The Kremlin has always attempted to rewrite history to fit its despotic policies and its current version of twisted reality. Its methods include spreading falsehoods about the illegal annexation of Crimea; whitewashing Stalin’s crimes, including during the Holodomor; and launching a full-scale war against Ukraine. The Kremlin’s alternative versions of history simultaneously enable, explain, and excuse any wanton act of violence or aggression. Historical revisionism has been a potent weapon for information manipulation and deceit, and the Kremlin has wielded it blatantly and often.
The great role reversal
The Kremlin’s attempts to revise history are not limited to reshaping the perception of Russia’s war against Ukraine. They have been ongoing for years. The ultimate goal is to reverse the perception of the victim-aggressor roles and proclaim that Russia is merely defending itself from ‘Western aggression’. This manipulative tactic spans decades. A prime example was denying the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and rejecting Soviet co-responsibility for starting WWII.
In fact, the Second World War has a special place in the Kremlin’s information manipulation playbook. Invoking the ‘Great Patriotic War’ and depicting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine as a continuation of the struggle against Nazism is a powerful rallying cry to mobilise support for Putin’s bloody regime.
It also enables a psychological defence mechanism of cognitive dissonance for the consumers of pro-Kremlin disinformation. If Russia is fighting the good fight, surely occasional war crimes like Bucha and Mariupol or the systematic destruction of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure to freeze and starve people can be excused?
Hide the imperialism
It is not just about twisting historical facts, like claiming that the Soviets alone fought against the Nazis during WWII or repeating the thoroughly debunked myth that NATO promised Russia not to admit new members. It is about creating a completely alternative version of history where Russian colonialism does not exist and Russia’s imperialist aggression towards its neighbours is reframed as a noble quest for peace.
It’s personal
For Putin, rewriting history is personal. One need not look further than the ill-conceived ‘interview’-cum-history-lesson Putin gave former Fox News talking head Tucker Carlson, or proudly digging up some 17th century map to ‘prove’ that Ukraine is not real. In fact, much of the Kremlin’s revision of history takes guidance from Putin’s ‘Kremlin Newspeak’-laden public remarks. And to drive this manipulative effort home, Putin’s great reinterpretation of history is now being codified in school textbooks, university history programmes, and even entertainment such as video games or comic books.
There is some truth in the Russian joke that the past keeps changing so quickly, one does not know what is going to happen yesterday. That is why it is important to keep track of the constant evolution of the Kremlin’s re-imagining of history in order to hold Russia accountable for the crimes of aggression it has committed against Ukraine.
Never forget and don’t be deceived.
Article and pictures first time published on the EUvsDisinfo web page. Prepared for publication by volunteers from the Res Publica - The Center for Civil Resistance.
