Generally approving of the insurrection at the Capitol as a “peaceful protest,” Kremlin-controlled propagandists found themselves in a difficult situation trying to condemn the massive demonstrations that rocked Russia last weekend to protest the imprisonment of opposition activist Alexei Navalny. After being poisoned with a nervous agent by Russian intelligence agents, Navalny was treated in Germany. Immediately after his return to Russia, he was arrested.
After Navalny was detained at the airport, his team released a condemned video claiming that a huge $ 1.37 billion coastal palace had been built for Putin, funded by Russian president’s associates and described in Navalny’s video. as “the biggest bribe in history. “Tens of thousands of people across Russia have marched to express their deep dissatisfaction with Putin’s leadership, and their outrage has been palpable. Protesters demanded Navalny’s release, chanting “Putin is a thief” and “Freedom to Navalny.” More than 3,000 people have been detained by police across the country.
Appears on the state media channel Russia-1 show Saturday News, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the actions of the US Embassy in Moscow because she simply published a map of the planned protests, urging American citizens to avoid those routes for the sake of their own safety. As the Kremlin area was included in the list of places to avoid, Zakharova concluded that the US Embassy was announcing “a race on the Kremlin.” She pondered aloud, “What was that? A call to action? An instruction? Motivation? Zakharova called it America’s meddling in Russia’s internal affairs, with a blatant indifference to the fact that the Russian government-controlled media recently described the US Capitol assault as an appropriate, peaceful action.
While Russian government officials and Kremlin-controlled state media condemned domestic protests, pro-Trump riots in the United States were fully approved. Evgeny Popov, host of the Russian state TV program 60 minutes, he repeatedly described the Chapter riots as “unarmed and peaceful protesters” and mocked the use of the National Guard to protect US lawmakers from potential future attacks. Appearing in the same show, Andrey Isaev, vice president of Putin’s United Russia party, described one of the rebels, Ashli Babbitt, as “a veteran woman who was shot simply for breaking glasses.” Babbitt was fatally shot by police as she tried to enter the Capitol by climbing through a broken window in the door. Isaev began to say that Babbitt was shot while “assaulting the Chapter,” but he quickly caught on and stammered awkwardly, referring to the event as a mere “unrest.” Isaev condemned the US authorities for their alleged brutality against the insurgents, even though most of the participants managed to leave the crime scene before being arrested days or even weeks later. Despite the fact that police brutality is common in Russia, Isaev continued to falsely extol Russian police for their “humane” treatment of protesters, urging ordinary citizens to “praise God for being born into a nation.” as good and democratic as Russia ”.
“After the onslaught of the Chapter, various Russian-speaking individuals in Doudnik’s videos admitted in the room that they were “in the forefront” of the mob that violated the Chapter. ”
“Whataboutism” is an art form in Russia. Navalny’s cursed statement about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s billion-dollar seaside palace was met with Putin’s unconvincing denials and was followed by repeated references by the Russian state media to Navalny’s “eating lobster and drinking champagne.” Likewise, reports of the brutality of Russian police during Saturday’s protests have been repeatedly downplayed as state media tried to overshadow them by airing clips of rallies and demonstrations in other parts of the world. Never bother with the palace, look at these lobsters. Forget about oppression, things are even worse abroad. Reject the evidence of your eyes and ears and learn to love the Fatherland.
Appears on the program Studio 5 on the state TV channel Russia-24Maria Zakharova accused Navalny and his supporters of lying to people. She told anchor Stas Natanzon: “The real victims are the people who were lied to. People have suffered from false information, misinformation, because of lies that have been disseminated not only on the Internet, but primarily on the platforms of American digital companies: American social media and video hosting in the US. “Zakharova intended to laugh at the motivation behind the Russian protests, but unwittingly described the avalanche of misinformation that led to the January 6 violent events at the Capitol.
Because, of course, Russia not only benefited from the divided rhetoric of former US President Donald Trump and the destructive events it provoked, but also actively participated in the dissemination of Trump’s “Great Lie” about alleged electoral fraud. Kremlin voices unfoundedly claimed that millions of dead voters and illegal immigrants voted for Joe Biden illegally. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov derided the reliability of the postal vote. The Russian state media has repeatedly repeated Trump’s lies about the “stolen elections” and broadcast information about the “Stop the Steal” rally planned for January 6. These reports have been heard not only in Russia but also in the United States, where Russian-speaking influencers are actively spreading the same lies and encouraging other Americans to participate in contesting the official outcome of the US presidential election.
