MS nomaLies as an integral part of Russian diplomacy
In other words, the story about the alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Valdai is a complete lie. In Russian, there is a specific word for this type of lie, where both the speaker and the listener know that it is a lie, but the speaker tells it anyway.
It is called ‘vranyo’ (враньё) and has always been an integral part of the toolkit of both Soviet and Russian diplomacy, in addition to the criminal underworld from which it originates. There is no single English word with a similar meaning. The closest equivalent would be the term ‘blatant lie’.
The purpose: disinformation and control of the discussion
However, the obvious lie does not prevent Moscow from using it as a pretext – in fact, that is precisely the purpose of the entire ‘vranyo’ phenomenon. The narrative used as a pretext does not have to be credible. Its main purpose is not to convince anyone, but to influence the discussion and thus serve as a reference point for Russia's upcoming actions.A long tradition in Russia and the Soviet UnionRussia has a long tradition of using false flag operations and staged provocations as a pretext for various forms of violent action. One example is the so-called Mainila incident in November 1939, when the Soviets first fired on their own border guards and then officially blamed Helsinki for the attack, using the incident as a justification for invading Finland.The apparent pretext for the start of the Second Chechen War in 1999 was the so-called ‘house bombings’ in Russia. Several residential buildings were blown up, for which Moscow blamed the Chechens – but in reality, Western investigators and observers believe that the FSB itself was behind the attacks in order to create a pretext for the invasion of Chechnya.During the invasion of Crimea in 2014, Russia falsely claimed that Ukrainian nationalists were heading for the peninsula to attack Russians living there. Russia still claims today that Ukraine committed genocide in Donbass before 2022, even though UN bodies themselves have rejected such accusations as unfounded.
A long tradition in Russia and the Soviet Union
Russia has a long tradition of using false flag operations and staged provocations as a pretext for various forms of violent action. One example is the so-called Mainila incident in November 1939, when the Soviets first fired on their own border guards and then officially blamed Helsinki for the attack, using the incident as a justification for invading Finland.
The apparent pretext for the start of the Second Chechen War in 1999 was the so-called ‘house bombings’ in Russia. Several residential buildings were blown up, for which Moscow blamed the Chechens – but in reality, Western investigators and observers believe that the FSB itself was behind the attacks in order to create a pretext for the invasion of Chechnya.
During the invasion of Crimea in 2014, Russia falsely claimed that Ukrainian nationalists were heading for the peninsula to attack Russians living there. Russia still claims today that Ukraine committed genocide in Donbass before 2022, even though UN bodies themselves have rejected such accusations as unfounded.
Source: https://www.zdfheute.de/politik/ausland/putin-residenz-drohnenangriff-analyse-ukraine-krieg-russland-100.html
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