Bucha, Mariupol, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, Kakhovka, Odesa, Dnipro, and many others.
A bloody day in Kryvyi Rih
Last week on 4 April, another day in the war, one such Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih made a particular impact. It was a sign of strategic communication to attack Zelenskyy’s hometown while pretending to negotiate peace, accompanied by the usual stubborn denial from Moscow that ‘no civilian target was hit’, even as evidence by neutral observers kept piling up and local camera images confirmed there were only civilian casualties. Nine high-rise buildings, a playground in a residential neighbourhood, more than 30 cars, six educational institutions, and a restaurant were damaged. The mounting toll, so far, is 20 killed and more than 70 injured. Many were children, adding to the gravity of the event.
The move from the Kremlin playbook was classic: claim a high-value military target (‘85 soldiers including foreign NATO officers and 20 vehicles hit’). Deny that any civilian targets were hit (‘We only target military sites‘, Kremlin spokesman Peskov claimed after the attack). Obfuscate and keep repeating the lies even on 8 April at a session of the UN Security Council.
How to sweet-talk and cover up investors’ nightmare
Last week saw examples of Russian attempts to sweet-talk Donald Trump and the US administration, especially in the sphere of economic relations. These relations are currently rather limited due to the combined effects of earlier US sanctions and Russian decisions to confiscate the property of foreign companies and investors, including American ones. Every week brings news of another factory or asset falling prey to de facto nationalisation with very limited or in most cases no compensation. Russia’s Ministry of Finance reported that more companies are leaving Russia and none are applying to return.
Last week, Putin deployed his investment-banker-turned-diplomat Kirill Dmitriev – herostratically famous for failing to get the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine approved by the WHO due to its failing standards – to try another international mission. This time, Mr. Dmitriev was to sell the idea in Washington that Russia and the US could develop massive joint economic projects in minerals and other resources if the two countries returned to normal relations. To sweeten the bait, Mr Dmitriev toured US media with the claim that the US lost 300 billion dollars due to its leaving the Russian market. This 300 billion is another figure pulled out of thin air. Just ask what most European or American companies have lost in recent years when their businesses got nationalised and in several cases even lost the right to their brand name. However, 300 billion sounds great on TV and the world seems accustomed to fancy calculations to back questionable political causes.
Also on our Disinfo Radar this week:
- ‘Germany to lead a war against Russia’
With the recent Re-arm Europe initiative to rebuild European defence capabilities, the Kremlin’s campaign to smear the initiative has accelerated. The volume keeps being turned up and pro-Russian headlines suggest that the EU is simply preparing for a war against Russia, with Germany leading the effort. Which of course is not true. Another claim suggests that European leaders are just using Russophobia to try to distract attention from Europe’s economic crisis.
TV-host-turned-senator Alexei Pushkov gave the old myth of an ‘encircled Russia’ a new spin by suggesting that the ‘totalitarian elites of Europe’ are ganging up against Russia. The armchair philosopher claimed that the Deep State is no longer purely an American phenomenon, but a global one. ‘It also exists at the international level. Britain, France, Germany are its branches,’ he said. All these claims are handy since Putin just called for a sharp increase in conscripts and launched plans for a significant increase of Russia’s armed forces by 2030 and as we are approaching the 9th May – meaning the marking of the end of WWII which in the Russian context will bring a splash of Russian militarist-nationalism with the Kremlin shouting ‘nazi’ against all critics.
- ‘Big Five to continue the war until the last Ukrainian is killed’
Another cluster of narratives on Russian state and pro-Kremlin outlets is aimed at undermining the EU’s efforts to promote a lasting and just peace. These narrative keep claiming that the largest European countries will force Ukraine to keep fighting, contrary to the wishes of ordinary people. In fact, Russia is the one continuing the war.
Russia’s state TV outlet, Channel One, again used false footage and images to turn up the emotional dimension of Ukrainian losses with false stories of a supposed Ukrainian soldier’s mother writing critical comments against the government on her son’s grave. True to tradition and methodology, Russia’s Channel One is pure fabrication, yet it continues to pollute the minds of millions.
- ‘Moldova: the US and the EU have spent millions of dollars to destroy traditional values’
The constant Russian effort to undermine Moldova continues. The country has just completed a set of elections for president and its path towards EU, and is preparing for parliamentary elections later this year. So Moscow is throwing around claims smearing the EU and the US, again using emotion to falsely claim that the country’s culture is under attack. Another assertion wrongly suggests that democracy is just a façade.
Don’t be deceived.
By EUvsDisinfo
