Stickers with the slogan ““Russia is not my enemy” have appeared in Romania, France, and Italy.
[…]
“Russia has launched the propaganda campaign ‘Russia is not my enemy,’ which has reached Romania. Stickers with this message are appearing in cities as part of the Kremlin’s hybrid campaign aimed at creating the illusion of a ‘peaceful partnership.’ Through such tools of influence, Russia seeks to portray itself as a peacemaker, downplay its own crimes, and sow discord within European societies,” the statement by the Center for Countering Disinformation under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council said.
[…]
The Center added that the purpose of the campaign is to undermine citizens’ trust in the rule of law and democratic institutions in their countries, cast doubt on the Euro-Atlantic course, and discredit support for Ukraine.
[…]
Russia has significantly intensified hybrid attacks on the EU’s critical infrastructure since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
I might get downvoted for this, as I know the emotions are strong in this topic, but I’ll try and voice my humble opinion once again:
The Russian PEOPLE are not my enemy, KREMLIN is! And I don’t need stickers to tell me this. There are plenty of reports coming from independent journalists all over of not only the horrors that Kremlin motivates soldiers to commit in Ukraine, but what Kremlin is doing even towards civilians inside Russia! There’s a reason for the mass emigration and protests across Russia when this conflict first broke out, and that is that most of the people do not want unnecessary conflict. The Russian people suffer more and more, and also want this to end.
As long as Kremlin and its supporters are allowed to abuse their power however, the suffering will continue, so no mercy for them.
While you refer to the Kremlin and Russian people, you don’t refer to the Russian state. If the stickers are about Russia, not the Kremlin or the people, we should address Russia too.
The Russian state is both of them.
I was born in russia, and the current behavior of russia is downstream of the political system that is dominant in russia, which itself is downstream of the russian culture (the sum total of the ideas in people’s heads and their interplay). Things got this way because russian people let things get this way. https://vasily.cc/blog/the-russian-template/
What was the intention behind this sentence? You’re clearly not Russian, nor have lived in Russia for any considerate amount of time, as the blog post you’ve linked is full of markers of someone who has spent their entire life in Kiyv. Whom are you trying to fool here?
Thanks for recognizing this. Yes, most people in russia aren’t “russian”, they have just been assimilated into the amorphous imperial identity.
Oh wow, something new to learn about myself I guess. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
What do you mean by markers? Indicators?
Why does linking to an article by someone originally from kiyv indicate they’re not Russian? What does it matter whom the article is from when it matches their experience as a Russian?
Linking to it doesn’t indicate its their own article.
Yes, usage of certain words, sentences, points one would only pick up by consuming local propaganda. One example of which would be the word “Muscovite”, which is not even a word in any Russian’s vocabulary.
It is their own article. Just open their profile, ffs.