ANATOMY OF PROPAGANDA: TOP 3 EVENTS OF THE WEEK

The NATO Summit in Vilnius has become a platform for discussions about the acceleration of Ukraine's admission to the North Atlantic Alliance. The confirmation of the cluster munitions supply to the Armed Forces of Ukraine has determined the vectors of propaganda suggestions for Russian media. The Kremlin returned to archaic populism to smooth out the negativity from the ruble devaluation, - they announced their intention to switch officials to Russian cars.

Russian propagandists have been exposing the decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions within all week long. It was simultaneously called "criminal" and "in no way affecting the course of hostilities". Vladimir Putin even threatened to use cluster munitions as a retaliatory measure. This caused at least bewilderment - the Russian Armed Forces have been actively using cluster munitions since the beginning of the war.

In the context of the NATO summit in Vilnius, the Kremlin continued to frighten Europe with the "danger" in case of accelerated acceptance of Ukraine into the North Atlantic Alliance and provision of security guarantees to it. Official speakers called such a scenario "potentially dangerous for Europe". Although in reality, it poses much more danger to Moscow - both in military-political and reputational aspects. After all, if "SVO" was conceived as a way to prevent Ukraine's rapprochement with NATO, it has accelerated this process.

Several prominent representatives of the Russian political establishment have expressed support for "moving officials and deputies to Russian cars". The Speaker of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, stated that state purchases should be focused on the domestic auto industry. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov supported him. The noticeable devaluation of the ruble and acceleration of inflation forces the Kremlin to find a way to demonstrate how the elite "shares" socio-economic hardships with the people.