russia has stepped up its spendings on propaganda for the West in the past month – Podolyak
In the past month, russia has stepped up its spending on abroad counter-information campaigns related to the war in Ukraine, and the pro-russian lobby is stepping up their work in various countries.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the President's Office, said this in his interview with Babel, Ukrinform reports.
"We must not forget that russia spends a lot of money on counter-information campaigns. Especially in the past month. Their work on the domestic market is primitive, propagandist. It is strange propaganda, especially when it's tied around the letter Z, which evokes maximum disdain all around the world. But for their domestic market it does the job. On the external market, their work is much more refined. They try to provide their own speakers who do the explanation softly, not always calling for killing people," Podolyak said.
He also reminded that in nearly all countries of Southern, Central, and Northern Europe (to a lesser extent in Eastern Europe), russia since 2008 has been investing heavily in creating a network of pro-russian lobbyists which unites politicians of different ranks and echelons as well as journalists, public figures, members of academia and the cultural sphere.
Podolyak said that within 1.5 months after the start of the full-scale military campaign in Ukraine, this network was in a confused, shocked state, and not as active. And now, he said, they are using newspapers and public debates to push the narrative that russia is an element of Europe, its interests must be thought of and taken into account, concessions must be made, and the negotiation process must take russia's conditions into account.
At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine needs to communicate with international partners constantly, that we should not relax and must constantly show them the real story of the war – pictures, people suffering, the events in eastern Ukraine, the scope and intensity of russian shellings, and more.
"There should be no relaxation. Sometimes we are overcome by a certain thought: we have convinced everyone that there is a war, that Ukraine needs help, and that we should push the front line to the south and east of Ukraine. Therefore, we can just sit and wait for everyone to help us. No, it does not work like that. We will have to repeat many times that the war has not gone anywhere. And if we do not put an end to it, it will simply escalate and more and more people will pay a huge price," said adviser to the head of the President's Office.
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