Ukraine Tragedy: Russia started battle of words and pictures long ago
Flat track bully Putin's barrage of power-projection, disinformation and propaganda
Although in the UK the media circus continues to trundle on at something resembling full steam, our usual Trends newsletter would feel particularly insignificant today against the tragic, bloodstained backdrop of Ukraine.
As the world tries to understand and learn from these horrific unfolding events, one aspect of Russia’s sudden and vicious attack that hasn’t been interrogated to the same extent is the battle of images and words that has been a precursor and constant sideshow to the geopolitical and military developments in the conflict.
First there’s pictures. Vladimir Putin is no communications mastermind and is (rightly) often mocked for his attempts to project a strongman image, particularly when relating to his personal brand, but Russia cultivated a psychological advantage in its simple projection of strength through the deluge of images in the days preceding the invasion of tanks rolling seemingly unopposed towards Kyiv. The pictures told a symbolic story, however true, of an unwinnable fight for the Ukrainians and a huge (and late-in-the-day) risk for any of their putative allies.
Those images were countered in the UK only by the picture of a frazzled and dishevelled Boris, a deer in headlights. Sadly the most potent counter-images – ‘Snake Island’, bombed out apartment blocks, crushed cars, Kyiv’s ex-world boxing champion colossus of a Mayor Vitaly Klitschko manning a machine gun- are the result of recent or impending tragedy.
Nor is Putin a particularly stirring orator, but he is one of the architects – alongside the likes of Trump, Bolsenaro, bin Salman, Assad, Netanyahu and, yes, Johnson- of a world in which the truth is often lost in the saturated smog of contradictory information emanating from the media and social media, which provides a comfortable smokescreen behind which the powerful can essentially say whatever they like without enduring consequence. The lies Putin has told in simultaneously denying and justifying the invasion have galvanised his supporters without consequences from his enemies.
Similarly, since the attack started the ‘fog of war’ is the term being used for the proliferation of fake and unreliable reports seeping out of every orifice of the world’s communications infrastructure in a way that will undoubtedly further obscure Russia crimes and falsehoods.
Putin and Russia’s verbal propaganda around the war has been years in the making. Russia Today (RT)’s network of news channels initially steered clear of naked pro-Russia promotion in favour of amplifying negativity against its enemies; a staunch and consistent critique of American, NATO and EU interventionism, militarism, deception, imperialism and the reactionary (or overly ‘woke) internal policies of those organisations’ composite members won supporters from across the political spectrum, particularly the internationalist left, and it’s a short hop from hating America because of Iraq and Afghanistan, to siding with Russia’s criticisms of NATO.
Similarly, long before ground forces set boots on Ukrainian soil, armies of bots and social media insurrectionists were flooding the internet with salacious rumours about Russia’s enemies, denials of its wrongdoing and support for its farfetched self-identification as the victim of aggression.
Since the invasion began Putin hasn’t had it all his own way. For a ruler with a reputation for having an iron grip and a panopticon eye on his citizens, his government has not been able to quell a clear picture of displeasure exemplified by widespread protests in Russia and displays of dissent by a number of celebrities.
Despite this, the final thing that has worked in Putin’s favour is the lack of any truly compelling opposition. It’s worth repeating: in communications terms he’s no genius statesman. Russia watchers paint a picture of an increasingly desperate and megalomaniacal despot with little care for human life, the socio-economic health of his country, or anything other than carving a legacy for himself as a great conquering Cesar. It should be easy for a credible enemy to discredit him.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been brave and dignified in how he’s conducted himself, but where are the rest of the world leaders? As Putin confidently tells Ukrainian troops to overthrow their own government, Joe Biden squints into a teleprompter mumbling a speech he’s apparently seeing for the first time, Germany protects its gas supply, Liz Truss huffily pleads with China to intervene. Clearly the communications battle pales in significance next to the unimaginably bleak human scale of this war; but, in terms of words and images, the West has allowed themselves to be walked over by a flat-track bully, and in doing so made Putin’s sadistic mission just a little easier.