r/europe • u/kyoukidotexe Europe • 1d ago
News Russia launches propaganda campaign in Europe “Russia is not my enemy”
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/4028250-russia-launches-propaganda-campaign-in-europe-russia-is-not-my-enemy.html2.2k
u/Forzelius Estonia 1d ago
Narrator: it is
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u/oneplusetoipi 1d ago
A country that is killing, raping, stealing from, subjugating, genociding, hacking, polluting, undermining governments from other countries is my enemy.
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u/Ciordad 1d ago
Now come on, what alternatives are available, if we’re ruling out killing, raping, stealing from, subjugating, genociding, hacking, polluting, undermining governments from other countries?
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u/Lari-Fari Germany 1d ago
Why is „not my enemy“ running a propaganda campaign in my country? Is that what friends do?
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u/Familiar-Self5359 1d ago
It's not so much "propaganda" as it is "informative," comrade. Soon you'll get to know the truth...once they tell it to us from the Kremlin.
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u/No-Refrigerator-1672 Latvia 1d ago
Just don't forget to check back each week for the updated version of Truth™.
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u/MrSoapbox 1d ago
Russia has been my enemy since 2004 when they would invade my randoms with bullshit cheating premades in warsong gulch. Actually probably even before that with their rampant cheating in CS, because they’re incapable of fighting with skill. A bit like in Ukraine where the troops can only take on civilians and children.
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u/Lifting_Pinguin 14h ago
I am a swede with a history interest, as far as I am concerned Russia has been my enemy since 1700.
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u/MikeTheDude23 Portugal 1d ago
Just from yesterday attack 23 dead 4 of which were children. Fuck Russia and fuck whoever supports them. Pure evil cunts.
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u/LurkingWriter25 1d ago
Audience: Russia is, in fact, my enemy.
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u/Gjrts 1d ago
I'm in Norway. They keep emptying water reservoirs and cutting subsea cables.
Looks like an enemy to me.
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u/InEenEmmer 1d ago
As a Dutch guy I will never forget MH17 and how Russia tried to avoid responsibility for that attack on civilians.
Fuck the Kremlin, they are the enemies of anything that resembles humanity
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u/Mars_target Denmark 1d ago edited 1d ago
But it is.
Good, let them waste their money on this.
Edit: I see a lot of replies with people giving examples of russians doing this with success. I am from Denmark, and in my echo chamber, we are fairly united with a broad political coalition that sits heavy on the center. We are not vulnerable to Russia propaganda as much as in countries with powerful right-wing parties. We hate Russia and what they represent with a passion, and I think that is partially why we dont see a lot of influencing campaigns here because they know its a waste. But yes, it would be foolish to underestimate them.
More F16s to Ukraine!
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u/Xibalba_Ogme Brittany (France) 1d ago
The problem is that some people repeat it for free
If you want to use Kremlin's talking points, at least get paid for it
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u/AppropriateOwl1370 1d ago
A guy in our city has put up posters in his window with Russian/AFD talking points.
He is a registered voter. Are you?
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u/Mars_target Denmark 1d ago
Registered vote riles me up... Why the hell do you have to register to vote?
In Denmark, every legal citizen over the age of 18 automatically receives a ticket in the mail with location and timerange some weeks before an election. You go to the ballots, ID yourself, hand in the tickets, and you get the voting paper.
Everyone can vote, no barriers.
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u/Scarred_Ballsack The Netherlands 1d ago
Saaame. Why would you need to register to vote? The government already knows your citizenship status and place of residence. Why does there need to be another barrier?
Well of course we know why, it's because if less people vote, that makes it easier to corrupt the election system.
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u/BulkyBumblebee Germany 1d ago
Unfortunately I'm not sure if it's actually wasted, seems to work on too many people...
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u/throwawayy992 1d ago
Yep. Russian flags now are pretty much a staple of right wing rallies nowadays
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u/DryCloud9903 1d ago
In Lithuania people "hunt" even the tiny russian flag on their car plates, if they somehow manage to get through.
The aim of the hunt - reporting to police.
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u/throwawayy992 1d ago
For Germany, it's another story. Our government wants to remove renewable energy in order to gain more dependence on cheap gas, which only Russia can provide. Simultaneously, rhetoric was boosted towards AfD, the russian sponsored pro kremlin party.
Voices to end support for ukraine come from all sides of the aisle now. Refugee support was cut, similar to Poland. Russian money, originally given to ukraine to finance defense efforts, now is held back in the name of deescalation.
