ANATOMY OF PROPAGANDA: TOP 3 EVENTS OF THE WEEK

The key event for Russian media was Vladimir Putin's speech at the Valdai Discussion Club. Significant attention was given to the coverage of the start of the autumn conscription for mandatory service. Propagandists seized the situation in Israel to make yet another attempt to accuse Ukraine of trading in Western weapons supplied to it.

At the Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Sochi, Putin traditionally accused the West and argued that Russia was fighting for peace. It was another set of propaganda clichés declared by official speakers since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Another attempt was made to present the military adventure in which the Kremlin got involved as a manifestation of the "unfair" world order. And its immediate initiator was called the "Kyiv regime with active, direct support from the West."

The Kremlin reassures conscripts by stating no plans for additional mobilization. On September 29, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the start of the autumn conscription into the Russian army from October 1. The media emphasized that the decree itself emphasizes that conscripts will not be sent to serve in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine (parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia regions). Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu echoed the propaganda, stating that the Russian Armed Forces have the necessary number of servicemen for the war with Ukraine and that the General Staff has no plans for additional mobilization.

The attack by Hamas militants on Israeli territory was used by Russian propaganda to discredit Ukraine. The internal audience was fed the message that the collective West's attention would now be defocused, leading to an inevitable weakening of support for Ukraine. External audiences were shown samples of infantry weapons supposedly sold to Palestinian militants by corrupt Ukrainian officials. Traditionally , no evidence has been provided to that statements.