Виконавчий директор Фонду "Демократичні ініціативи" імені Ілька Кучеріва
Original article on Detector Media
A Review of Russian Propaganda in October 2023, Part 1
Over the last nine years since the occupation of Crimea, the Kremlin has constructed an entire propaganda "metaverse" for domestic consumption, successfully planning and executing large-scale information operations aimed at directing the nation's anger and affection as needed.
However, Putin's propaganda machine struggles most with internal crises, where the virtual reality crumbles under the pressure of real events witnessed by millions of Russians. This was evident in the "Explosions in Crimea" crisis of August 2022 and the Prigozhin coup in June 2023.
Presumably aware of their vulnerabilities, the Kremlin actively fabricates and invents "events" that cast the leadership in a favorable light. Of course, it's easiest to work with material that ordinary Russians find hard to independently verify, as well as with superstitions and deep-seated, fundamental human emotions.
In our view, the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th provided the Kremlin with a convenient excuse to revive widespread, though subdued, antisemitism in Russia and direct this hostility against the West in general and Ukraine in particular.
Additionally, hatred towards Jews serves as a convenient tool for managing the widespread Islamic radicalism in the Caucasus, Tatarstan, and among diasporas from the Caucasus and Central Asia in major Russian cities. The image of a "common enemy" unites "Orthodox" and "Muslims", allowing the Kremlin to control and manipulate Islamic extremists for its aggressive interests and subversive activities in the West.
However, as events in October showed, the hybrid genie of antisemitism and Islamic radicalization, more precisely, the spontaneous radicalization of Russia's Muslim minorities, is unlikely to fuel Russia's military machine in Ukraine, but it certainly adds fuel to the fire of internal instability.
But, as always, let's start from the beginning.
Although the Kremlin's antisemitism is no secret, its use of hatred towards Jews for political purposes is strictly regulated and sanctioned at the highest level. However, if a strong opponent of Putin is Jewish, as in the case of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Russian dictator eagerly twists facts and blends antisemitism with anti-Western conspiracy theories.
Interestingly, two days before the tragedy, on October 5th, Putin again resorted to the theme of "Jews being the worst Nazis" to falsely accuse the President of Ukraine. This followed Volodymyr Zelenskyy's trip to Canada:
October 5, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"The President elaborated in detail on the applause given to a veteran of the SS Galicia Division in the Canadian Parliament.
'If the speaker of the Canadian parliament is unaware that Hitler and his followers fought against Russia, he is an idiot. If he knows and still invited an SS member to parliament, then he is a scoundrel. These are the kinds of people we have to deal with today,' Putin said.
He also commented on the applause for the Nazi from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thereafter did not comment on the scandal.
'It is absolutely disgusting to see everyone applauding, especially the President of Ukraine, who has Jewish blood in his veins and is Jewish by ethnicity, applauding a Nazi. Not just any Nazi, but one who personally exterminated Jewish people,' the Russian leader stated.
According to him, this is a clear example of why one of Russia's goals in Ukraine is 'denazification.'"
Putin's remark, promoting the notion of “Jewish Zelenskyy as a Nazi,” marked the third instance in five months. The Kremlin's insinuation of “Jews as Nazis” quickly becomes a leading narrative, supposedly explaining the tragic events in the Middle East.
Thus, following the Hamas attack on October 7th, an unprecedented campaign of ethnic animosity unfolded in the Russian media, unseen since 2014. Nearly all the demonization tactics used against Ukrainians from December 2013 through March 2015 were intensively applied to Israelis.
We identify several characteristics which, in our opinion, point to a systematic and ideologically prepared approach by Russian media to the war in the Gaza Strip.
Firstly, similar to the period during the Maidan and the conflict in the East of Ukraine, Russian media completely blocked any information about Hamas' crimes. While they reported Israeli casualties, they did not differentiate between military and civilian losses. From the second day, they cited Hamas information about exclusively civilian deaths, with no data on killed militants. Such asymmetrical coverage immediately made Israel a target for public condemnation and, eventually, hatred.
Secondly, Russian media immediately distorted the nature of Hamas' attack on Israel. There was no mention of the murder of children, women, and the elderly. Reports focused only on rocket attacks and clashes of Hamas militants with Israeli forces. In contrast, coverage of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) emphasized strikes on civilian targets. Thus, the Russian audience was led to believe that Israelis died due to their own security forces' failures, while Palestinians were victims of deliberate Israeli military actions.
In essence, if in 2014, Russian media created a fake narrative of confrontation between “Donbas militia” and “Kyiv punishers,” in October 2023, they portrayed Israeli soldiers as the “punishers” and Hamas militants as “freedom fighters”.
Thirdly, almost immediately, messages appeared about the interest of a 'third force' in the war and mutual destruction of Jews and Palestinians. As in 2014, when Russian media pushed the narrative of a “civil war” in Ukraine for the interests of a “third party,” in the Gaza conflict, the US and the West in general are blamed.
Based on these three “canonical pillars” of Russian propaganda, a “special mission” of Russia and Putin is again formulated. This “special nature” lies not just in constantly emphasizing the superiority and advantages of Russian leadership over Israel and the “collective West” but in combining two roles of Putin — the “peacemaker” fighting for peace and the “avenger” preparing due and harsh retaliation against the US for allegedly instigating yet another war.
