Russia's missile bluff: Unmasking Putin's propaganda game
Russia conducted a propaganda operation involving the Oreshnik missile to intimidate the West. A special brainstorming session was held at the Kremlin, resulting, among other things, in the infamous phone call to Maria Zakharova during a press conference, where she didn't turn off the microphones. The event concluded with a planned appearance by Putin.
On November 21, Russia attacked Ukraine, testing the Oresznik missile system. President Vladimir Putin stated that the goal was to intimidate the West, which supports Ukraine. According to the "Moscow Times" portal, this was a propaganda campaign carried out in stages.
As the portal reports, a "brainstorming" took place at the Kremlin with the participation of PR specialists. The goal was to respond to the Americans' and Britons' consent to Ukrainians using long-range weapons. They wanted to "scare Berlin and other Europeans into submission," says an informant.
Finally, a multi-stage propaganda campaign was developed. At the Kremlin, they aimed to instill exaggerated perceptions of the capabilities of Russian military equipment. The key stage was to present a film of the Oreshnik strike and ensure the recording reached social media.
It is known that Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, participated in the propaganda efforts, among others. During the well-known conference, she received a phone call without turning off the microphone. She was instructed not to comment on the attack on a military facility over the Dnieper. The caller was reportedly Alexey Gromov, the first deputy chief of staff of Putin's administration.
Some of those who were in the brainstorming sessions were particularly proud of that stunt, says one of the informants of the "Moscow Times" portal.
The participation of Vladimir Putin was planned for the closing phase. At the summit of the member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, he praised the missile's properties. He claimed that there is no equivalent in the world and that its power can be compared to nuclear missiles. None of the CSTO countries were informed about what the Russian president intended to convey.
The summit was supposed to address member-state issues. However, the boss [Putin] essentially hijacked the public agenda and used it to threaten Zelensky's allies, says a "Moscow Times" informant.
Informants from the portal claim that Russia does not have a stockpile of Oreshnik systems. Mass production, due to bureaucracy and technological backwardness, may take many years.
