ISW: Propaganda is preparing Russians for another 10 years of war
Date: 2024-07-18 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
Russian state media circulated a statement by Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev that the Ukrainian state will not exist until 2034. Consequently, propaganda is preparing Russians for a long war in Ukraine.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Russian public is being led to believe that Russia will complete its goal of destroying Ukrainian statehood within ten years.
In particular, Medvedev said that it was “not in vain” that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg suggested that Ukraine could join the Alliance within the next ten years. The controversial politician concluded that Ukraine will “never” join NATO, since NATO leadership will change by 2034, and therefore “it is quite possible that the notorious “404 country” will also not exist.
Analysts noted that Medvedev did not directly say that Ukraine would cease to exist before 2034, but this was the indirect subtext of his statements, which Russian media immediately began publishing with the headlines “Medvedev admitted that Ukraine will cease to exist in 2034” and “Medvedev predicted disappearance of Ukraine until 2034."
The outright suggestion that Russia can “destroy Ukraine” before 2034 is a promise to the Russian public that Russia can win the war and destroy Ukrainian statehood within a decade. This creates cautious information conditions and public expectations for a war that will last another decade, but which will end with Russia's desired "victory."
Moreover, analysts note that this Russian narrative also directly and decisively undermines individual attempts by individual Kremlin officials to suggest that Russia is willing to “negotiate” “peace” with Ukraine, and further emphasizes that the only desired end goal of war for the Kremlin is complete destruction of the Ukrainian state and people.
“Neither Ukraine nor the West can count on negotiations with Russia on Russian terms if Russian terms provide for the destruction of Ukraine and its people over the next ten years,” the analysts concluded.