In the Palestinian issue, “Putin the Peacemaker” promotes the “just cause” of creating a Palestinian state. Here, his position is strong because the Kremlin uses UN resolutions and fully exploits the UN platform for its propaganda. Meanwhile, “Putin the Avenger” tries to redirect hatred towards Israel against the West and Ukraine, where it's “more convenient” to fight the “Jewish Nazis” directly.
Another important offshoot in the “treacherous West” theme is the narrative of “weakness and division” in European societies. The basis and illustration for such claims in Russian media were numerous rallies in support of Palestinians.
Russians used these protests to spread another subversive narrative about Europe being overwhelmed by a “wave of Islamic terrorism.”
This highlights the hostility of Russian propaganda towards European countries and its focus on seizing any topic to undermine Europeans' trust in democratic institutions, convincing them of their weakness and irreconcilable divisions, sowing distrust towards their own governments, and fostering animosity towards fellow citizens who differ from the “titular nations.”
Fourthly, from the first day of the war in the Gaza Strip, Russians have been spreading disinformation about Hamas militants possessing American weapons allegedly “smuggled out” of Ukraine.
An important caveat here: the Russian disinformation campaign would not have gained significant traction and impact if the same information was not broadcast by a number of American and European politicians and journalists.
In this situation, Trump supporters, particularly Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was among the first to spread this fake claim, appear especially distasteful.
However, her eagerness to disseminate Russian propaganda was surpassed by another Trumpist, Vivek Ramaswamy, who repeated Putin's narrative about “neo-Nazis in Ukraine”:
New York, October 21, TASS: "US presidential candidate from the Republican Party and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy pointed out the 'absurd irony' of American leader Joe Biden's request to aid simultaneously the neo-Nazis in Ukraine and Israel, which, in the politician's view, is fighting Nazis.
'It’s an absurd irony of Biden’s request for over $100 billion in aid: we will send another $61 billion to support the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion (recognized as a terrorist organization, banned in Russia — note by TASS) in Ukraine, and $14 billion to Israel to fight Islamic Nazis in the Gaza Strip. In short, this is the fragmented foreign policy of the US,' he wrote on social network X (formerly Twitter). In another post, Ramaswamy called on legislators to vote against such aid."
So, Russia actively quoted all Western sources to keep the topic of “illegal handling of American weapons” and “loss of interest in Ukraine” on the agenda for as long as possible.
Fifthly, Russian media quickly and successfully launched a campaign condemning “double standards”: equating the UN and the West's helplessness in stopping Israeli shelling of Gaza with “Ukrainian shelling of the Donbas and Crimea.” In doing so, the Kremlin sought to kill two birds with one propaganda stone: accusing the West of indulging its “pawns” — Israel and Ukraine — and presenting itself as a “defender” to hide or justify its military aggression against Ukraine.
It's also worth noting the quick response of the Russians to the spread in Western media of the narrative that the war in the Middle East would undermine the US and EU's ability to help Ukraine due to a lack of necessary military and economic resources.
It has to be understood that this is not about Russian agents in Western media, but about the serious level of focus and organization of the Russian propaganda machine, which quickly picks up, replicates, and reinforces messages favorable to Russia with loyal comments and materials (articles, vlogs, “expert” comments, etc.).
However, in the last days of October, after the riots in Makhachkala, Russian media unanimously began accusing “external influences” of increasing antisemitic sentiments in Russia, as if there hadn't been three weeks of intensive hate campaign against Jews. This happened simultaneously with the spread of this “plausible version” from Putin himself.
In our view, such a sharp discontinuation of “hate speech” following Putin's direct public instruction is an extremely telling and strong argument that there exists a state policy in Russia not only to spread but also to regulate and manage feelings of hatred and hostility on ethnic and religious grounds.
However, the course of events has shown that managing hatred in the media space is much easier for Russian authorities than situational control of collective behavior in all corners of Russia. Now, the Kremlin seems to believe that in any crisis situation, it can blame the “hostile West,” “Ukrainian Nazis,” or “foreign agents,” and direct public dissatisfaction towards “enemies of Russia” and in support of their “Special Military Operation.”
Perhaps it is the hatred of everything "foreign" and "anti-Russian" that will become the leading theme of the fake campaign to "elect" Putin as president of Russia. And the wars in which Russia is involved will be the main mechanism for maintaining this hatred at the level necessary for the Kremlin. If so, then the threat of this fostered popular hatred turning against the government itself will become more and more real. At least in Makhachkala, we saw early signs of a potential crisis.
In support of these versions, below is a brief chronology of the most eloquent Russian propaganda materials used to deliberately and purposefully spread hatred against Israel, Ukraine, Jews, and Ukrainians in October 2023.
Chronology of Anti-Ukrainian Disinformation
Message: Ukraine Sells American Weapons to Terrorists
October 7, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Palestinian militants, who attacked Israeli territory on October 7, were spotted with weapons that were supposed to be with the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukarine], according to aif.ru by Evgeny Satanovsky, President of the Institute of the Middle East. Discussing the current situation in Israel, where local authorities declared the start of a war, he told our correspondent...
— Could this conflict affect the Ukrainian conflict?
— Palestinians received weapons with Ukrainian markings. This includes captured equipment that theoretically should be with the AFU. Ukrainian migrant workers and immigrants were seen photographing things of interest to the Palestinians in the southern and central regions of Israel. These are exactly the areas now under attack. Partly jokingly, it's said today that Zelenskyy has declared war on Israel in Gaza."
October 8, 2023, Izvestiya newspaper:
"Advisor to the head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Yan Gagin, in the context of the situation in Israel, expressed on October 8 that Western weapons supplied to Ukraine could have been resold and are currently being used against Israeli military."
