MENU
Documenting
war crimes in Ukraine

The Tribunal for Putin (T4P) global initiative was set up in response to the all-out war launched by Russia against Ukraine in February 2022.

Similar articles

Russian propaganda uses Nazi argument for seizing Ukrainian territory and claims barbaric attack was ‘revenge for fake ‘Odesa massacre’Ukrainian children in occupied Crimea will be forced to learn how to ‘defend’ Russia in its war against UkraineUNESCO and journalist union ‘deplore death’ of a propagandist engaged in Russia’s war against Ukraine Kherson defender tortured for Russian propaganda, then hidden for over a year Putin visits Mariupol in propaganda stunt by night to conceal how Russia has destroyed the cityRussia will force parents to attend war propaganda classes about its ‘liberation of Ukraine’Disabled Kherson volunteer tortured by Russian invaders for insane propaganda confession to ‘spying for Ukraine’ Ukrainian works of literature and history banned as ‘extremist’ in Russian occupied Luhansk oblast Russian invaders torture and 'deport' Ukrainians for ‘extremist’ suport for Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia oblast Children to undergo compulsory military training in both Russia and occupied Crimea Russia plans huge propaganda New Year tree in Mariupol while residents freeze in bombed city Russian propaganda media and ex-President guilty of direct incitement to genocide in Ukraine, report finds90% of teachers in occupied Melitopol refuse to collaborate with Russian invaders Children trained to be ‘Putin’s faithful soldiers’ in Russian-occupied Crimea Ukrainian writer and civic activist abducted and tortured for Russian propaganda video Ukrainian kids from occupied Melitopol indoctrinated and enlisted in Russia’s ‘Youth Army’ Russia Today sacks presenter who calls for kids to be drowned, but has no problem with calls to genocide against UkraineRussia plans special propaganda ‘lesson’ explaining to children in occupied Ukraine why the bombing of their cities is ‘liberation’Director of Amnesty International in Ukraine resigns in protest calling controversial Amnesty press release 'a tool of Russian propaganda’ Russian horrific castration of Ukrainian POW was about terror and preventing own soldiers from surrendering

How the West can beat back the Kremlin

28.12.2016   
Jakub Janda

First published by the Atlantic Council

The Kremlin and its allies have started to harvest the fruits of the seeds they have been planting for years. Moscow occupies territories of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine; actively wages war on another part of Ukrainian soil; and is now playing a game of political subversion in several Western states.

In the past few years, Russian intelligence has infiltrated the Dutch Foreign Ministrythe Czech general staffthe Polish Defense Ministry, and Portuguese intelligence. Moscow used its cyber weapons to attack the German Bundestag, and manipulated the US presidential campaign by hacking the team behind a candidate Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to politically wound. A massive disinformation campaign aimed at swaying the UK electorate was manufactured by Russian institutions or the Kremlin’s troll farms in St. Petersburg.

WikiLeaks served Putin’s interests in the US election by waging a tailored, one-sided campaign against the democratic candidate Moscow feared; using the same template, it is now battling one of the last Western leaders standing up to Russian aggression—German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s ideological allies across Europe are given money or other support, like when the chief adviser to the Czech president was recently bought out of his debt by the Kremlin-linked company Lukoil.

There has also been pseudo-media support; Nigel Farage used RT as a platform when he was not getting enough attention in British media. European extremists are not only used by Moscow to falsely legitimize its aggressive foreign policy, such as occupying Ukrainian territory, but also to violently interfere in local elections, as in the Kremlin’s alleged plot to assassinate the prime minister of Montenegro. Economic operations with political goals are also part of the playbook; for example, that is how and why Putin bought a former German chancellor to run the Nord Stream II project and push for greater German dependence on Russian energy.

The situation is not hopeless, but with Dutch, French, and German elections coming up next year, time is running out.

There is a principled and effective way in which democratic countries should approach this multidimensional threat.

 Share this