Really disturbing descriptions of the atmosphere in Moscow from a former Reuters reporter:
The Orwellian reality in Moscow is mind blowing. Russia is not at war in Ukraine. Russia offers a ceasefire to war that does not exist.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Moscow disinformation today is on hyperdrive. The regime feels in existential threat should a sunny public holiday become an anti-war march.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Moscow feels today like a super Minsk meets a gigantic fake Southbank and the early stages of Nazi Germany. There is no truth here.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
The poor are being whipped up into a frenzy of nationalist aggression by state TV whilst the wealthy have been zombified by giant Southbank.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
In the giant fake Southbank: free balloons, free drinks, free bouncy castles, free everything and anything fun and cool ever seen in Europe.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
On Red Square for the poor out of towners: Stalinist teeshirts of Superputin and fake stands raising money for the Donbas fighters.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Class thinkers to the end – Kremlin are running disinformation and bread and circuses for the wealthy, the oligarchs and the poor at once.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Russia is imposing "self sanctions" on its population to make it seem the Russian people is under attack from the West: not only the elite.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Russian authorities in private discussion: "Sanctions will rally around nation don't even try. Sanctions will only harden Putin majority."
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Russian authorities know Western sanctions – minimal, few banks, visas, credit lines – but they must create sense attack on all Russians.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Understood as a piece of political technology to create a sense of crisis – the food bans make perfect sense – its about Russia not West.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Russian TV propaganda at people lies about the Western sanctions: making it seem as if the West banned the food, wants to ban the cars.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Russia can lie so easily about Western sanctions: because the amount of people here who actually know what these are is less 1-3% nation.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) September 6, 2014
Sounds like we need a reset ASAP! Someone get foreign policy Einstein Hillary Clinton on the bat-phone!!