October 8, 2023, Izvestiya newspaper:
"Florian Philippot, head of the French The Patriots party, claimed that American weapons provided to Ukraine are being used in conflicts in the Middle East. He wrote this on social network X (formerly Twitter) on October 8. 'We have warned! There’s quite a lot of them (American weapons for Ukraine that ended up in the Middle East)!' he commented."
October 9, 2023, Izvestiya newspaper:
"Weapons transferred to Ukraine by NATO countries are actively used in military actions in Israel, declared Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, on his Telegram channel on October 9. 'Well, dear NATO friends, what did you expect? Weapons given to the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine are actively used in Israel,' Medvedev wrote."
October 9, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Armed groups of the Palestinian movement Hamas organized attacks on Israel. They could have used American weapons that arrived from Ukraine, claimed Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on social network X* (formerly Twitter).
'We need to work with Israel to track the serial numbers of any American weapons used by Hamas against Israel. Did they come from Afghanistan? Did they come from Ukraine? It’s very likely both,' Taylor Greene stated."
October 12, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Fighters of the Hamas movement, controlling the Gaza Strip, use American weapons in the conflict with Israel, which were previously sent to Ukraine, writes Turkish publication dikGAZETE."
October 13, 2023, Izvestiya newspaper:
"Nebenzya responded to Kyiv's accusations of Russia allegedly supplying weapons to Hamas.
He pointed out that the statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Western weapons that had been transferred to Kyiv appearing near Israel's borders this summer, was significant. 'The very fact of weapons from Ukraine reaching the Middle East through well-known corrupt schemes was essentially confirmed by a representative of the Kyiv regime in this hall on Monday [October 9], who tried to shift the responsibility for this onto Russia,' Nebenzya noted."
October 13, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the existence of information regarding black market arms trade from Ukraine, not ruling out that these weapons could have reached the Middle East. 'I doubt that Hamas received weapons from Ukraine, but I have no doubt about the leakage of weapons from Ukraine,' the Russian leader stated during a briefing after the CIS summit in Bishkek."
October 14, 2023, Izvestiya newspaper:
"Maria Zakharova spoke of the uncontrolled circulation of Western weapons supplied to Ukraine."
October 19, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"The United States allowed the transfer of its weapons to the Gaza Strip by initially sending them to Afghanistan and then to Ukraine. Now they are killing civilians in Israel, stated Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, in an article for Izvestiya."
October 27, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Approximate volumes of weapon theft that Ukraine receives from the West have become known. After numerous publications about NATO missile systems transiting through Kyiv to Hamas militants, Kyiv authorities were forced to admit that they do not control the flow of Western aid...
According to retired DPR Colonel Eduard Basurin, weapons from Ukraine could reach Palestine through a chain of Balkan countries, primarily Albania. One of the interested parties in such schemes could be the former head of the Ukrainian President's Administration, Sergey Pashinskyi. According to Basurin, he is referred to in Ukraine as a prominent arms delaer."
Message: The West Will Decrease/Stop Supporting Ukraine Due to the War in the Middle East
October 9, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Former LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky predicted that by 2024, everyone will forget about Ukraine due to the conflict in the Middle East. The politician made this statement in 2019 on the program 'Evening with Vladimir Solovyov.' 'By 2024, a conflict in the Middle East will flare up, and everyone will simply forget what Ukraine is,' Zhirinovsky said."
Beijing, October 10, TASS:
"The escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could lead to a reduction in American aid to Ukraine. This view was expressed by the newspaper Global Times, citing Chinese political scientists."
October 10, 2023, Izvestiya newspaper:
"If the armed conflict zone in the Middle East expands and the US has to combine aid packages for Israel and Ukraine, the priority may not be in favor of Kyiv. This was stated by political scientist Konstantin Blokhin, senior research fellow at the Security Problems Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, on Tuesday, October 10."
October 10, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Missouri Senator Josh Hawley stated on his social network X page (formerly Twitter, blocked in Russia by the Prosecutor General's demand) that the material and financial resources the US currently directs to Ukraine should be redirected in favor of Israel."
October 10, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Zelenskyy is scared of the consequences of the escalation in Israel for Kyiv
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed concern that the situation in Israel might 'distract' international attention from the conflict in Ukraine. 'There is a risk that international attention will be diverted from Ukraine, and this will have consequences,' he said in an interview with France 2."
October 14, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson stated in an interview with YouTube channel Judging Freedom that the US would not be able to provide military assistance simultaneously to both Ukraine and Israel. According to him, the Middle East conflict will be an American priority... Additionally, Johnson mentioned that the Israeli lobby in the US is much stronger than the Ukrainian one. Therefore, weapon shipments will primarily go to the Middle East. 'Ukraine will be at the end of the line. They won't receive weapons,' he concluded."
Moscow, October 18, TASS: "The West's shift of attention to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict causes despair for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but does not affect Kyiv's plans, stated independent expert Gregory Simons at the presentation of the report Warfare in a New Epoch: The Return of Big Armies at the Valdai Discussion Club."
October 20, 2023, Izvestiya newspaper:
"The U.S. should abandon aid to Israel and Ukraine to start solving its own problems. This opinion was expressed by a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, on her page in social network X on Monday, October 16. ‘America should not participate in a new war in the Middle East and should stop funding <...> Ukraine!’ urged Green."
