Slaidiņš: Kremlin's propaganda about Ukraine is 'reheated old soup'
Latvian National Armed Forces Major Jānis Slaidiņš explained on TV24 that Russia's propaganda messaging on Ukraine has remained unchanged for years and rests on three core elements.
Major Jānis Slaidiņš, an officer at the National Armed Forces and Headquarters of the National Guard, told TV24's programme "Aktuālais par karadarbību Ukrainā" that Moscow's rhetoric about Ukraine has remained essentially unchanged for years. In his view, current statements from the Kremlin contain nothing fundamentally new.
Slaidiņš identified three main components of the narrative. First, Ukraine is portrayed not as a unified and legitimate state, but as an artificially created territory. Second, the propaganda aims to shift responsibility for Russia's war onto Ukraine and Western countries, suggesting that they pose a threat to Russia. Third, the Kremlin denies Ukraine's statehood and national identity, replacing it with the idea of a single Russian people.
He recalled that similar ideas were set out in Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2021 article on the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians, as well as in his address on 21 February 2022 and subsequent speeches. These consistently argued that Ukrainian identity was artificially created, that Ukrainian statehood was a historical mistake, and that the country's territory resulted from decisions made by other powers.
Slaidiņš concluded that the Kremlin is now repeating previously formulated messages, adapting them to the current situation. This, he said, is a continuation of the development of Russia's imperial ideology.
