ANATOMY OF PROPAGANDA: TOP 3 EVENTS OF THE WEEK

The Kremlin continues to generate new incentives to recruit "volunteers" for the war against Ukraine. At the same time, propagandists are trying to smooth over the Dagestan confusion and justify the feasibility of collective actions to the elites of the CIS countries.

State Duma submitted a proposal to grant land to war participants in eastern Ukraine. A group of deputies in the State Duma, led by the leader of the "Rodina" party, Alexey Zhuravlev, is preparing a bill that provides for the allocation of land plots to Russians in the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, as well as in the occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions on a priority basis. Zhuravlev suggested launching a program similar to the previously introduced "Far Eastern" and "Arctic" hectares.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan has detained several high-ranking officials. The FSB of Russia in Dagestan announced the detention of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the republic, the head of the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rufat Ismailov, and the deputy head of the investigative department, Dalgat Abdulgapurov. According to official reports, a criminal case has been filed for giving and receiving a huge bribe by them. However, there are reasons to believe that the real reason for the arrest was the recent anti-Semitic unrest and the inaction of the internal affairs bodies in suppressing the disorder. The Kremlin is trying to show that it controls the situation.

Putin is alarming CIS countries with external attempts to undermine legitimate authority. In a video address to participants of the XI meeting of the Secretaries of Security Councils of the CIS countries, Putin stated that some countries are trying to undermine legitimate authority in the CIS states and their connections, therefore a collective response is necessary. Putin is using this platform to actualize imaginary threats to political regimes in the CIS countries to preserve Russia's diminishing influence on their foreign policy.