October 20, 2023, Izvestiya newspaper:
"Political scientist and Americanologist Malek Dudakov suggested that the US might have to choose between Ukraine and Israel."
October 22, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Washington is currently capable of assisting both the Kyiv regime and Israel, but if the situation in the Middle East spirals out of control, US priorities may change, believes Sergei Fedorov, a leading research fellow at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences."
October 26, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Ukraine, due to the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, has receded into the background, remaining unnoticed by the press and lacking support from allies, writes The New York Times...
The author asserts that the lack of media attention directly affects Ukraine's weapon supply. 'If there is a lack of media attention, there is a lack of ammunition. <...> Israel may eventually need weapons that Ukraine currently lacks, including armed drones and artillery shells,' the article reports."
Washington, October 27. TASS: "The US authorities will find it challenging to simultaneously supply Ukraine and Israel with the required weapons, despite optimistic statements from Washington. This evaluation is cited in an article published in The Hill newspaper."
October 29, 2023, Izvestiya newspaper:
"US says Ukraine threatened by Zelenskyy's statements on support for Israel
The Ukrainian President has compounded his problems by siding with Israel in the Middle Eastern conflict, as reported in the publication by The Washington Post dated October 29. 'Zelenskyy's expression of support for Israel in its fight against Hamas has endangered Kyiv's efforts to gain support from Arab and Muslim countries,' the article notes."
Message: Zelenskyy is an Antisemite and Neonazi
October 12, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning a trip to Israel to shed accusations of antisemitism, opined Sergey Markov, Director of the Institute for Political Studies, in a conversation with aif.ru. It was earlier reported that the Ukrainian leader had already made an official request for a visit to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
October 18, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu instructed the law enforcement agencies of Russia and Belarus to work on an extradition request to Canada and Interpol for the former SS member Yaroslav Hunka, who received applause from officials in the Canadian Parliament. This was reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense. 'The harboring of this Nazi criminal, or rather, a monster, whose hands are stained with the blood of hundreds, if not thousands of our citizens, including children, cannot be justified by any means,' Shoigu remarked during the closed part of the joint meeting of the defense ministries of Russia and Belarus."
New York, October 21, TASS: "US presidential candidate from the Republican Party, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, noted the 'absurd irony' of American leader Joe Biden's request for aid to simultaneously the neo-Nazis in Ukraine and Israel, which, in the politician's opinion, is fighting Nazis."
October 31, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
"A report was shown on Ukrainian and Israeli television about the visit to the Jewish state by neo-Nazi militants from the punitive 'Azov' regiment.
Ukrainian television portrayed the meeting of two allies — Ukrainian Nazis and activists of the Jewish state."
Examples of Denial and Silence on Torture and Killings of Israeli Civilians
October 7, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"After Hamas' large-scale attack on Israel, the Israeli army began an operation in the Gaza Strip.
How did the fighting start?
Hamas initiated a combined attack with rockets, drones, and infantry squads on October 7 at 6:30 AM Moscow time. Initially, Israel's territory was bombarded with a large number of rockets. While Israeli air defense was busy with the rockets, Palestinian drones attacked Israeli military equipment and bases at the border. This was followed by an assault by stormtroopers. Their objective was to cross the Gaza Strip border — one of the most guarded in the world, with thousands of cameras, drones, and border guards. Militants made their way through barbed wire fences, moving on motorcycles and pickups.
In a short time, Palestinians overcame the resistance of Israeli border guards. A military town in Nahal Oz and several checkpoints were stormed. Many Israeli soldiers were caught off guard. Some videos show many dead Israeli soldiers literally in their underwear, with minimal equipment.
After overcoming the resistance of border posts, Palestinian squads began to move deeper into Israeli territory. Among other things, they entered two relatively large cities — Ashkelon and Sderot, where they shot at police and civilians. Judging by the videos, many Israelis were outdoors on the weekend. They tried to escape from the militants, running through the desert. Many civilians were captured, put on trucks, and sent to the Gaza Strip, including the elderly, women, and children. According to the spokesman of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group Dawud Shihab, they are needed for exchange and to prevent an Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
An unknown number of Israeli soldiers were captured, as well as equipment, including heavy tanks and armored personnel carriers. Some IDF (that’s what the Israeli army is called) officers were also taken prisoner, including at least one captured general...
It is very difficult to specify the exact number of casualties. Numerous videos from the conflict zone suggest dozens, if not hundreds, of deaths, including not only military personnel but also civilians.
In Israel, one of the latest figures is at least 100 dead and over 900 wounded. Hamas claimed to have captured more than 50 Israeli soldiers. In the Gaza Strip, airstrikes have killed 200 people and injured 2000 — these are figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. And these are clearly not the final figures."
Cairo, October 11, TASS: "At least 60% of those injured due to Israel's strikes on the Gaza Strip are women and children, reported the Palestinian Ministry of Health."
Chronology of Deliberate Incitement of Antisemitism and Anti-American Conspiracy Theories:
Moscow, October 22, TASS: "The United States is satisfied with the escalation in the Middle East and the conflict in Ukraine, and their next step could be provoking tension in the Asia-Pacific region, stated Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry for Special Assignments on Crimes of the Kyiv Regime. 'They are completely satisfied with what is happening in the Gaza Strip now, where international humanitarian law is totally violated, and a huge number of people are dying,' he said on Solovyov Live."
October 22, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"The war against the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip is being led by the United States of America, claimed Khaled Mashal, the movement's leader abroad."
