EN LIGNE DE MIRE
La paralysie de la volonté
Guerre en Ukraine
LES DERNIÈRES CHRONIQUES
What He Said and What it Really Means – Vol. 6: Putin Forever
In his, two hour, record long, yearly state of the nation-speech Putin fixed his sight on the presidential ‘election’ [coronation] expected in a few weeks. The war against Ukraine, ‘Nazis’ and bashing the West is the guiding ideology. As seasoned KGB-operative, Putin boasted self-confidence sugar-coating the military situation and its losses. Demands for everybody to contribute and rally behind the militarised society is the oratorical chapeau on the increased physical repression. As usual, he promised money for everybody and the crowd obeyed the traditional of applause; 116 times according to the puppet opposition. When Wladimir Putin says : « Our Motherland is defending its sovereignty and security, defending the lives of our compatriots in Donbass and Novorossiya », he means : «We invaded the neighbour Ukraine, but I call it defence. ‘Novorossiya’ is my colonial word for southern parts of Ukraine ». […]
Years of War
War has become an essential, almost sought-after state of affairs in Russia. We look at some recent developments in society. 24 February was a sombre day marking two years of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine. The war has also been a cyber and hybrid campaign soaked in disinformation and manipulation. Indeed, it is not just two years. In truth, Moscow’s campaign began 10 years ago in late February 2014. That was when ‘little green men’ wearing fatigues bearing no identifying insignias landed by air and sea on the Crimea peninsula. The dictator-style annexation was quick: local ‘elections’ held at gunpoint, a hijacked ‘parliament’ in Sevastopol asking for unification, and the Russian parliament’s rubber-stamping of the whole mess in Moscow. This far-reaching constitutional process was done in less than 20 days. Pro-Kremlin voices and pundits continue to devote a lot of stubborn energy to promoting the claim that the take-over was a splendid, well-considered, and democratic process. […]
Reflection on Two Years of War and Disinformation
The Kremlin’s lies, deceit and disinformation have systematically fuelled Russia brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. Two years later, Ukraine fights bravely on and we continue to expose Russia’s lies. Don’t be deceived. Two years ago, on 24 February 2022 Russia launched a brutal full-scale invasion against its peaceful neighbour Ukraine and the world irrevocably changed. There are a lot of memories accrued in these past two years. Some traumatic and painful, like learning of the horrendous atrocities committed by Russia in Bucha, some are full of optimism and resolve, like seeing Ukraine liberate Kherson from the Russian invaders. But in these last two years we gathered more than just memories, we also sifted through piles and piles of pro-Kremlin disinformation fuelling Russia’s war machine with hate and lies. So, when we think about #24Feb2022, we also think of all the pro-Kremlin disinformation that we sought to expose on our EUvsDisinfo platform. Here is but a glimpse of some of the pro-Kremlin disinformation topics that have become inextricably linked with our memory of war. […]
Pyrrhic Victories and Crickets Chirping in the Graveyard
From celebrating gaining a few dozen square kilometers of scorched earth in Avdiivka as a major victory for Putin to keeping mum about the circumstances of Alexei Navalny’s death, it’s been a busy week for the Kremlin’s disinformation mouthpieces. This week, the Kremlin’s steely gaze was affixed on Avdiivka, lauding the capture of this patch of scorched earth as a breakthrough victory. Meanwhile, the untimely death of a long-term critic and staunch opponent of the Kremlin, Alexei Navalny, wrongly imprisoned in a Russian death-camp, merited only a passing glance and the ‘conspiracy theory treatment’. If details on Navalny’s death were scant in the Kremlin’s channels, the fact that 24 February marks two years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine seems to have been completely and deliberately excluded from the Kremlin’s disinformation repertoire this week. […]