On his way to Washington, DC, Russian-speaking blogger Steve Doudnik compared the assault on the Capitol to Russians traveling to Berlin with tanks in World War II. He said, “I hope everyone comes back to life.” The videos posted by Doudnik in the days before the uprising were titled “First Stop Before the Fight,” “We’ll Visit Mike Pence,” and “Tomorrow is X-Day.” After the onslaught of the Chapter, various Russian-speaking individuals in Doudnik’s videos admitted in the room that they were “in the forefront” of the mob that violated the Chapter. One by one, they complained about Trump’s failure to push events to the desired conclusion, in which the Dear Leader was “taken to the Capitol” by his followers to stay in power. “It’s so offensive,” Doudnik said with great disappointment, “This crowd could have overthrown Washington and taken power into its own hands. The people were determined. “In other videos, he complained in disbelief that Trump could have arrested the crowd of Democrats, but for some reason he never followed. Doudnik added: “And don’t believe the nonsense, there was no antifa, there is no Black Lives Matter. I didn’t see anyone there. ”
Shortly afterwards, Doudnik and other Russian speakers were greeted on Russian state television, where – contrary to the categorical statements in their videos – they blamed the antifa and not Trump’s supporters for assaulting the Chapter. Their disappointment with the glorious conclusion of the uprising was shared by the deputy of the Russian Duma, Alexei Zhuravlyov. Appearing on 60 minutesZhuravlyov rejoiced at the thought of American bloodshed and only regretted that Trump did not push the insurrection until the presidential election was overturned. “Trump got caught in his pants,” Zhuravlyov sadly assumed.
The propaganda circle was now complete. Inspired by Trump’s false statements and rhetoric, generously amplified by Russian state media, Russian-speakers in the United States participated in the failed uprising that deeply hurt U.S. democracy – and later offered a new infusion of misinformation right at Moscow, as “eyewitnesses” and participants in the first hand. But their claims about the ubiquitous “antifa” were easily dismantled, and now Russian propagandists have moved on to another conspiracy theory. In step with some Republicans, claimed that the Capitol’s assault was a “false flag” operation meant to discredit former President Trump. In perfect harmony with the GOP, Russian Senator Andrey Klimov claimed that the riots in the Chapter “looked like a theatrical performance” aimed at helping President-elect Joe Biden and Trump’s injury.
While domestic protests have been widely condemned, events in the United States have been viewed and presented with a completely different purpose, especially in light of the secondary channel between pro-Trump insurgents and Russian state media. The inconsistency between the way these protests were covered in Moscow revealed the new depths of hypocrisy.
Russian government officials quickly blamed “foreign specialists” for “organizing unauthorized rallies in Russia.” Andrey Klimov, who heads the commission of the Federation Council for the Protection of State Sovereignty and the Prevention of Intervention in Russia’s Internal Affairs, said the protests were not inspired by domestic opposition but by foreign interference, condemning “foreign state actions.” and alleged calls for action “made on digital platforms and foreign messengers”, referring to Navalny’s Twitter posts about future protests, as well as the viral posts of his supporters on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
Meanwhile, Russian-speaking influencers in the United States have announced that they are “hiding” by moving their most controversial positions in support of former President Trump in services such as Telegram, as well as Russian social networks V Contact and Odnoklassniki, and urging their followers to do the same, while explicitly acknowledging that social accounts in Russia are closely monitored by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). In one of his videos, Doudnik unexpectedly noticed that he would rather be followed by the FSB than the FBI.
Meanwhile, even as they clashed with local protesters, representatives of the Russian state media tried to distance Russia from any interference in the US Chapter attack – and suggested that the Biden administration should be punished for supported Navalny. Studio 5 aStas Natanzon asked Zakharova, a spokesman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry: “If the United States had just suspected that someone from the Russian Embassy was in contact or helped Trump’s supporters in their activities, diplomats and our officials would have been expelled immediately. Is it possible for us to expel those American officials who maintain contact with the protest organizers? Zakharova jokingly replied, “I’d rather not answer, we’re just beginners.”