October 25, 2023, TASS:
"Interreligious and interconfessional harmony is the foundation of Russian statehood, any other position is anti-Russian, noted Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with representatives of all traditional Russian confessions...
The conflict 'may spill far beyond the Middle East.' Some forces are trying to 'play on national and religious feelings' to 'provoke further escalation, draw as many other countries and peoples into the conflict as possible.' This could trigger 'a real wave of chaos, mutual hatred.' 'Such, so to speak, politics have been implemented for a long time, long before the current crisis.' The current exacerbation 'is fraught with the heaviest and extremely dangerous, destructive consequences,' so it's important to 'stop the bloodshed and violence'...
To contain the development of multipolarity in the world, the West habitually 'uses the same means — Islamophobia, antisemitism, Russophobia.' 'Muslims are incited against Jews, calls for war against the infidels are made, Shiites are pitted against Sunnis, Orthodox against Catholics, in Europe they turn a blind eye to blasphemy and vandalism.' In addition, in the West, 'Nazi criminals and antisemites are officially glorified,' and in Ukraine, 'actions are taken towards banning the canonical Orthodox Church, deepening the church schism.'"
October 30, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting to discuss Western attempts to use events in the Middle East to divide Russian society. The meeting was attended by the entire leadership of the country, including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Chairwoman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, and Secretary of the Security Council Nikolay Patrushev.
Only Putin's introductory speech was in the open format:
— It is the current ruling elites of the USA and their satellites who are the main beneficiaries of global instability. They derive their bloody rent from it. Their strategy is also obvious. The USA as a world superpower — everyone sees and understands this, even through trends in the global economy — is weakening, losing its positions. The American-style world, with one hegemon, is crumbling, gradually but inexorably receding into the past.
But the States do not want to reconcile with this, on the contrary, they want to maintain, extend their domination, their global dictatorship, and in conditions of universal chaos, it is more convenient to do so because through such chaos, they plan to restrain, destabilize competitors, as they call them, their geopolitical adversaries, to which they include our country, but in reality — new centers of world development, sovereign, independent countries that do not want to humble themselves and play the role of lackeys."
Moscow, October 31, TASS: "State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip with Vahid Jalalzadeh, Chairman of the Iranian Majlis Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy, as reported on the State Duma website...
'Washington does everything to create more tension in different corners of the world. Through this, it tries to maintain its hegemony. We see that what happened in Ukraine is solely the fault of the USA. Today, when war rages in the Gaza Strip, and children, women, and the elderly are dying, we believe that Washington is to blame,' the words of the Chairman of the State Duma are quoted.
— Emphasis on the death of Christians and Muslims at the hands of Jews:
October 18, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
“As a result of the inhumane strike by the Israeli army on the Baptist hospital 'Al-Ahli' in the Gaza Strip, about a thousand people have died, many of them children and women, including Palestinian Christians. Bodies of the dead and wounded Palestinians continue to be recovered from the rubble. The world was shocked by images of a small, bloodied girl sitting next to her dying mother. Against this backdrop, there is a real celebration in Israeli social networks. Jews are rejoicing and congratulating each other on the 'final solution to the Palestinian question,' not realizing how they themselves have become true Nazis and executioners.’"
— Putin's 'Permission' to Hate Jews:
October 18, 2023, TASS:
"Russian airplanes armed with Kinzhal complexes begin patrolling over the Black Sea, announced Russian President Vladimir Putin, responding to journalists' questions after his visit to China. TASS compiled the main statements by Putin.
The strike on the hospital in Gaza is a 'terrible event, hundreds killed, hundreds injured.' It may become a signal that 'this conflict needs to end as soon as possible, at least to reduce it to the possibility of starting some contacts and negotiations… There is practically no readiness to develop the conflict, to turn it into a large-scale war'... Russia has always advocated for the independence of Palestine: 'As for the creation of a Palestinian state, we have a principled position, it is not related to today's crisis at all, although, of course, it brings this issue to the surface.'
On October 17, Arab media reported that during the strikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force in central areas of Gaza city, some rockets hit a hospital. Hamas stated that more than 500 people died and hundreds were injured as a result of the strike. However, according to the statement of the Israeli Defense Forces press service, a powerful explosion in a Gaza hospital was the result of a failed rocket launch from the Palestinian enclave. The IDF blamed the Islamic Jihad organization for this."
— Branding All Jews as 'Nazis and Executioners':
October 21, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
"The inhumane strike by the Israeli army on the Baptist hospital Al-Ahli in the Gaza Strip has already killed about a thousand people, many of them children and women, including Palestinian Christians. Bodies of the dead and injured Palestinians continue to be recovered from the rubble. Images of a small, bloodied girl sitting next to her dying mother have circled the globe. Against this backdrop, there is a real celebration in Israeli social networks. Jews are rejoicing and congratulating each other on the 'final solution to the Palestinian question,' not realizing how they themselves have become true Nazis and executioners. Tsargrad examined the policy of genocide practiced by Israel, which led and is leading to this outcome."
— Spreading Conspiracy Theories About Israel Planning the October 7 Attacks to Eradicate All Palestinians:
October 8, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Israel was preparing for a military conflict in the Middle East, and used the Palestinian attack as a pretext to declare war officially, stated Oleg Ivannikov, member of the NP 'Military Nobility of Russia,' reserve lieutenant colonel, and candidate of historical sciences, to aif.ru. According to the expert, this is why Tel Aviv did not arm the Kyiv regime...