Large influence campaigns by russia have convinced both public and politicians to dial down aid.
Germany will elect AfD next, as many voices in CDU demand a switch to AfD as a better coalition partner than SPD. Germany has been conquered already
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u/DryCloud9903 1d ago
Given that Germany is becoming our key defence partner (the 5000 troops by end of 2027 - thank you 👏), not gonna lie that makes me uneasy...
Are those you mention amongst politicians, still niche voices or those who've got influence over decisions?
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u/throwawayy992 1d ago
No. It basically is the main party.
- Increasing energy dependence => minister of energy, CDU
- Decision to end refugee support => chancellor, CDU
- Destruction of Schengen from within, by closing borders => minister of the interior, CDU
- voices against ukraine support: Pro dearmament (Die Linke, AfD), resumption of friendly relations with Russia (AfD, parts of Die Linke, SPD and CDU), voices for the recognition of Newrussia (=LPR+DPR; AfD)
German parties by support in the population across germany:
- CDU (25%, falling)
- AfD (22%, rising)
- SPD (14%, falling)
- Greens (10%, falling)
- Die Linke (7%, rising)
Support for AfD coalition comes mainly out of East german CDU, but some influential west Germans are proponents as well.
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u/IndubitablyNerdy 1d ago
They also line the pocket of our far right parties that for some reasons, despite being nationalists (or cosplaying at being nationalists at least) are all super friedly to a foreign dictator that is invading an european nation and is threatening us on a daily basis... This also helps.
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u/BulkyBumblebee Germany 1d ago
It makes sense, they want to destabilize us as much as Putin does. I agree that their nationalism is just cosplay in that they don't actually care about what happens to our nations. At this point I think most of them just say anything to get power so that they can fill their own pockets, kinda like what's happening across the Atlantic.
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u/Mars_target Denmark 1d ago
Sorry, I live in sheltered Denmark where everyone hates Russia. I've never seen a Russia flag here, or anyone try to support the invaders.
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u/Odd_Entertainer1616 1d ago
In Germany it's very common to hear people defend Russia.
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u/IndubitablyNerdy 1d ago
In Italy as well, although it comes from a very specific side of society usually which I imagine is the the case in germany as well?
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u/_ZakerS_ 1d ago
The russian troll campaigns are some of the most cost effective operations ever made. I personally know many pro-russian people, both from the far right, the far left and sometimes moderates too. They are just a little more vulnerable than I am.
Most of the times, they are antivax or 9/11 conspirationists. Those things are deeply connected. So, I'm sorry if I don't share your optimism.
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u/New_Zebra_3844 Europe 1d ago
It would seem that the EU could create counter-Russian troll campaigns that are equally, if not more effective within the EU, no?
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u/_ZakerS_ 1d ago
But it mostly does not. Democracies, and conglomerates of democracies even more so, have much slower/inefficient decision making regarding such things. This is a major flaw in game theory. Plus, we are talking about something unethical.
Don't you dare to conclude that western democracies are worse choices than hybrid/authoritarian regimes just because of this tough.
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u/New_Zebra_3844 Europe 1d ago
I wouldn't dare. I am just wondering if (and how) the EU could control narratives, so to speak.
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u/BenXavier 1d ago
TBH they've doing this in Italy for quite some time
My concern Is that's It Is very effective per Eur (ruble) spent: It can Indeed influence distracted people who are not enough aware (or to accustomed) with what's happening in Ukr.
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u/UselessSperg 1d ago
It worked before, why wouldn't it work again? They just ruined it by attacking ukraine, which united Europe. It wasn't even that long ago, surely people should remember?
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u/john_san 1d ago
I remember before 2014 I was wondering why movies kept depicting Russia as evil… then they invaded Crimea…
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u/TheIncredibleHeinz 1d ago
It's really not a good idea to ignore this, it's unfortunately effective in parts of the population. Russian propaganda has mastered the art of exploiting the indifference of the West, we really need to stop brushing it off as if it wasn't a problem, because it is.
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u/nanna_ii 1d ago
Agreed. I am afraid they are sowing in very fertile grounds because there is already dissatisfaction with the current state. I am seeing support for Putin even in a nordic country. It's a minority but it's the same kind of crowd as MAGA, they are anti-immigrant, anti-lgtbq+, anti-science, conspiratorial and black & white thinking. I have no doubt they use these topics to deliver their propaganda.
