One of the key narratives of Russian propaganda from the first day of the war – “we were forced to start ours, because we had no other way out.” That is, from the beginning of the attack and aggression against Ukraine, Russian propaganda tried to portray itself as a victim. The same rhetoric continues to this day, and the Kremlin’s daily, even small, informational sprinkles try in every way to maintain the viability of this narrative – “they want to destroy us”, “the collective West is fighting against Russia with the hands of Ukraine”, “the West seeks to split the Russian Federation”.
As an illustration of such a tendency in Moscow’s propaganda activity, the next manipulative throw of the top propagandist Skabeeva that allegedly the servicemen of the Armed Forces now have the idea of fixing and the task is not just going to the borders of 1991, but the destruction of the Russian Federation as a state. More on this in the article.
Manipulation
The Kremlin’s top propagandist Skabeeva shared a fragment of the video on her Telegram channel – an interview with a Ukrainian servicewoman – she quoted the girl’s phrase and added the following comment (further in the original language):
“The idea of destroying Russia has become the new mantra of the Armed Forces. Even the return of the borders of 1991 took a back seat:
“I want to win. I want Ukraine to become free. I don’t want the Russians who came here to stay here, for every one of them to be destroyed, for this country, this entire federation, to cease to exist…”
For her manipulative post, Skabeeva used a real interview with a Ukrainian military officer, which was published on “Suspilne. Zaporizhzhia” on August 6, 2024. The heroine of the conversation is a 25-year-old decipherer of the 108th separate TRo brigade with the call sign “Manyunya”. http://surl.li/silomu
Thus, in one of the fragments of the interview, Viskova really says: “I don’t want the Russians who came here to stay here, that each of them be destroyed, that this country, this entire federation, does not exist…”
However, such a statement is the opinion of one person, one military person, and not an idea that is promoted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as Skabeev is trying to present. That is, the propagandist scales the message of one person to the entire Ukrainian army, which is a blatant manipulation.
Another manipulation of Skabeeva is that they pulled the girl’s message both from the context of the interview and from the context of the fragment where this phrase was uttered. The Ukrainian military woman said this in the context of her story, about the destruction and liberation of her native home – she witnessed these events – and her desire to join the ranks of those who will protect other families, other homes from Russian aggression against the background of such difficult experiences.
It was this important moment that was overlooked by the Kremlin’s top propagandist. Because if you remember him, the theory of “bloodthirstiness” of the Armed Forces, which seeks the destruction of the Russian Federation, crumbles to pieces.
Pulling the phrase of the deciphering brigade TRo Skabeeva out of context, she switches the cause and effect of such words. First, the Russian aggressors destroyed the girl’s home, and only later did she have the desire to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and take revenge on the occupiers, not the other way around.
CONCLUSIONS
With these techniques, Skabeev and the Kremlin’s information sycophants of the same caliber are trying to portray Russia as a victim in this war, and not as an aggressor and occupier. And with such daily small insertions and manipulations, they daily add touches to this distorted picture of Moscow’s version of reality.