One of the main theses of Russian propaganda is to emphasize that the Russian army in Ukraine is “at war” with NATO troops. And the main opponents of the Katsapstan army in Ukraine are “American mercenaries and commanders.”
This is probably the only Russian lie that Ukrainians would like to see as true. After all, we are currently holding back the largest empire on the planet with superior human and military resources on our own, while Russian politicians are promoting the capture of Warsaw in two days and nuclear strikes on European capitals. But, unfortunately, the presence of Western troops in Ukraine has not yet become a reality, which does not prevent Moscow from trumpeting it from every Russian iron.
In fact, the roots of this fake are in the need for Russians to somehow justify their military failures in Ukraine. It is difficult for the Kremlin regime to recognize and explain to its zealous citizens why such a large empire cannot defeat a country 28 times smaller. The very frank statement of this fact threatens the fall of the Putin regime, and the subjugated population would finally be convinced of the weakness of their government. Moscow cannot admit that Russian paratroopers, hyped by propaganda, cannot defeat mobilized Ukrainian tractor drivers, merchandisers, and reservists. But they really can’t. Despite all the difficulties of the war for Ukrainians, despite the IPSO and the disruption of the mobilization of the Ukrainian defense, the Russian empire has been trampling on the villages of Donetsk region for three years. To explain this to its citizens, the Kremlin propaganda has inflated the fake of a “war with NATO” and invented a strong enemy to explain its military failures. As a “visual confirmation” of their fakes, the Russians are trying to present videos and photos of foreign legion fighters fighting on the side of the Ukrainian army. However, the presence of a limited contingent of foreign volunteers in many conflicts does not in any way prove that they are the main opponent of the Russians on the battlefield.
Following the Goebbelsian principle that a lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth, Moscow convinces its citizens that the Russian army is stuck in the steppes of Donetsk region because of American “Rambos” and “strategy geniuses” from the Pentagon, although in reality the “second army of the world” is being defeated by ordinary, civilian Ukrainians. Russian propaganda needs the myth of “NATO troops” to hide its helplessness in the face of the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which they have ridiculed for so many decades and now face the reality outside of Russian television.
Author: Valeriy Maydanyuk
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