For many years, Russian propaganda has put NATO and the European Union in the eyes of its own citizens as Russia’s main geopolitical rivals and historical enemies. Vladimir Putin and his generation perceived the collapse of the Soviet Union not just as a geopolitical catastrophe, but as a tragedy for Russia and its historical defeat. That is why Russian propaganda blames the civilized world for all the troubles of Russia, inciting the people against it.
Long before the announcement of the so-called “special military operation” and the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, Russia launched a hybrid war against the West. It became clear after the events of February 24, 2022, when Ukraine was subjected to a powerful offensive on all fronts. Unfortunately, the West has long perceived Russia as a partner. Even during the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, a cooperation agreement was concluded, annual NATO-Russia summits were held. This has led to the fact that today Russian embassies in European countries are flooded with special services. Many pro-Russian organizations have been created, a number of politicians and experts who support the ideology of the “Russian world”, and play the role of a “Trojan horse” in the European Union and NATO, have been financially supported. All this was carried out for many years, in order to use it one day and cause a split and collapse of the entire collective West.
Russia deliberately takes active steps to destabilize the situation, both in NATO countries and between the countries of the European Union. The main goal of such actions is to weaken aid to Ukraine. Russian propaganda is spreading false narratives in Europe about disadvantages of further support for Ukraine, the inability of the Ukrainian army, even with support from the West, to liberate the entire occupied territory and calls for the need to negotiate and reach a peaceful settlement. However, in such a way Moscow is trying to get a tactical pause at the front, to train new troops and prepare weapons in order to take one more revenge.
Europe must realize that its security depends solely on the victory of Ukraine over the Russian Federation that invaded its territory. The war in Ukraine is only the first stage of what the Kremlin wants to implement. Further aggression will be directed at the countries of Eastern Europe. Helping Kyiv, as well as identifying and neutralizing the Kremlin’s agents, is the best way to protect Western countries from Russian expansion.