Russian attempt to control narrative in Ukraine employs age-old tactic of 'othering' the enemy

Vigil lanterns at the Bitter Memory of Childhood monument commemorating the Ukrainian famine Kirill Chubotin / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Controlling the narrative has long been crucial to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war against Ukraine.

In the worldview he promulgates, the U.S. is an “empire of lies,” the West is bent on “tearing apart Russia,” and Ukraine is a “Nazi-run” country whose statehood is a historical fiction.