In preparation for the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Russian MFA together with Lavrov have been busy attempting to reach their daily disinformation quotas.
As the US presidential elections loom in November, the Kremlin’s disinformation machine is at it again, despite their poorly faked indifference. Recent coordinated US government actions (see here, here, and here) exposed and countered a Kremlin-backed foreign influence campaign highlighting the severity of this threat.
Liar in a fancy suit
In a recent interview, Lavrov unleashed a torrent of disinformation, portraying Russia as a ‘noble defender’ against Western hegemony. Lavrov did not shy away from painting a distorted picture of the West in an attempt to strike an anti-colonialist nerve while dismissing Russia’s own murderous colonial past.
Simultaneously, he claimed that Russia is creating ‘potential that will help countries become independent of the unipolar world’. A weird thing to say while trying to destroy the independence and sovereignty of a neighbouring country. It is classic Kremlin duplicity to ignore Russia’s own ongoing imperialistic conquest in Ukraine and colonial exploitation within its own borders, while shedding false tears over alleged Western unipolarity.
Lavrov’s blatant misrepresentation of Russia’s war against Ukraine is particularly repulsive. He falsely claimed that the West is ‘waging a war in Ukraine with the EU’s own hands against Europe’s interests’, seemingly oblivious to Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine that started the war. In an attempt to justify this aggression, Lavrov invoked a distorted interpretation of the UN Charter.
Lavrov also attempted to position Russia as a defender of traditional values against what he termed the West’s ‘non-traditional values’, implying a moral superiority that stands in stark contrast to Russia’s actions on the world stage. Throughout the interview, Lavrov consistently aimed to portray Russia as a ‘victim of Western aggression’, while simultaneously justifying Russia’s own aggressive actions and deflecting any criticism.
Moscow’s UNGA playbook – flood, distort, and deceive
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ dissemination of cherry-picked snippets (see for example here, here, and here) from Lavrov’s interviews on social media is a carefully orchestrated move to attempt to influence the narrative ahead of the 79th UNGA.
By flooding the information space with these carefully selected soundbites, Russia aims to influence and sway the perceptions of UNGA participants and the broader international community.
This tactic serves several purposes: it attempts to legitimise Russia’s actions on the global stage, sow doubt about Western intentions, and create a smokescreen of disinformation that obscures Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
The timing is no coincidence. As world leaders gather to discuss pressing global issues, Russia and the pro-Kremlin propaganda apparatus is working overtime to control the conversation, deflect any criticism, and present itself as a tragically misunderstood defender of traditional values and national sovereignty – a real wolf in a sheep’s clothing.
Another election to interfere in
In our recently published follow-up of currently distributed disinformation narratives, pro-Kremlin outlets appear particularly fixated on American presidential candidates’ positions regarding Ukraine. Simultaneously, Russia works to undermine faith in the US electoral process itself, portraying it as degraded, chaotic, divided, and on the brink of civil war.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris continues to face a barrage of vilifying narratives, ranging from baseless conspiracy theories to outright absurd claims. Pro-Kremlin outlets have labelled her everything from a ‘Soros candidate’ to a ‘Deep State puppet’ and even, repugnantly, accused her of involvement in child trafficking. All familiar slanders and questionable affiliations taken straight out of the Kremlin book of nasty tricks.
In our monitoring, pro-Kremlin coverage of Republican candidate Donald Trump has been noticeably less critical, with some outlets showcasing his statements praising Putin and criticising Biden’s Ukraine policy. Pro-Kremlin commentators obsess over Trump’s promise to quickly end the war in Ukraine, even as Russian officials express scepticism.
The Kremlin elections interference playbook appears to be mostly unchanged from what we reported back in June in relation with the European Parliamentary elections. The ongoing concerted disinformation campaign serves the Kremlin’s broader strategy: to sow discord, smear Western leaders, weaken Western alliances and support for Ukraine, and influence the outcome of a pivotal election on their adversary’s home turf.
More Kremlin fabrications making us bang our heads on the desk this week:
- Pro-Kremlin propagandists have devised a hateful disinformation narrative claiming that a ‘homosexual cult prevails in Europe and dissent is forbidden’. This distasteful fabrication tramples on basic human rights and liberties, exemplifying a recurring pro-Kremlin tactic to portray Western civilisation as being in decline. This recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative also portrays liberalism, Western values, and fundamental human rights as threats to traditional social and spiritual norms, national identities, and gender roles.
False narratives such as these also seek to increase social polarisation by claiming that liberalism causes moral decay, weakens family and community structures, and promotes deviance. By employing the ‘threatened values’ argument, deceptive narratives like this criticise liberal views on women’s, minority, and LGBTIQ+ rights, while falsely positioning Russia as morally superior and the global defender of ‘traditional values’. In reality, Russia is sinking deeper into a cycle of repressions and crushing human rights (see also our infographic). - Sputnik Belarus is at it again, competing for the most outlandish disinformation trophy with their absurd claim that ‘Russia somehow defends the EU’s national interests by fighting the West in Ukraine’. This ludicrous narrative attempts to paint Russia’s brutal invasion as a ‘gallant’ crusade for European welfare, while accusing the EU of undermining its own economy to please ‘Anglo-Saxon overlords’. It even recycles baseless conspiracy theories about US and UK involvement in Nord Stream sabotage. Such false narratives aim to drive a wedge between Western allies and justify Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. As Russia plunges further into international isolation, its propaganda apparatus works overtime to spin tales of Western conspiracies and European vassalage, serving no interests but its own failing imperial ambitions.
- RIA, one of the EU-sanctioned Kremlin propaganda mouthpieces, recently released an outright dangerous piece of disinformation, claiming that the US has ordered an ‘unlimited war against each Russian citizen’. This baseless narrative alleges that the ‘collective West’ wants ‘as many Russians to die as possible’ and that ‘men overseas have sentenced each Russian to death’. Such inflammatory rhetoric is a blatant attempt to mobilise more Russian citizens for an unjust war against Ukraine under the false pretext of defence from imaginary Western aggression. In reality, there is no evidence of any US decision for ‘unlimited war against all Russians’. By propagating such disinformation, pro-Kremlin outlets are playing a dangerous game, inciting further war fervour among their citizenry – an uncontrolled fire that may end up burning down their own house.
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