Generally speaking, Russian media uses bland, predictable, exceptionally dull, terminology. The information may contradict itself. The news may be fiction. It rarely uses any expressions indicating any level of excitement. All that went out the window yesterday with its responses to the Freedom for Russia group attacks.
For a media that makes a habit of not joining dots, there were a lot of dots on display.
Some examples:
“Air power and artillery” were used to “crush” the attacks. This implies a conventional attack against defended positions inside Russia. A war within a war. Since when?
Russia claims to have killed 70 attackers. Pro-Russian bloggers say there may be as many as 500 engaged in the ongoing fighting. The numbers are all over the shop, indicating a lot of guesswork.
The “insurgents” used mortars and artillery attacking around Belgorod. The expression implies an insurgency, not the usual terrorism of which Russia accuses everyone else. The use of the word “insurgents” also contradicts the other descriptions of the attackers as sabotage groups or as de facto Ukrainian forces.
How do you get actual artillery across the Russian border without anyone noticing? Belgorod is a sensitive border area. You’d think they’d at least have some sort of surveillance.
Remember that the Russians claim these forces are Ukrainian and entered from Ukraine. Are the Russians saying a force that may be battalion-sized just casually strolled in across the border and took a village or so?
Meanwhile, Wagner chief Prigozhin says Russia faces “revolution”. He can get away with saying that. Russian media obviously isn’t shutting him down and Western media is reciting his comments.
It’s a very odd choice of words in the middle of a war that Russia is losing so badly. Why would someone that high up the food chain say that? How did the narrative drift from “Ukrainian sabotage groups” to “revolution” so easily and so quickly?
It is possible that this terminology is an excuse for a crackdown on anti-Putin elements. If so, why even suggest that it could be a revolution? That’s Soviet-style thinking, calling anyone “enemies of the state” on principle.
It’s strange enough. This is a media that has just spent 15 months saying everything’s fine in Russia. The happy-go-lucky Russian people are supposed to be united and all for the Ukraine war.
This is a media that didn’t even have the guts to call it a war. Suddenly it’s trying to do factual reporting, however unconvincingly?
An actual military attack by Russian citizens on Russian soil, for whatever reason, is definitely a game-changer. The media babble may simply mean that they don’t know how to play it down.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
