By Max Boot
Columnist
Yesterday at 1:43 p.m. EST
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sometimes been credited as a master of information warfare. Certainly he has been adept at spreading dissension in the West by supporting right-wing populists such as former president Donald Trump, France’s Marine Le Pen and Italy’s Matteo Salvini. But ever since the Russian leader launched his war of aggression against Ukraine, Putin has been badly losing the “battle of the narrative.”
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Thanks in part to the Biden administration’s strategic release of U.S. intelligence, Putin was never able to concoct a “false flag” incident to justify his offensive. He tried to but failed in goading the Ukrainian military into attacking Russian-speaking civilians in the east. When that didn’t happen, he unleashed his army anyway on the unbelievable pretext that he was combating “drug addicts and neo-Nazis” — words that make him appear delusional. The whole world could see what was actually happening: naked aggression reminiscent of the German and Soviet invasions of Poland in 1939.
With the war underway — and apparently not going as well as Putin hoped — the Russian government has all but ceded the information space to Ukrainians. Russia is not releasing videos of victorious troops being welcomed by grateful civilians, because that is not what is happening. Ukrainians are winning the propaganda battle with pictures, video and audio of their heroic resistance to Russian aggression, which recalls the Finns during the 1939-1940 Winter War.
Some of the Ukrainian feats celebrated online aren’t real; the “Ghost of Kyiv,” a fighter jet that was supposedly shooting down Russian aircraft, was actually a clip from a video game. Beware of misinformation! But most of what we are seeing about Ukrainian heroism is genuine — and truly stirring.
There is, for example, the Russian warship that demanded that Ukrainian border guards holding a small island in the Black Sea surrender or be bombed. The Ukrainian response: “Russian warship, go f--- yourself.” Initial reports were that 13 border guards were killed, but they might have simply been taken prisoner.
Another moment that went viral — it has been viewed more than 8 million times on Twitter alone — occurred in the city of Henichesk where a Ukrainian woman berated Russian soldiers as “occupiers” and “fascists.” She told them to put sunflower seeds in their pockets so that when they are all dead, sunflowers — the Ukrainian national flower — will grow on their graves.
Social media has turned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian who until recently was seen as an ineffectual and uninspiring leader, into an international idol. Zelensky spurned U.S. offers to evacuate him from Kyiv, saying, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” Every day, Zelensky has been earning the world’s admiration with his resolute, measured words of defiance from a capital under siege.
Zelensky is no Ashraf Ghani, fleeing Afghanistan with the enemy at the gates. Nor are the Ukrainians collapsing as the Afghan armed forces did — and as Putin might have expected. Instead, the news is full of pictures of Ukrainian civilians lining up to get AK-47s and to make molotov cocktails to oppose the Russian invaders.
The contrast between Russian villainy and Ukrainian bravery has made a powerful impression on the world. The Russian attack might have done more to mobilize world outrage than any event since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Putin is turning Russia into a global pariah.
Public opinion matters. It moves politicians in democracies. We are now seeing the West take far sterner measures against Russia — including kicking Russian banks out of the SWIFT system of interbank transfers and, perhaps even more significantly, sanctioning Russia’s central bank — than was conceivable even a week ago.
Germany’s transformation is particularly dramatic: The Russian bear might have roused the sleeping giant of Europe. Germany not only stopped the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and cooperated in tough economic sanctions but is also boosting its defense spending and sending arms to Ukraine.
There is still far more that needs to be done — the West needs to stop buying oil and gas from Russia, and Germany needs to reopen its nuclear power plants. But the steps that have been taken have already caused the Russian stock market to crash and the value of the ruble to plunge. A shaken Putin is resorting to nuclear saber-rattling — a threat that lacks credibility given that he is hardly suicidal.
Yet — sobering thought — none of it might be enough to save Ukraine. It’s one thing to win the information war; it’s another to win the actual war on the ground. Ukrainians have been doing a better-than-expected job of resisting the Russian onslaught so far. But the invasion is still in its early days, and Russia has not yet committed all of its forces.
It is unfortunately possible that, finding Russian troops are not being greeted as liberators, Putin will order them to act with even greater savagery. In Putin’s past wars, his forces have razed Grozny, Chechnya, and Aleppo, Syria. With their artillery and air power, the Russians could rain destruction down on Kyiv and Kharkiv. While such barbarism might allow the Kremlin to claim a fleeting victory, it will only turn Ukraine and the world even more firmly against Putin’s criminal regime in the long run.
