Russia wants to declare “victory” in its war against Ukraine — and even against NATO — on the third anniversary of the start of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian intelligence claims.
Russian propagandists have been instructed to promote “victorious” narratives on the symbolic date of Feb. 24 to incite disbelief in Ukrainian society, destabilize the country, and discredit Kyiv partners as “enemies of peace,” according to the Ukrainian Military Intelligence, known as HUR.
The campaign would suit the landmark shift in U.S. foreign policy, as Washington appears to find consensus with President Putin, who launched Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In its Telegram post, HUR claims that the key narratives of the information campaign include slogans such as “The West betrayed Ukraine,” “Neither Moscow nor Washington cares about the opinion of Europeans and Ukrainians,” or that “the Ukrainian government is illegitimate” — a narrative that has been pushed in recent days not only by the Kremlin, but also by the White House.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the past week, calling him incompetent and a “dictator without elections” who had tricked the U.S. into spending billions of dollars in military aid. According to Kyiv’s military intelligence, American aid to Ukraine will also be a main target point of the Kremlin’s propaganda.
“In addition, Russia is preparing to declare an alleged ‘victory’ in the war against Ukraine by the ’round date’ of Feb. 24, 2025, the third anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale war,” the HUR claims.
“These plans may also include a ‘Russian victory over NATO,’ as Moscow propaganda has long portrayed the war against Ukraine as a war with the alliance.”
According to the military intelligence, the Kremlin’s further goal is to discredit Ukraine’s European partners, who are aiming to shore up Kyiv’s position amid ongoing Russian-American talks with a €6 billion military aid package. “For such European governments, the Kremlin is slapping on the ‘enemies of peace’ label,” HUR warned.
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