Propaganda lost: how putin’s “soothing” interview fueled panic in russia
Another interview of vladimir putin with propagandist pavel zarubin clearly demonstrated: the russian dictator has either completely moved into a fictional reality or considers his own population fools.
A significant part of the interview concerned the situation at the front. Trying to demonstrate good awareness, putin spoke in great detail about the “successes” in specific areas of the front. However, with his absurd statements, including about “10 kilometers to Sumy,” he stunned even loyal Z-war correspondents.
putin used a similar tactic of deception regarding internal problems. He called the fuel crisis “non-critical,” and regarding strikes on russia’s energy facilities, he assured that “everything is being restored quickly.” This only further fueled the panic among russians, who read a clear signal in putin’s words — it is pointless to hope for solutions if the authorities consider the problems “non-critical.”
putin’s main goal was to calm russians before the state duma elections, create an illusion of control, and motivate the electorate to support the pro-government party. But propaganda lost again to harsh reality: instead of a strong leader, Russians saw an aging ruler completely detached from reality.
