DISINFO: The US is provoking Russia due to the decline of its hegemony
SUMMARY
The US has lost its superiority, and due to the decline of its hegemony, it resorts to acts of provocation against Russia in a failed attempt to affect its defence. The US has looked for allies to keep its perennial harassment of Russia in the Baltic countries and in Ukraine after the 2014 Maidan, in order to stay close to the Russian border. Russia has been for many years the main enemy of the West, as it possesses 37 per cent of the world’s resources and the biggest mineral reserves. This harassment will continue, as the US goal is to stop the development of anybody who challenges its hegemony over the world order.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about a hostile West attempting to encircle Russia and about this country as the victim of ceaseless machinations to curb its development.
There is no factual evidence to support the claim that the US is trying to provoke Moscow, or that the Baltic states and Ukraine harass Russia. On the contrary, these countries have been a frequent target of Russian aggression, including election interference, disinformation, cyberattacks or, in the case of Ukraine, the illegal annexation of part of its territory and the engineering of an armed conflict in its eastern regions. Accusing others of the misdeeds that Russia is actually doing is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique.
This article appeared amid international concerns about Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine, which led to fears of an eventual invasion. By accusing the US of “provocation”, this story seems to be an attempt to divert attention away from Russia’s responsibility in increasing tensions on the border, as part of a wider disinformation campaign.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that US military exercises in the Black Sea are a provocation and an attempt to contain Russia, that NATO will help Ukraine to kill more people, that Riga, Tallinn and Warsaw developed anti-Russian “information weapons”, or that the West is hostile to all states that try to establish partnership relations with Russia.