But in recent weeks, the massacre in both Russia and Ukraine blamed internationally on Russia's forces made us think about Moscow's reaction.

Is there a playbook for how the Kremlin spreads disinformation when it's at the center of a global outcry?

We have found free tactics that it has used again and again.

First up spreading confusion with massive amounts of misleading information.

The aim appears to be to muddy the waters for those who want to know more.

Yeah, Russia's mass deployment of this information and propaganda has a long history by now.

That includes its attempts to influence the 2016 us elections.

It's on Twitter Facebook Instagram, YouTube and Tiktok and usually the tone is aggressive and tries to deflect How propaganda works is that it's not always 100% lie.

It's usually would take some percentage of true fact in each country.

Joe Ukrainian forces shooting captured Russian troops.

These claims have been largely ignored by Western powers.

How do you explain a ban on kiddies from this country act international exhibitions.

So what you're saying is that things just aren't adding up as they as they should, especially what the western media is saying.

Yeah, I think the major, the major strategy that we see there is casting doubt is questioning everything.

And the propaganda aim of propaganda is to uh, to see this doubt that this impression that arises, That, you know, there is no truth.

The truth is an illusion that we can see it from different angles.

Many pieces of this information even contradict themselves.

When Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny fell sick on a plane in 2020, suspicion quickly fell in the Kremlin for possibly ordering his poisoning.

Mm hmm.

But according to Russian officials, Navalny poisoned himself and was working with America's C.

I A While.

Russian doctors give an entirely different explanation.

According to a balanced diet.

Investigative report, suspected Russian spies confessed to lacing Navalny's underwear with poison with many different versions of the same story.

A lot of contradictions arise, but these contradictions don't really matter.

The goal is not a coherent narrative but rather to sow uncertainty as to the truth with all these views out there, Who knows what's right?

It's basically the main instrument uh, presenting unpleasant things inside Russia itself would like really kill Navalny.

We are effective enough to do so well to kill him.

So it was, it was not, it was not us because otherwise he would be there for a long time ago.

So if he would like really to fight the war in Ukraine the key, it was an our hands because we are so well being a military machine and so on.

So we just offers several contradicting questions and yes, people's minds are confused adding to the confusion is another tactic often deployed by Russian propagandists copying the look and feel of current media reports from respected outlets when the BBC and the new york times used open source investigations to learn more about the killings perpetrated in boots, to Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry, she had videos that pretended to use a similar approach.

However, Mr Zelensky did leave out many photos of the deceased wearing white armbands.

The Russian government and pro Russian accounts claimed the situation was staged and that somebody's were moving at DW investigation, found no proof.

The massacre in Buka had been staged in any way copying the style of trusted, well known news outlets and tactically pretending to use the same investigative methods makes it harder for audiences to work out what's actually true.

Another element of Russia's reaction to Western critique seems to be to turn the allegations around rather than defend itself.

It shifts the focus through attacks, bold responses of strength and disinformation like this is how they view the world in general, so you should be strong no matter what, How can you show that you are strong by telling I don't care about your opinion.

So Mirroring is just One of the techniques used to show that you are strong.

Like I don't care if you find my arguments convincing after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Western nations hit Moscow with sanctions, Russia hit back with sanctions of its own banning many food products from europe and the US This move actually heard everyday Russians as food prices grew, the Kremlin even went as far as destroying food already imported in the country, a display of strength and indifference to Western sanctions.

The same defiance is visible now in Putin's reactions to the West's much more severe sanctions against Russia as well as weapons for Ukraine And after opposition leader Navalny was poisoned in 2020, Putin stressed that if the Russian government with all its power actually wanted someone dead, it would of course succeed with the cancer, a tweet from the Syrian civil war takes it further rather than defend itself against the criticism of the support it has provided to the assad regime here.

Russia takes a key Western critic with made up evidence.

In 2017, the Russian Defense Ministry accused the us of covering or colluding with ISIS combat units in Syria.

But the pictures in the tweet, we're not even from Syria, but Iraq and one picture wasn't from a war at all but a screenshot from a video game.

The Kremlin spokespeople also tend to attack opposing views, moving the focus away from the allegations themselves, they like to imply or point out that the West is just as bad as it accuses Russia of being this narrative can be found scattered for different pro Kremlin sites, often with misleading information.

You might not get suspicious when you read about a fake popular uprising or this fake article about the George Floyd protests.

But all of these websites can be linked to Russia.

The false narratives they spread are taking on a life of their own Vladimir Putin's strategy seems to be working every time they are faced with criticism and even officials?

They are trying to turn it the other way around.

So on one hand, they silently acknowledge that okay, you can you can have these arguments.

But what about this issue in this particular eu member state?

And what about you in the west?

What about the U.

S.

Not respecting the rights of black people for example.

So they are trying to twist it, turn it link it to something problematic which is going on in individual european or western societies.

A hallmark of Russia's use of disinformation and propaganda is its big picture purpose and the use of history to try to legitimize Russia's actions no matter the costs.

Yeah, I think what has to understand that propaganda is something that is very like long term thing.

It is a built over years.

It is kind of it's something that in fact builds like the whole other world view like a filter on on on a reality.

This means delegitimizing those who might be perceived as the enemy within the propaganda narrative by labeling them as nazis or terrorists.

The Kremlin has called its invasion of Ukraine.

Not an invasion, but rather a special operation to disarm Ukraine of Nazis and fascists.

Rt's editor in Chief, even linked europe and its response to Russia to the Nazis of World War Two and Russia to the persecuted, jews like why is this obsession with Nazis, why all these rhetorics from the World War Two, from the time after the World War Two denazification demilitarization.

Um yes, that's uh that's all actually has to do with Instrumental ization of the past that has been going on in Russia in the past years.

That the regime instrumental eyes is the memory and the trauma of uh the Second World War Two.

Um to mobilize people more broadly, Russian propaganda portrays Western nations as failing in general predicting their downfall.

Today, we discussed the decline of the american empire in the new global order.

We ask, what does the transition from a uni polar western hegemony to an interconnected, multi polar world?

Really look like there is largely widespread narrative that the Western era is going to the, to an end that West is in decline.

Israel uh realistic.

The war in Ukraine has now put the Russian disinformation campaign into overdrive at home.

Anyone who questions the Kremlin narrative risks being gagged, blacklisted or thrown into jail abroad.

Russia often successfully manipulates the international media landscape, leaving the public confused and leaders in the West slow to react with Russians increasingly unable to access independent information.