Ukrainian troops inside Russia? Meh, it’s the ‘new normal’ Putin’s propaganda says

Kyiv: Vladimir Putin’s regime has launched a propaganda campaign describing the presence of Ukrainian troops on Russian soil as the “new normal”.

The Kremlin’s messaging is directed at the local Russian population and suggests that Moscow expects the surprise occupation of its territory to last for months.

Ukrainian soldiers are seen outside a shop in Sudzha, Russia. Early this month, Ukrainian forces made a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region from where Russia has been forced to evacuate more than 130,000 people. Credit: Getty Images

As Ukraine expands its military gains in the Kursk region, the Russian government has been trying to downplay the significance of the incursion, which began more than two weeks ago.

The new propaganda effort is designed to paint the occupation as the “new normal” to settle the public mood, the independent Russian outlet Meduza reported, citing government sources.

The use of the word “normal” is reassuring, even if it is expected to be temporary, the Meduza report argued.

Moscow has also been trying to justify its continued military focus on eastern Ukraine, where Russia is still advancing, over the expulsion of Ukrainian troops in Kursk.

It comes as tracking via satellite imagery shows new fortifications, such as anti-vehicle ditches and trenches, being installed on the Russia side of the border.

Russia has also begun installing concrete shelters in Kursk city, 120 kilometres from the occupied town of Sudzha, with more planned for other cities in the region.

According to Ukraine, its forces are still advancing in Kursk, having now reached as far as 35 kilometres into the region and controlling 93 settlements.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that the goal is to create a “buffer zone” inside Russia.

The digging of bunkers is a good indication that Russia is expecting Ukraine’s occupation to continue for some time, Konrad Muzyka, an independent defence analyst and the director of Rochan Consulting, told the Telegraph.

Ukrainian forces are yet to set up defensive lines, a US official told ABC News on Wednesday.

A recent Russian opinion poll found that public anxiety had spiked since the Kursk operation, with 45 per cent of respondents reporting “anxious moods” in society.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new propaganda effort is designed to paint the occupation as the “new normal”.Credit: AP

However, Jade McGlynn, a research fellow at King’s College London and the author of Russia’s War, said that it was still at manageable levels and mainly contained to the border regions.

The Kremlin strongly believes that it can get the public to accept almost anything, she said, because there is widespread apathy and depoliticisation in Russia.

“Most Russians are not happy about what’s happening, but they also are not that invested if it is a long way from where they are,” McGlynn said.

“The message is: ‘There is nothing for you to see here, just get on with your life’.”

In contrast to the reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when Ukrainians quickly mobilised for the war effort, there have been no patriotic surge from locals in Kursk.

Ukrainian military personnel man a checkpoint on Russian territory in Sudzha, Russia.Credit: Getty

“Putin has not been humiliated, yet there is also not enough anger at the Ukrainian operation to persuade people to join the fight,” McGlynn said.

Muzyka said: “If you listen to people in Kursk, they blame NATO, Ukraine or international powers. This is a reflection of how successful Russian propaganda is at painting the war as an extension of an East-West struggle.”

“Many already believe that it is not Ukraine under attack, but Russia, that this is a defensive war. The Kursk operation feeds into that.”

Domestic propaganda has attempted to paint it as a Western operation run by mercenaries and to redirect their fears towards humanitarian support for Kursk residents.

Meanwhile, the messaging has focused on Russian successes in Donbas, where its forces continue to advance.

Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk, said that 133,190 people had left or been evacuated from the region.

Putin has said that Moscow will deliver a “worthy response” to the Kursk incursion, which he has described as a major provocation.

The Telegraph, London

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