Israel is considered the unequivocal beneficiary of the war. 'This explains the inaction of Israeli intelligence and special services, which not only did not prevent the raid but indirectly assisted it with their silence. This is evidenced by the ease with which Israeli leadership adopted the word 'war' into their speech, a term that is odious and traditionally avoided or left for opponents to use first by politicians worldwide. Israel pretends to have been poorly prepared to repel the enemy's raid. In fact, we see that the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] impeccably planned and conducted mobilization, which would have been impossible without the participation of the government and all existing departments,' Ivannikov added."
October 13, 2023, TASS: "The situation in the Gaza Strip, which remains under Israeli blockade, is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster. The Israeli Defense Forces have called on Gaza residents to evacuate to the southern part of the enclave within a day."
October 21, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
"The situation around the Gaza Strip is escalating day by day. The unstoppable avalanche of dramatic and bloody events in Israel threatens a major war in the Middle East and, possibly, a world war.
No Place for Mercy
Experts will long ponder why Israeli intelligence and the IDF missed the October 7th invasion of thousands of Hamas militants into Israel. Many are convinced that Israeli forces deliberately allowed Hamas to carry out the bloody raid to get a solid reason to finish off Hamas and the Palestinians, who, even if not members of this group, hate Israel fiercely.
Israel's strike on the Al-Ahli Baptist hospital in the Gaza Strip, called a crime against humanity by Palestinian authorities, indicates that Israel will stop at nothing to destroy everyone, including civilians, in the enclave, whether through a ground operation or continued barbaric indiscriminate bombings."
Ankara, October 24, TASS: "Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes that the mass killings of civilians in the Gaza Strip have reached the level of genocide, but the international community is unable to counter Israel's 'illegal attacks.' He wrote this in a letter distributed by his office on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the founding of the UN."
Moscow, October 26, TASS: "The complete blockade of the Gaza Strip declared by Israel is comparable to the Siege of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War, but the situation in the Middle East is 'more brutal,' believes Sergei Stepashin, Chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS)."
October 28, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
"So, Israel's long-promised ground operation in the Gaza Strip has practically begun. And there is no doubt that its true goal is not the fight against the nefarious Hamas, but the complete eradication of the 2.5-million Palestinian enclave, regardless of the losses for the IDF and the casualties among Palestinian civilians."
Moscow, October 28, TASS: "The destruction of the Gaza Strip and the expulsion of 2 million residents from the enclave will create a catastrophe for decades, if not centuries. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with the BelTA agency."
— Spreading the Thesis of Israel Preparing for the Arrival of the 'Antichrist' and Accusing Jews of Killing Jesus Christ — Classic Antisemitism:
October 23, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
"But there's another context to the current events, highlighted by Mikhail Tyurenkov, head of the ideological department at Tsargrad, talking about the already mentioned signs of the approaching Judgment Day: 'We, Orthodox Christians, according to the Holy Scripture, do not and cannot know the 'times and seasons' of Judgment Day. We only know that it is approaching, and there are more and more signs of it. We must admit that the actions of the State of Israel are one of the factors hastening the End Times.'
Explaining his thought, Mikhail Tyurenkov added: 'According to Christian doctrine, Jews were indeed the chosen people. Until they not only rejected the Messiah-Christ but did everything to ensure the incarnate Lord was killed by a terrible execution through Crucifixion, publicly proclaiming ‘His blood be upon us and on our children’ (Matthew 27:25). It's no coincidence that in 70 AD, the Second Temple in Jerusalem, which had transformed from an Old Testament sanctuary into an anti-Christian shrine, was destroyed by the armies of the pagan Roman Empire, which had already become the Katechon, holding the whole world from absolute evil and that very End Times, according to Saint Apostle Paul.
Since then, Christians and later Muslims have shared the eschatological judgment that the End Times will come after the Jews build the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the antichrist (referred to as Dajjal in Muslim tradition) will reign.
But now, this mount houses two Muslim shrines — the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The construction of the Third Temple is impossible without destroying them. Therefore, as long as Palestinian Arabs (among whom, by the way, there are many Orthodox Christians) prevent this, the reign of the antichrist-Dajjal is impossible. Just as without the destruction of the only Orthodox state — Russia, the Third Rome, which became the Katechon in the 15th century after the fall of the Roman Empire (more commonly known as the Byzantine Empire),' Mikhail Tyurenkov reminded.
At the same time, according to many Christian prophecies, not all Jews will accept the rule of the antichrist at the End Times. Therefore, it's no coincidence that some Orthodox Jews today support not the ultranationalist Jewish State of Israel, considering it liberal and godless, but the Arabs suffering from it, added our interlocutor."
— Prokhanov's 'Work' as a Collection of All Antisemitic Stereotypes Common in Russia:
October 26, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
"Journalist and political analyst Alexander Prokhanov gave his assessment of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
'The events in Gaza are a prison uprising and a bloody suppression of this uprising. The Nazis brutally suppressed the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. Afghan Islamists mercilessly crushed an uprising of Soviet prisoners of war at a prison near the Pakistani border. Today, Israel is brutally suppressing the uprising in Gaza,' the author believes.
The journalist notes that 'in 1948, the Israeli state fell on Palestinian lands like a meteorite, burning space around it, leaving a gaping crater. Since then, Israel has been driving Palestinians off their ancestral lands, filling camps with Palestinian refugees, and stuffing its prisons with Palestinian rebels. The Palestinian people are a martyr people, a warrior people, a herald of justice. The clash of Palestinians with Israel is a clash of the oppressed with torturers and executioners.
