Category: Narrative X-ray

Russia promotes the idea that it doesn’t need to trade with Western countries and can rely on the rest of the world for trade. However, this narrative could lead to a divided world, making everyone poorer. While Russia emphasizes having allies and avoiding Western goods, the reality is that developing countries need to engage with the West for economic growth. Additionally, expanding groups like BRICS may create more tensions and lack a clear common goal. So, despite resisting Western influence, engaging with Western nations is crucial for economic development of “Global South”.

Western countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia for nine years, but the Kremlin claims they are ineffective, while multiple sources suggest the Russian economy is far from doing great.

The Great Patriotic War narrative portrays the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany as a heroic and messianic mission that has to be continued, emphasizing the sacrifices made by Soviet soldiers. It aims to shape collective memory and justify Russia’s military aggression while downplaying dark chapters of Soviet history.

To justify its imperialistic aggression towards Ukraine, Russia employs the narrative of the “All-Russian People” or the “Trinity Russian People,” which asserts the union of Great Russia, Little Russia (Ukraine), and Belarus as sub-nations within a single pan-Russian nation. This narrative serves as a pretext for its actions.

The narrative that Crimea is a native Russian territory is rooted in historical events and has been propagated by the Kremlin for various purposes. It centers around the idea that Crimea has deep historical and cultural ties to Russia, justifying its annexation in 2014. Let’s delve deeper into these events and explore how Russia interprets them in their favor.

Russia’s narrative of Western promises to limit the expansion of NATO is a sophisticated manipulation of history. This narrative isn’t just a historical footnote, but a strategic weapon. It’s aimed at preventing the expansion of NATO and legitimizing Russia’s interventions, particularly in Ukraine. However, due to Russia’s aggressive behavior, including its invasion of Ukraine, it has lost resonance in Western circles. Nevertheless, this narrative thrives as a key component of the Kremlin’s propaganda machine in Russia, perpetuating mistrust of the West and reinforcing Russia’s self-image as a victim of broken promises.

The current article is also available in Estonian and Russian.  Propastop starts with a new section, the purpose of which is to shed light on the various narratives used in propaganda – to show where they come from, why they are used as such and what is intended to be achieved by their dissemination. First, … Continue reading Narrative X-ray: russkii mir (russian world)

In this narrative X-ray, we will take a closer look at how the narrative of Russia’s powerful nuclear fist, which is ready to turn any enemy of the Kremlin into a “radioactive pile of ashes” in a matter of minutes, was created and maintained. Recently, nuclear rhetoric is heard more and more from the Kremlin, … Continue reading Narrative X-ray: Russia’s Nuclear Fist