Moscow Calling – May 29

When in difficulty, Kremlin propaganda inevitably responds by pushing the narrative of possible—even probable—war in Europe while highlighting internal divisions and the ineptitude of European militaries. It claims its adversaries are nurturing “militaristic” plans and threatens to “respond.” In parallel, Moscow presents itself as a bulwark of family values, which it claims are endangered by the manifestations of liberalism and tolerance in the private lives of both its own citizens and opponents of Russian authoritarianism.

Moscow Calling is Civil.ge’s monitoring of the Russian state media. We are putting our 24 years of experience at the service of our readers who look beyond Georgia’s immediate stories.

Russian Ambassador claims Sweden prepares to move troops to the Baltic states

According to Russian Ambassador to Sweden Sergey Belyaev, the Swedish authorities are modernizing and expanding transport corridors for a possible troop transfer to the Baltic States and Finland. According to the Russian ambassador, under a defense agreement with the United States, Sweden has granted it access to 17 military facilities, which he considers a step towards “militarization” of the country. “At the same time, the final parameters of the presence of US military contingents in Sweden have still not been determined. It is possible that with the arrival of a new U.S. president in office, the plans of the previous administration, on behalf of which the defense agreement with Sweden was concluded, may be adjusted,” he concluded. Russian authorities ostensibly expressed little concern about Sweden and Finland joining NATO, but recently, observers noted Russia’s military buildup at to its northern borders. (ria.ru)

Lavrov claims ready to respond to NATO “militarization of the Arctic

Russia sees that NATO countries attempt to militarize the Arctic, and Moscow’s reaction will be “both conceptual and practical,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned at a meeting on security and cooperation in Eurasia. “If we look at the north of the continent, we record there blatant attempts to militarize the Arctic, looking for pretexts for NATO infrastructure to penetrate there,” he stressed. According to him, Russia is interested in “guaranteeing reliable security, stability, and equal development conditions for all states. We are convinced that only such a fair approach has the right to exist.”

Propagandist “warns” German Chancellor against war with Russia

Columnist David Narmania, whose articles are published on the platforms of the Russian propaganda publication Sputnik, said that Germany is one step away from war with Russia after the new Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke out about lifting restrictions on Ukraine to launch attacks on Russian territory. According to Narmania, the explosion of the German-made Taurus missile on the Russian territory will “put an end to peaceful Germany,” as Russia would consider it a belligerent state. The propagandist speculates that Germany will be more than France and the UK, which previously authorized strikes on Russia with their weapons, since Berlin has “neither nuclear nor hypersonic weapons.” And besides, since Germany is not a nuclear power, the author notes, “Russia’s conflict with Germany does not threaten to become a prologue to the end of the world (except for Germany).” (ria.ru)

Kaja Kallas “The Baltic Barbie”- Russian propaganda rails aginst EU Black Sea strategy

Russian media responded to a statement by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Affairs Kallas on the establishment of a maritime security center in the Black Sea to monitor potential threats and protect critical infrastructure by amplifying hostile comments from social media. “Kaja Kallas, the Baltic Barbie on a NATO leash, has just announced a new strategy in the Black Sea. She forgot that Russia determines any strategy in the Black Sea,” RIA Novosti quoted a social media post. Another one read: “Today you have decided the fate of Odessa … it will return to Russia.” Russia’s Black Sea Fleet may be badly battered, but its bravado is, seemingly, intact. (ria.ru)

Europeans will eliminate Macron: propagandist’s pipe dream

Russian propaganda master on military and political issues, Dmitry Yevstafiev, claimed that French President Emmanuel Macron may be “physically removed” due to growing contradictions within European elites. “Politicians may not depend on the mood in society, but business is the first to feel these changes. Business, among other things, provides orders for the work of the media. I don’t want to say that an order to bring Macron down has already come in. Still, there are signs,” Yevstafiev brooded. To evidence contradictory actions of European leaders, the propaganda publication EADaily even quoted GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement that Europe is “dominated” by “Deep State.” (EADaily, radiosputnik.ru)

“Brutal Georgian mercenaries” trope lives on

“Georgia sends quite a large number of mercenaries to Ukraine. And the most important thing is that they are characterized by very great cruelty,” Russian military expert Yuri Knutov says, without citing evidence. According to him, the number of volunteers from Georgia, the US, Poland, and the UK fighting on the side of Ukraine is “in the thousands.” (news.ru)

Putin the family values man

Vladimir Putin once again showed himself to be a defender of family values. He said: “Genuine family values for us, for Russia, its citizens remain immutable, no matter who tries to challenge or cancel them in the modern world”. This time, he did not make clear who was robbing Russians of family-related values; the culprits are already very well known to Russian citizens. Liberal and military elites at home and abroad take the blame. (TASS)