Zionists say: in 1948, Israel came to its historical homeland. The Bible describes how this 'historical Homeland' was created. Led by Moses, the Jews did not come to an empty place or a bare desert. They came to lands inhabited by flourishing peoples — the Canaanites, with cities, and olive groves. And the Jews put Canaanite cities under a curse, killed the Canaanites en masse, put them under iron axes and steel saws, threw them into pits with unslaked lime,' wrote Prokhanov on his Telegram channel."
"The Canaanites were exterminated with the same cruelty with which Gaza is now being exterminated. Gaza is a city of martyrs. Gaza is a gas chamber where children and the elderly suffocate in agony. If you want to understand what godlessness and cruelty are, look at the ruins of Gaza, which are oozing blood, and every stone cries out in the voice of a murdered child, every fragment of a wall is filled with the prayers of murdered women and the elderly," noted Prokhanov.
"Israel was nurtured by America. Billions of dollars go from America to Israel, nourishing the Israeli army and establishing a regime in Israel that pleases America. Palestinians, fighting against Israel, are fighting against America. The Russian army, fighting in Ukraine, is fighting against America. America is an enemy of Palestine and an enemy of Russia," said the journalist.
According to Prokhanov, "Palestinians, by rising up in Gaza, have distracted America's might onto themselves, which moved its aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Middle East, and under Kupyansk and Avdiivka, it became easier for Russian soldiers. Hamas's attack on Israel, burning Merkava tanks, captured Israeli generals — all this has shattered the myth of Israel's invincibility.
I was in the Gaza Strip and saw how this prison is arranged. Gaza is surrounded on the land border by a huge concrete wall. The wall is covered with barbed wire, with towers mounted with machine guns, photo elements, and night vision devices. And anyone who falls into the sight of this deadly optics, be it a person, cow, or bird, is killed by automatic machine guns. Israeli military boats patrol day and night at sea, intercepting Palestinian fishermen trying to fish. Palestinians, fighting the blockade, dig underground passages, break through tunnels under the concrete wall. Through these tunnels, food, clothing, valves for water pipes, electronics for communication, and weapons of uprising enter Gaza," noted Prokhanov.
The journalist shared: "In Gaza, I prayed in a 5th-century Christian church, attended lectures at the Islamic University, met Russian wives of Palestinian engineers, doctors, teachers who studied in the Soviet Union, and now their children living in Gaza speak Russian. With Palestinian women, I planted an olive grove near Gaza. And now among the olive trees, there is my tree, and Israeli rockets fly over it, its leaves torn by the blast wave. This tree is mine. This tree is me. And I am all in shrapnel.
Gaza is being killed in front of humanity's eyes. And humanity babbles about compassion, about divine justice, convenes the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, bombs and missiles incinerate Gaza. And the blood of Gaza is on all humanity. Picasso painted a great picture of Guernica about a city destroyed by fascist bombers. Gaza is the Guernica of our days," believes Alexander Prokhanov."
— Spreading the Conspiracy Theory by the Late Prigozhin and Zhirinovsky About the Extermination of Ukrainians for the Settlement of Jews in Ukraine:
October 29, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
"Among the well-known personalities who made predictions about the future fate of Israel was Yevgeny Prigozhin. And he spoke about this quite recently, in April of this year.
The topic was touched upon when the creator of Wagner commented on secret Pentagon documents regarding America's attitude towards the Kyiv regime in the context of the Russian capture of Bakhmut. To recap, Western advisors insisted on leaving the city, but it was important for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to show the defense of the 'fortress' regardless of casualties. In the end, the losses of the AFU in Bakhmut were unprecedented.
That's when Prigozhin expressed his views on the true attitude of Americans towards Ukraine. Prigozhin had a conversation with representatives of the Democratic Party in Washington, and they proposed a 'creative solution to the Ukrainian problem.'
This is not just changing the political orientation of Ukraine, but a full, total reduction of the population, at least to 3-4 million people, and then settling it with friendly people, well, for example, transferring these territories to Israelis, — Prigozhin revealed truly sensational information.
Now the Net is buzzing — did the head of Wagner disclose American plans to resettle Jews to a new place? This version fits well with the predictions that Israel as a state will soon disappear altogether."
October 29, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
"It is hard to imagine something worse than a third world war. The whole world understands that if it starts, it will be nuclear and hardly anything will remain of the planet, except for ashes. And whoever survives will envy the dead. Israel, apparently, decided to forget about this.
In his time, the founder of the LDPR, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, gave the following forecast:
'By 2024, a conflict will flare up in the Middle East, and everyone will simply forget what Ukraine is because Iran is not North Korea, not Vietnam, not Kosovo. Here will be the most terrible events. We are talking about the third world war.'
And it seems he was not wrong again, noted Tsargrad observer Vadim Yegorov. The cauldron is being stirred heavily. A joy for someone. Expecting seasoning through the addition of fresh blood.
Now the IDF is trying to level residential areas in the Gaza Strip, killing thousands of peaceful Palestinians — women, children. Israel has no intention of stopping. On Friday, the IDF's ground operation in the enclave began — the glow of fire from strikes on Gaza's districts and the massacre staged by Jews horrified the whole world...
Tsargrad political observer Andrey Perla commented on the situation: 'Well, Israel has begun an operation after which — in the best case for itself — it will never wash off accusations of genocide.'"