Columnist
Yesterday at 1:43 p.m. EST
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sometimes been credited as a master of information warfare. Certainly he has been adept at spreading dissension in the West by supporting right-wing populists such as former president Donald Trump, France’s Marine Le Pen and Italy’s Matteo Salvini. But ever since the Russian leader launched his war of aggression against Ukraine, Putin has been badly losing the “battle of the narrative.”
Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Sign up.
Thanks in part to the Biden administration’s strategic release of U.S. intelligence, Putin was never able to concoct a “false flag” incident to justify his offensive. He tried to but failed in goading the Ukrainian military into attacking Russian-speaking civilians in the east. When that didn’t happen, he unleashed his army anyway on the unbelievable pretext that he was combating “drug addicts and neo-Nazis” — words that make him appear delusional. The whole world could see what was actually happening: naked aggression reminiscent of the German and Soviet invasions of Poland in 1939.
With the war underway — and apparently not going as well as Putin hoped — the Russian government has all but ceded the information space to Ukrainians. Russia is not releasing videos of victorious troops being welcomed by grateful civilians, because that is not what is happening. Ukrainians are winning the propaganda battle with pictures, video and audio of their heroic resistance to Russian aggression, which recalls the Finns during the 1939-1940 Winter War.
Some of the Ukrainian feats celebrated online aren’t real; the “Ghost of Kyiv,” a fighter jet that was supposedly shooting down Russian aircraft, was actually a clip from a video game. Beware of misinformation! But most of what we are seeing about Ukrainian heroism is genuine — and truly stirring.
There is, for example, the Russian warship that demanded that Ukrainian border guards holding a small island in the Black Sea surrender or be bombed. The Ukrainian response: “Russian warship, go f--- yourself.” Initial reports were that 13 border guards were killed, but they might have simply been taken prisoner.
Another moment that went viral — it has been viewed more than 8 million times on Twitter alone — occurred in the city of Henichesk where a Ukrainian woman berated Russian soldiers as “occupiers” and “fascists.” She told them to put sunflower seeds in their pockets so that when they are all dead, sunflowers — the Ukrainian national flower — will grow on their graves.
Social media has turned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian who until recently was seen as an ineffectual and uninspiring leader, into an international idol. Zelensky spurned U.S. offers to evacuate him from Kyiv, saying, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” Every day, Zelensky has been earning the world’s admiration with his resolute, measured words of defiance from a capital under siege.
Zelensky is no Ashraf Ghani, fleeing Afghanistan with the enemy at the gates. Nor are the Ukrainians collapsing as the Afghan armed forces did — and as Putin might have expected. Instead, the news is full of pictures of Ukrainian civilians lining up to get AK-47s and to make molotov cocktails to oppose the Russian invaders.
The contrast between Russian villainy and Ukrainian bravery has made a powerful impression on the world. The Russian attack might have done more to mobilize world outrage than any event since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Putin is turning Russia into a global pariah.
Public opinion matters. It moves politicians in democracies. We are now seeing the West take far sterner measures against Russia — including kicking Russian banks out of the SWIFT system of interbank transfers and, perhaps even more significantly, sanctioning Russia’s central bank — than was conceivable even a week ago.
Germany’s transformation is particularly dramatic: The Russian bear might have roused the sleeping giant of Europe. Germany not only stopped the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and cooperated in tough economic sanctions but is also boosting its defense spending and sending arms to Ukraine.
There is still far more that needs to be done — the West needs to stop buying oil and gas from Russia, and Germany needs to reopen its nuclear power plants. But the steps that have been taken have already caused the Russian stock market to crash and the value of the ruble to plunge. A shaken Putin is resorting to nuclear saber-rattling — a threat that lacks credibility given that he is hardly suicidal.
Yet — sobering thought — none of it might be enough to save Ukraine. It’s one thing to win the information war; it’s another to win the actual war on the ground. Ukrainians have been doing a better-than-expected job of resisting the Russian onslaught so far. But the invasion is still in its early days, and Russia has not yet committed all of its forces.
It is unfortunately possible that, finding Russian troops are not being greeted as liberators, Putin will order them to act with even greater savagery. In Putin’s past wars, his forces have razed Grozny, Chechnya, and Aleppo, Syria. With their artillery and air power, the Russians could rain destruction down on Kyiv and Kharkiv. While such barbarism might allow the Kremlin to claim a fleeting victory, it will only turn Ukraine and the world even more firmly against Putin’s criminal regime in the long run.