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u/ItsFisterRoboto 1d ago
Absolutely, this works for them everywhere they try it. From Brexit to the rise of maga, the fingerprints of this manipulation are clear and people keep saying "it doesn't work" when it clearly does and clearly is.
Under every vaguely political video on YouTube, every news article and social media post, there are 100s of comments from fake accounts designed to divide people, make them feel angry and make them believe an alternate reality. It is working.
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u/adarkuccio 1d ago
It's not wasted, russia is good with propaganda, stop underestimating them.
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u/Broad-Income-9151 1d ago
Just look at what they accomplished in the United States. They took our government over by fooling a large enough % of the populace to install their puppets. Europeans are just as dumb as Americans, just in different ways and they will find ways to exploit it. The psy-ops by Russia are not to be taken lightly.
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u/ErebosGR Earth 1d ago
Good, let them waste their money on this.
Sure, since they're so bad at it...
Russia should "introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social, and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics".
Ukraine (except Western Ukraine) should be annexed by Russia. Western Ukraine (comprising the regions of Volynia, Galicia, and Transcarpathia), considering its Catholic-majority population, are permitted to form an independent federation of Western Ukraine but should not be under Atlanticist control.
The United Kingdom, merely described as an "extraterritorial floating base of the U.S.", should be cut off from the European Union.
France should be encouraged to form a bloc with Germany, as they both have a "firm anti-Atlanticist tradition".
Aleksandr Dugin, "The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia" (1997)
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u/Less_Tacos 1d ago
Waste money? The have basically decimated the US threat against them in under a couple of decades without firing a shot. Russian propaganda and foreign influence is probably the best in the world (Israel a close second). Don't underestimate them or you too could end up with a far right insane government.
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u/HerMajestyTheQueef1 1d ago
It's not a waste - it is working too well on the easily persuadable of which unfortunately seem to be a higher portion of the population than i thought.
Pretty sure most of this flag nonsense in the UK is spurred on by the likes of russian bots and shills.
A significant portion of the Scottish independence movement mysteriously vanished offline when Iran blacked out the internet when bombed by israel. The researchers convinced they were a pysops beforehand were proven right.
the Brexit vote was very close, russian shills turning just 1% of the vote would have changed the outcome and it was found they had an extensive pysops operation in that regard, it's just impossible to determine how much actual effect it has had, but certainly having an effect.
The fact that both the extreme right and extreme left always seem to be sympathetic to russia also is an indication of their disinformation success.
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u/Kiwibom 1d ago
Russia is my enemy
go f yourself putin
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u/ilimlidevrimci Türkiye Free Palestine 1d ago
Yup. Russia and all the fascists who are glazing Putin is definitely my enemy.
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u/Unique-Landscape-860 1d ago
Russia is not your enemy, it's just 3 day special propaganda operation
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u/Fastluck83 1d ago
That "Russia is not my enemy" thing would be a lot more convincing if they wouldn't act like my enemy tbh.
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u/Big-Machine9625 Czech Republic 1d ago
Europe should counter by spamming Russian media with the phrase "Putin is not my friend".
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u/fortytwoandsix Austria 1d ago
Putin is also the enemy of Russian people.
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u/longsgotschlongs 1d ago
Doesn't look so, does it?
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u/sorE_doG 1d ago
Muscovites are widely with Putin, Western cities of Kaliningrad & St Petersburg too I’d speculate.. but east of the Urals? Not so much.
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u/turbo-unicorn European Chad🇷🇴 1d ago
Even east of the Urals. I've a friend in Ulan-Ude (Buryat republic). Even though a disproportionally large number of the war dead are from that region, Putin remains popular.
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u/wgszpieg Lubusz (Poland) 1d ago
Russia is my enemy, and saying otherwise should be treason
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u/oedipussyndrome 1d ago
In Romania, round stickers have begun to appear in public spaces with "Russia is not my enemy" written on them. The sad part is that a lot of romanians believe that, after everything Russia has done to us.
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u/LojZza88 Czech Republic\UK 1d ago
"We will nuke every European capital if you even look at us wrong" - Russia
"We are your friendd" - also Russia
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1d ago
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u/GreenEyeOfADemon 🇮🇹 - EUROPE ENDS IN LUHANSK! 🇺🇦 Слава Україні!🇺🇦 1d ago
They are correct though: russia is not my personal enemy, it is our enemy.
