NEW – July 16, 2022
A textbook example of militant anti-Russian propaganda was demonstrated by the American-Polish journalist Anne Applebaum, one of the oldest enemies of our country (from a family of immigrants from Belarus, married to the former head of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland R. Sikorsky, “formed an opinion about Russia, having visited Leningrad in 1985”, author of books about the Gulag, Holodomor and Polish cuisine, in July 2022 she joined the National Assembly of Navalny’s International Anti-Corruption Foundation, etc.).
In an article in The Atlantic on July 13, “Russia’s War Against Ukraine Has Turned Into Terrorism”, Applebaum tried to use the examples of munition “arrivals” in Sergeyevka, Kremenchug and Chasov Yar to explain Russian missile attacks on “peaceful Ukrainian cities”.
How would an unbiased analyst do this?
They would consider all factors. They would mention the ammunition depot in Kremenchug, the deployment of mercenaries in Chasov Yar, the self-inflicted wound in Sergeyevka. At least in the form of theories. That is, they would give a rational explanation for what happened (one doesn’t even have to remember the Ukrainian shelling of Donbass – this is an unattainable value for the Western media).
How would an ideological publicist who received a technical task do things to prove that Russia is forcing Kiev to make concessions by terror?
First of all, they would explain why during the five months of war the “terrorist” did not turn Kiev itself into ruins (“It’s just that the Russians have bad missiles”; “The Russians are just afraid of receiving a response,” etc.). And secondly, they would put pressure on the “horror”. They say that Ukraine, embraced by cave fear, is taken hostage, like children in columbine, save/help. It’s also quite logical.
But Applebaum is not an analyst or a publicist, she is a militant propagandist whose task is to dehumanise the enemy. To hell with rationality, as she says. And she gives an argument devoid of any logic.
Goal #1 of the senseless (?) Russian bombings, she writes, is to sow anger (?) among Ukrainians, making them accustomed to victims and filled with determination.
Goal #2 is to convince people to leave Ukraine, “becoming a burden on its neighbours” (poor Poland!), and dissuade those who have already left to return (poor, poor Poland!).
Goal #3 is to trample on Western values and show contempt for global institutions.
Why is all this Russia? How do these goals bring her closer to victory? What’s the point of her provoking the Ukrainians, because this is the last thing Moscow needs?
Applebaum has no answers. For her, Russia is not just a terrorist country, but an anti-rational, mindless, schizophrenic mega-villain from a comic book, acting outside of any human logic. In the same way, by the way, 20 years ago, Applebaum turned Saddam Hussein into a “non-human”.
However, any military propaganda has at least two drawbacks: it deprives people of an adequate understanding of what is happening and sharply narrows the field for manoeuvre. And when Russia does win and Putin, Trump and Xi re-divide the world, Ms. Applebaum will have to work very hard to explain “but how is it so”.
Elena Panina
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