July 27, 2023 | The Telegraph
Putin has opened a sinister new front in his war against Britain
If London hopes to defuse the Kremlin’s information operations, it must start by giving Moscow a taste of its own medicine
July 27, 2023 | The Telegraph
Putin has opened a sinister new front in his war against Britain
If London hopes to defuse the Kremlin’s information operations, it must start by giving Moscow a taste of its own medicine
Excerpt
The Russia-Africa summit began in St Petersburg today. To welcome delegates, Vladimir Putin wrote an essay on the Kremlin website asserting that Russia was always there to support the African people “in their struggle for liberation from colonial oppression”. In doing so, Putin reverted to a common refrain in which Britain is demonised as a coloniser.
Yet, unlike Britain, Russia today remains a colonial power. Its strategic goals in Africa include ousting Western influence, acquiring vital ports and access to natural resources, and using the region to evade sanctions imposed by the West. Wielding Russia’s military presence in Africa via the Wagner Group, the Kremlin has attempted to secure these key objectives by conducting information operations that stoke anti-Western and anti-colonial sentiments.
Ivana Stradner is a Research Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow her on Twitter @ivanastradner. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.