*TRENDS OF THE WEEK*

Rule, Britannia! A Round Table without King Arthur

Generally, in the view of pro-Kremlin disinformation operatives, everything is ruled by someone else. Ukraine is under external control;  Poland is kept on a short leash by the US; Romania is marred by street protests, sponsored by George Soros and the West is engineering the anti-Russian protests in Georgia. Nothing in the world ever happens, unless someone in the shadows makes it happen. Strings are carefully attached to the Western leaders, strings pulled skilfully by Puppet Masters.

The Obsolete Liberalism

Recently, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, granted Financial Times an interview in the Moscow Kremlin. Mr. Putin followed the Kremlin talking points on most of the usual topics, but at one point, Mr. Putin expressed a surprisingly blunt view on the liberal democracy:

[Putin’s] ability to hear and understand the people, see it right to its depths and act accordingly – this is the unique and most important characteristic of the State of Putin. This corresponds with the people and is in line with its ambitions and is not subject to any of history’s counter currents. This is efficient and lasting.

We see how pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets are busy describing any expression of popular discontent as staged protests, results of the scheming of the shadow rulers. Sometimes NATO is the culprit, at other occasions, George Soros is to blame. Of course it can also be the West in general, that ignites protests, or Global Influence Groups. The Society of the Round Table is just a fresh addition to the selection of Puppet Masters, featured in pro-Kremlin media.

Old Lies

Conspiracies are all about disempowering the citizens. “There’s no point in voting; there’s no point in protesting, the Deep State, the Corporations, George Soros, the Lobbyists control it all”. Well, better to have it the Surkov way, with a benevolent ruler, only working for the good of his people.

But the disinformation operatives do not really dare to rely entirely on complicated and intriguing conspiracy theories. Common, straight-forward lying is still employed. Using screen shots from five year old videos is one way to spice up the news in the absence of facts. Or pretending an interview from 2014 with a US intelligence official is about current events in Georgia. Distorted statements by officials, persistent repeating old, refuted, lies… The entire disinformation toolbox is put at work.

The European Council President, Donald Tusk, commented on Mr. Putin’s views on the liberal democracy:

*LATEST ANALYSES*

Operation Secondary Infektion: The DFRLab Exposes a New Russian Influence Campaign

Allegations of planned political assassinations, lurid forgeries, false flag attacks, brazen online impersonations… the universe of Russian disinformation grows ever more grotesque.

Figures of the Week: 3-10

It took 3 to 10 days for the Russian Internet Research Agency to increase polarization of the #BlackLivesMatter debate on Twitter.

*LAST, BUT NOT LEAST*

The Naked Eye in the Sky

Russian cosmonaut and MP: “From the International Space Station, I saw with the naked eye bombs and shells exploding in Donbas and Luhansk. And they were flying from the position of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

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