In today’s postmodern world, it is not facts that matter, but their interpretation. Parallel interpretations replace the truth, and in the post-truth world, real circumstances influence public opinion less than emotional reactions and subjective perceptions. The gap in trust between the ruling classes and societies, the formation of an environment of skepticism, a parallel reality, the blurring of boundaries with fact and truth and their emotional subjective interpretation, are skilfully filled by Russian propaganda, which constantly attacks the brains of Europeans.
Just a few minutes after the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during an off-site government meeting in the city of Handlova, Russian news channels reported Fico’s “death” and traditionally blamed Ukrainian “neo-Nazis and terrorists”. Their masters are the Western political class, which allegedly “fed” the “terrorist regime” in Kyiv.
No matter how events unfold in reality, Russia will multiply versions, spread the most fantastic conspiracy theories, constantly attack the brains of citizens, target and segment audiences, and spread different versions.
Euroskeptics will be convinced that this membership in the European Union and active support of Ukraine leads to the uncontrolled spread of violence and terrorism, endangering the lives of peaceful citizens.
Extreme supporters of conspiracy theories will be convinced that Fico is trying to be removed by a secret transnational government.
After all, a huge number of the most insane theories should sow chaos, mistrust and fear of the future.
This is the main goal of the huge secret war that Russia is waging against Europe and on which it has spent billions of euros.
Russia has already deployed a huge network of disinformation channels, an army of bots on all popular social networks, party groups, or local communities, and formed an army of experts and pseudo-leaders of alternative public opinions, which will relentlessly attack the brains of citizens.
The key goal is to break the trust between societies and political classes (“no one can be trusted”), to maximally segment society and split it, to paralyze and intimidate the passive majority with apocalyptic threats like the inevitability of the third world war. That is why immediately after the first shots were fired, Russia revived the zombie story of Gavril Princip’s assassination of Austrian ex-Duke Franz Ferdinand near Sarajevo in the Balkans on 28 June 1914, the event that triggered the devastating First World War.
Now Russia is actively imposing the idea of an inevitable virtual Third World, into which short-sighted European politicians are pushing the world. But societies have the right to choose and can already remove bad politicians during the upcoming elections to the European Parliament by supporting those who, for example, like Fico, are against providing weapons to Ukraine and against supporting Ukraine in general.
The factor of an attempt on Fico in this information and psychological war came in handy for Russia just in time. Moreover, if there had been no attempt, it would have been necessary to invent or organize it.
The Russian trail, which in recent years has been observed in rampant chaos, sabotage, murders, and terrorist attacks organized by Russian special services in Europe, especially in central Europe, is the first thing that comes to mind when you analyse events based on the principle of “who benefits.” First of all, the information about the closeness of the 71-year-old lone terrorist to the pro-Russian paramilitary group “Slovenski Branci” is symptomatic.
Oddly enough, Fico, who is generally perceived as a “pro-Russian politician” and has always expressed skepticism against supporting Ukraine, was not such an obedient tool in the hands of Russian imperialism as, for example, the neighbouring prime minister of Hungary, Orban. It is not known whether there was a financial component in Russian-Slovak relations (and political corruption and bribery are a key tool in the formation of the agency), but Russia is no longer satisfied with the passive position of its supporters. Russia needs active actions, so it will use the attempt on Fico as a signal to other pro-Russian politicians not to take the position of “yours and ours”, but to follow the Kremlin’s instructions without fail. Otherwise, anything can happen. There is no shortage of bullets and “polonium” in Russia. Having paid for the feast of its sinecure for decades, Russia reminds us that it is time to pay back with favours or our lives.
After all, Russia will soon try to shift the arrows and sow Ukrainophobia among the inhabitants of Europe, saying that after “the bloody coup d’état in Ukraine, terrorism has become a common phenomenon for Ukraine and a tool that is now exported to Europe.” The European special services and politicians understand that the usual tirade about the “Ukrainian trail” and even another emergency meeting of the UN regarding the attempt on Fico, is nothing more than switching from a sick head to a healthy one, replacing the sequence of causes and effects. But they are not the key audience. There will be no common language with this Europe, its worldview and its political class, which Russia has been trying to bribe and corrupt for decades. Therefore, it is worth turning the table, and it is even better to break it, destroying European unity. And here any methods are acceptable for Russia, including terrorism. Having mastered the technology of organizing high-profile terrorist attacks on the eve of his elections in Russia, Putin is ready to transfer the terrorist war “to the territory of the enemy” and transfer cold aggression in the form of information and psychological special operations to a hot war.
Intending to paralyze the activities of the current Western political elites, who are sensitive to the change of public opinion, which is so skilfully bombarded by Russia with fakes, lies and parallel reality, Russia is actively working to disrupt the Peace Summit, making it impossible to adopt consolidated decisions. That is why any operations are carried out, quite often under foreign flags, “darkly” playing on the feelings of dissatisfied citizens. Therefore, the number of Russian sabotage, disinformation and radicalization measures, not excluding terrorist ones, will only increase. Well, of course, there is always a nuclear club in stock, a threat to “repeat” the bloody occupation after World War II, which, of course, will be called another “liberation”…