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u/CountVlad47 Europe 1d ago
No, just Putin, his government, anyone who voted for him, anyone who fights for him, anyone who makes weapons for him, thinks well of him or supports him or his agenda in any way no matter their nationality.
Did I miss anything?
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u/GreenEyeOfADemon 🇮🇹 - EUROPE ENDS IN LUHANSK! 🇺🇦 Слава Україні!🇺🇦 1d ago
Anyone who cheers the deaths of Ukrainian civilians, anyone who is kidnapping Ukrainian children, anyone who is torturing Ukrainian prisoners, anyone who forbid the usage of the Ukrainian language in the occupied territory, everyone that drone drops grenades to Ukrainian civilians and toddlers.
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u/ROGERsvk Slovakia 1d ago
https://wplace.live/?lat=48.10479039375732&lng=17.286415684277337&zoom=14.057075479576664 even on wplaces they are spamming russian flags and propaganda, using auto-paint bots. like this Wagner guy near Bratislava. wtf
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u/LARRYVOND13 1d ago
They've been trying to kill my Ukranian pals for a while now.
Very much my enemy.
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u/BillyWillyNillyTimmy Niedersachsen (Germany) 1d ago
Huh. Why would they need an entire propaganda campaign to try to prove they’re not enemies?
Can’t they, I don’t know, show it by doing friendly actions?
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u/Mirzuirr 1d ago
I mean no amount of disinformation is gonna change my opinion on Russia at this stage and they done that themselves, for the rest of my life I'll be remembering Russia as the aggressor and attacker and to never be trusted ever again
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u/Heygen 1d ago
The thing is though that propaganda DOES work. Even if the entirety of reddit isnt stupid enough to believe it, there will be people in your vicinity who believe it. There were before the war people who claimed they can "understand putin", and there were even after the war started. It will start with just a few, but over time the amount of people who believe this propaganda will increase, and will destabilize european democracies. Even if its just 10-20% of voter base, thats enough to seriously disrupt local politics.
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u/evoc2911 1d ago
As if they needed it.. the sentiment at least in Italy is so detached from actual facts ( or worst uninterested ) I avoid any discussion about it to not feel the need to hit friends or anyone else in the face..
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u/Damunzta 1d ago
Russia made themselves the enemy, killing civilians and pissing on democracy in general.
Every collaborator can go live there. Good riddance.
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u/whooo_me 1d ago
Sure. All my friends send me threats of being nuked. It's our love language.
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u/IvanStarokapustin 1d ago
It’s a huge felony in Russia to compare Putin to Hitler. Would be a shame if the internet was flooded with that stuff instead of pro-Putler propaganda.
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u/Downvotesohoy Denmark 1d ago
It's fun that we have Russia running a propaganda campaign to take over Ukraine, and also the US running one to take over Greenland.
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u/Abject-Interaction35 20h ago
They murder my fellow citizens including children. Russia is DEFINITELY my enemy.
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u/MeMyselfAnd1234 1d ago
for how long do we know about this kind of campaigns!? at least from 2022 and the authorities are doing nothing
my bad, they want to reduce the security of the online data with their new laws like Chat control
I am just tired of hearing the obvious, while we see that those who should work in order to protect us are doing the opposite
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u/Sineira 1d ago
Russia is and has always been the enemy for the last 1000 years. They will never change.
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u/endlessdayze 1d ago
I'm in South east Ireland. A friend of mine got talking to a Romanian guy from near the Ukraine border who seemed to be very pro Russian. I couldn't understand that logic
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u/Kallian_League Romania 1d ago
Recent Romanian immigrants come from the lowest strata in our society and are very susceptible to disinformation. They are the targets of intense Russian disinformation campaigns on social media, and have been so since the pandemic.
The failures of our internal policies have created these masses of morons that have been weaponized by the Kremlin.
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u/FredTDeadly 20h ago
Then why do they make constant threats to nuke London, Paris, Berlin etc.
It seems somewhat contradictory until you realise that accusation is confession for these people.
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u/Zorothegallade 1d ago
Good, but they left out the other half.
"Russia is not my enemy, it's mankind's enemy"
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u/oddoma88 1d ago
This campaign was and is on Reddit even before the war.
I just block any websites, bot or person who is a Russian apologist.
No need to listen to evil people.
Same way /r/technology is a Chinese propaganda outlet.
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u/longsgotschlongs 1d ago
I better have russia as my enemy because I've seen what it does to its friends
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u/MrSoapbox 1d ago
Russia is my enemy. It is my country’s enemy. It is my continent’s enemy and it is also the World’s enemy, even if some are too dumb to see it.
