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In the swampy world of war, the Kremlin’s propaganda apparatus tries to be ingenious in disguising, albeit timidly, some atrocities committed on the Ukrainian battlefield.
In this sense, the embassies are distributing a video on the Internet in which they play with irony the “benefits” provided by “Mother Russia”to attract Europeans to this scenario of inconsistencies.
The video, lasting only 1.10 minutes, promotes the country by listing the benefits of living there.
Mention yours the “delicious gastronomy”, the “historical richness” and the splendid Russian “ballet”as well as “world famous writers” and “unique architecture”.
Also, with questionable sexist bias, mentions his “beautiful women”.
In another section he talks about “hospitality”, “traditional values” and points out that it is a country “without erased cultures”, exposing the faces of young people of different ethnicities. He doesn’t forget, of course, the vodka.
The most interesting is the reference it addresses the problems that Europeans are facing due to the war initiated by Russia itselfsuch as the increase in gas and electricity tariffs.
In this case, the video delivers a Russia with “cheap gas”, “cheap electricity and water” and “cheap taxis”.
Furthermore, he argues in a mockery of Western powers that he “an economy capable of withstanding thousands of sanctions“.
The ending, with a sarcastic tone, indicates the growing fear in Europeans: the arrival of winter with scarce gas supplies. “Time to move to Russia. Don’t be late … winter is coming”, Closes the video with the Russian flag flying.
A mixture of certainties, malice, derision and a lot of perversion if we take into account that many of these problems were caused by the Kremlin itself with its decision to invade Ukraine.
An economy in crisis
If you look closely at the Russian economy, there are not many data that allow you to take the situation with irony. While it is true the sanctions did not cause an economic collapsedeep cracks appear predict a collapse of the main indicators.
There was no accident thanks due to the high price of the raw materials it produces. Paradoxically, Russia benefited from the unusual increase in commodities.
There is a steady stream of funds that are helping the government alleviate the internal crisis. Sell gas, oil, grains, minerals and more.
“Despite the historic sanctions, the fall in default and the uncertainty generated by the war, Russia appears to be holding up better than expected, at least in the short term. In the long run, the economy looks doomed, ”explains Vicente Nieves in The Economist from Spain.
Ilya Matveev, a Russian socialist economist who is part of the Posle editorial team, in an interview with the magazine Nueva Sociedad, gives a fairly clear vision of what is happening: “The sanctions did not cause the collapse of the economy. However, I would say that the impact of the sanctions on the Russian economy has been dramatic, and this in the medium and long term the impact will be completely devastating“.
The great engine of the Russian economy at this critical time was the increase in production of Petroleum. Bloomberg explains it it increased by 7% in June due to domestic demand and above all mixed buyers from Asia.
Matveev stresses that “it is impossible for Russia to develop under this type of sanction regime”.
“It cannot develop at all due to the collapse in imports of all kinds of goods and services advanced by the West and many countries that are not geographically in the West, such as Japan and South Korea. Not being able to import those advanced goods and services means that Russia cannot advance technologicallyand that the gap between Russia and the rest of the world will widen, “he says.
In another section, the economist explains that “up to two thirds of Russians have no savings and can only buy what they need for food and clothing. Buying durable consumer goods is extremely difficult for them. “
“Russia is a poor country and now, in addition, it has sanctions that will further destroy the lives of workers”, Details Matveev.
Biting video avoids these topics. We already know: propaganda, like war, has no heart.
Daniele Vittar
Source: Clarin