Chronology of Messages about the “Weakness, Helplessness, and Division of the West”
October 17, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"'Brussels is just the beginning.' A veteran of 'Alpha' warns Europe of rising terror.
Experts attempted to decipher the mysterious terrorist act in Brussels, during which the killer tried hard but failed to draw the attention of the security forces...
According to Sergey Goncharov, President of the Association of Veterans of the Alpha Anti-Terror Unit, … the tragedy was not due to the failure of the Belgian special services but deeper problems in European politics. 'It's hard to talk about the failure of the Belgian special services. In European countries, failure happens every day. Half of the migrants who came to their countries live in an illegal status. There is absolutely no work with them. Anything can happen in this situation. If homes where Jews live are being marked in Europe, it's a sign that they should prepare for consequences. The special services are disoriented, they don't know what to do. The more the situation in Palestine and Israel worsens, the more they will receive attacks in their countries. So, Brussels is just the beginning of their 'creative path',' Sergey Goncharov explained to aif.ru."
October 23, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Over the past weekend, mass rallies in support of Palestine were held in Warsaw, Paris, and other European cities, where blatantly antisemitic statements were made. According to political analyst Sergey Markov, European society is divided — the population supports the Palestinians, while the authorities of European countries support Israel."
October 31, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"German businessman and journalist, CEO and co-owner of media group Axel Springer SE, Mathias Döpfner stated that Jews have begun fleeing Germany as they no longer feel safe in the country."
Chronology of Condemning “Double Standards” and Equating the “Donbas” to the “Gaza Strip”
October 11, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"The Israeli military has set up a blockade of the Gaza Strip and is demonstratively destroying residential buildings there, diverting their citizens' attention from the intelligence failure that missed the Hamas militants' attack, believes Major General Sergey Lipovoy, Chairman of the Presidium of the 'Officers of Russia' organization, Hero of Russia...
According to him, the UN will not help Palestine as it has lost objectivity and started serving the US. 'The UN deliberately turns a blind eye to what is happening. Just as they did to what Ukraine did to Crimea and Novorossiya — destruction and genocide of its own people. They blamed it on Russia's machinations, accusing it of crimes it did not commit. These Western institutions need a complete overhaul; their goals and purposes must be reevaluated. If they operate in the political interests of certain states, then they are biased institutions of individual countries,' added Lipovoy."
Vienna, October 11. TASS: "The aggressive stance of Western countries that blocked the work of the 'Quartet' of international mediators in the Middle East has led to the current bloodshed in the region. This was stated by Yulia Zhdanova, a member of the Russian delegation at the talks in Vienna on military security and arms control."
October 14, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Countries of the collective West are demonstrating double standards in relation to the Arab-Israeli conflict, stated Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov on his Telegram channel."
UN, October 31. TASS: "Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, pointed out the difference in the situation in Ukraine nearly two years into the conflict and in the Gaza Strip after just three weeks of hostilities.
'Today, you are vociferously talking about the destroyed Ukrainian cities and the alleged indiscriminate Russian strikes. I urge you not to be lazy and to go online to read Ukrainian news and watch television — there, you will see many reports about the restaurant and club life in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and other Ukrainian cities. State institutions, other municipal buildings are mostly functioning normally, public transport is running, schools and hospitals are operating, of course, except for those facilities damaged by Ukrainian air defense, as we have already said today and not only today. And this is after nearly two years of the special military operation we started to stop the war of the Kyiv regime against the people of Donbas,' he said, speaking at the Security Council on Ukraine."
Chronology of Pogroms and Their 'Crisis Condemnation'
October 28, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"About 500 residents of Karachay-Cherkessia gathered in the main square of the republic in Cherkessk demanding restrictions on the entry of refugees from Israel, reports the Sapa Kavkaz Telegram channel."
October 29, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Residents of Kabardino-Balkaria set fire to the Jewish Cultural Center in Nalchik, reports the Mash Gor Telegram channel."
October 29, 2023, Tsargrad TV:
"Military blogger Yuri Podolyaka addressed the enraged crowd in Dagestan, which caused disturbances at the Makhachkala airport. 'You are no defenders. Defenders do not behave this way,' he noted.
Podolyaka strongly condemned the Dagestanis who broke into the airport platform in an attempt to prevent the arrival of refugees from Israel in the republic.
He stated that beating up Jews fleeing the war is not bravery or patriotism. It's an act that tarnishes the image of the republic and its truly brave soldiers, currently fighting in the special military operation."
Moscow, October 30. TASS: "The events at the Makhachkala airport are largely the result of external intervention, including foreign information influence, stated Russian President's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov to journalists."
October 30, 2023, Argumenty I Fakty:
"Pogroms and calls for violence against Jews due to the actions of Israeli authorities in the conflict with Palestine are unacceptable, stated Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov."
Novo-Ogaryovo, October 30. TASS: "The riots in Dagestan were inspired through social networks from abroad, including by Western intelligence services from the territory of Ukraine, stated Russian President Vladimir Putin at a major meeting with members of the Security Council, government, and the heads of security agencies, prompted by the situation in the North Caucasian republic.
Opening the meeting, the head of state noted that the current events in the Gaza Strip 'cannot be justified by anything,' but called for not being guided by emotions. He emphasized the responsibility of the United States for the current conflicts, calling them 'the root of evil' and 'the spider', and urged those wishing to protect the Palestinian people to join the fight against 'geopolitical puppeteers' as part of the special military operation."
Photo: Getty Images
