Russia-Ukraine

Inoculate Yourself Against Russian Disinformation - And Its Amplifiers

With a little effort and objectivity anyone can learn to spot Russian disinformation narratives. They are pervasive, adaptable to any ideology, and increasingly destabilizing. Developing and honing this skill has never been more important.

John W. Little

Feb 22, 2022 • 8 min read

Created with Midjourney

Russian narratives can show up in the darnedest of places. It doesn't matter if you're looking far left, far right, or into the most obscure fringe movements - Russia has mastered strategies to cultivate and leverage them all. Unfortunately, this combination of extremists, fringe movements, and Russian narratives is also increasingly bleeding into mainstream media, commentary, and political circles. Some amplify these narratives intentionally and with malice while others have been duped by the propaganda machine. And some, I suppose, just organically form terrible opinions. Useful idiots are seemingly everywhere and far too many of them are masquerading as patriots. This garbage continues to move through society and the media at scale and like a virus - exactly as its engineers intended.

The disinformation ecosystem is complex but learning to recognize these narratives in the wild isn't as difficult as you might think. While I'm not going to peel the entire onion here, I have compiled some material that will serve as a helpful primer. If you can't rattle off a dozen classic Russian disinfo narratives without giving it a second thought than this material is for you. Take the dive. It will not only open your eyes to how pervasive this material has become but it will also help prepare you for the onslaught that Russia will unleash in the dark days ahead.

StratCom | NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence Riga, Latvia

NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence Riga, Latvia