Just because it’s a joke of a country, doesn’t mean it can’t be an enemy.
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u/keanehoodies 1d ago
Is this all because Putin feels inadquate?
Like this whole influence campaign, whats the point in the end?
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u/nah_Im_just_pathetic 1d ago
Russia, if you don't destroy my rights, to me we can be friends and go tiptopping through the tulips. But you have this very defect of being an authoritarian dictatorship. And I'm so gay. Don't think it can work out, sorry. Please reconsider.
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u/sneakyjedi123 Germany 1d ago
This is huge problem and has been for a while. I’m sure social media is the real danger and not some stickers appearing on lanterns in the cities. Huge social media networks need to ramp up their actions to minimize this threat. This is part of a holistic hybrid warfare strategy.
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u/Lofi_Joe 1d ago
Russia is terrorist.
Or You stop war and threat in EU or you're terrorist. Simple as that.
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u/Far-sernik 1d ago
We can have our own campaign and write everywhere RUSSIA IS MY ENEMY🧠
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u/openshirtlover 1d ago
It has been. I will be. Nothing will change that until the whole country changes - from the top to the bottom.
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u/ElementalistPoppy 1d ago
Russia is very much our enemy and oh so often complained about "rotten West" (despite sending kids to universities out there and investing money there).
Like, the absolute lack of shame is just insane, they're actively conducting cyber warfare, CONSTANTLY testing borders with spying provocations, attempting to swing elections and still behaving as if they were an empire, despite being rotten dictatorship armed with nukes (and this is the ONLY reason they have anything to talk about).
Fix your country first over trying to export your poverty elsewhere. Can start by actually trying to improve lives of a regular citizen instead of making it world-class thievery so big business/mafia/ex-KGB oligarchs can profit.
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u/pleasdont98 1d ago
Every single sane european knows Russia is THE enemy, and so is the united states of stupid and China
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u/Winterspawn1 Belgium 1d ago
Once Russia stops invading their European neighbors they stop being my enemy.
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u/ironflesh Lithuania 1d ago
Remember the truth is always opposite of what terrorussia claims. They are the enemy of free civilized world.
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u/Pistazieneis84 Bavaria (Germany) 1d ago
The largest country on earth, which is wasting time on real peace-talks and obviously wants to restore the old ussr-borders is telling that they are not the enemy... what a joke. Its the same like in the Mars-Attacks-Movie "we come in peace" this will happen.
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u/jlangue 1d ago
They bombed the British Council yesterday. This is after banning the British Council in Moscow years ago. What is a synonym for ‘petty terrorist’?
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u/Barlowan Liguria 1d ago
Except it is. And they can go fuck themselves. And anyone who is supporting them, I hope they get a one way ticket to Siberia
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u/madmaxGMR 1d ago edited 1d ago
Its not our enemy. Its everyones enemy.
EDIT : After writing this comment, i received a password reset request for my reddit account, even though i didnt request one. What a funny coincidence, amirite guyzzzzz ?
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u/lovely-cans 1d ago
Russia has poisoned people in European countries, killed multiple members inside of their country, let their planes and ships pass through over waters and air to probe them, invaded their neighbours, silenced politicians, swayed elections etc. . They're clearly bad.
Although I am worried about the binary positions that alot of Europeans are taking and mimicking US politics and how alot of the Ukraine war has started a trend of "othering" the civilians of other countries with terms such as "orc". Dehumanising civilians is a tactic that the Nazi's did, Israel are doing, and it has been done throughout history to make war more palpable. War is hell and when you see some of the war subreddits there's alot of people who are horny for it.
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u/medievalvelocipede European Union 1d ago
Russia is my enemy. It's also the enemy of everyone, including Russians. No one has killed more Russians that the Russian government.
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u/Natural-Net-1513 1d ago
Russia is quite literally the only actual credible threat to my nation, and I will treat any ruzzki vatnik bullshit accordingly.
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u/AdMean6001 1d ago
Russia isn't my enemy? So why is it attacking me?
Are Russians schizophrenic or alcoholic?
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u/wombat9278 1d ago
Hey everybody chil out , we want peace, a piece of Ukraine,a piece of Poland a piece of Lithuania, you get it peace.
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u/mekolayn Ukraine 1d ago
Didn't they bomb an EU delegation yesterday?