The other day, the Russian propaganda machine launched a manipulative insinuation that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will allegedly prepare an uprising in the event that peace or a truce with the Russian Federation is reached in exchange for certain territories. Such information was spread not only by networks of propaganda telegram channels, but also by the top Russian so-called media. Interestingly, in all these posts, the propagandists referred to an article in the well-known publication The Washington Post. However, such an interpretation of the publication of the American media is manipulation. Why? More on this in the article.
Manipulation
On August 16, 2024, The Washington Post published an article with the following headline: “Sprinkled with our blood: why so many Ukrainians are fighting for peace”. The subhead clarified the main content of the material: “Ukraine is under pressure to make a deal to end the war, especially if Trump wins, but it is likely to face fierce opposition from some soldiers and their families in the east.” http://surl.li/nipxlo
So already in the very title and subtitle, the authors of the material talk about the possible problem of not accepting peace agreements in exchange for territory and likely opposition to such decisions on the part of the military.
Further in the materials, this opinion is clarified: “Any land-for-peace agreement will most likely decide the fate of Donbas, which has been mired in conflict and separatism, fueled by Moscow since the war there began ten years ago. However, polls show that Ukrainians are not ready to give up their land. This is especially felt among those soldiers in Donbas who have been fighting for this land for the past 10 years.
“There will be a coup d’état, because this idea will be promoted by those who sit in peaceful cities. … No one here will support her — this land is now sprinkled with our blood,” said Veronika, 23, a military medic who moved to Slovyansk after fleeing Donetsk with her family as a teenager when Russian-backed separatists captured it in 2014.
A public opinion poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in May 2024 showed that a third of Ukrainians are currently ready to make territorial concessions to Russia if this leads to a quick end to the war and the preservation of Ukraine’s independence. But more than half of the population still rejects the idea of ceding land in exchange for peace.
A previous poll by the Carnegie Endowment found that almost half of Ukrainians were ready to start negotiations with Russia, but their numbers fell sharply if territorial concessions were offered to reach an agreement. For example, nearly two-thirds rejected a settlement that would freeze the “current front lines,” and 86% did not believe that Russia would not attack even after the treaty was signed.
And while only 7% percent said they would join an armed protest in the event of territorial concessions, that number more than doubled among soldiers and veterans — those who fought during the past decade, who saw Russian forces raze the occupied Ukrainians to the ground. cities, who are fighting even now…”
CONCLUSIONS
As the analysis of the material in the publication of The Washington Post showed, it is not about an armed uprising in the Armed Forces – the journalists did not make such a conclusion in the article.
The media people only presented the data of sociological surveys, which were conducted by recognized structures and showed the mood in society, to the heroine of the publication through the prism of private opinion. However, sentiments are not identical to intentions, concrete planning, some kind of actions – what is meant is “armed resistance” to possible “peace in exchange for land” agreements. But this is exactly the identity that the propaganda resources of the Kremlin are trying to impose in their version of the interpretation of the article of the American publication.
Russian propagandists use two methods of manipulation in their spiel about the “Uprising of the Armed Forces” in order to activate and impose their message. The first is the transfer of responsibility to The Washington Post, they say, we did not invent and write about the “rebellion”. This is the American media. The second is pulling out the desired message from the general context and focusing attention on it. Because the propagandists did not show other data from sociological studies in their articles, but singled out only one of many and emphasized it.
Propagandists also manipulated the headlines of their posts. For example: “The United States allowed the organization of a coup in the Armed Forces in the event of a peace deal with Russia.” That is, “in the USA” – where, at what level, what institutions and structures? Such a headline creates the impression that the possible mutiny of the armed forces is being discussed at the level of state representatives or leadership, because it is in this context that the abbreviation “USA” is used. However, this is only the publication of one of the many media, and not the conclusion of, for example, the military, experts, and statesmen.
