Russian disinformation campaign rallies Canada’s far-right enemy within

The Russian invasion of Ukraine should put into perspective what a real “dictator” looks like for those who took part in the Freedom Convoy that laid siege to Ottawa in recent weeks. What it doesn’t look like is the guy occupying the PM’s office in Ottawa whom they disparagingly refer to as a “tyrant” or “Blackface Hiltler” (sic) for invoking the Emergencies Act.

But as devastating images of Russian missiles hitting targets near major cities in Ukraine flashed across television screens in the early hours on Thursday morning, the chatter among convoy supporters and their group on social media channels was decidedly (and predictably) pro-Kremlin. 

I’m not sure how many among them saw the video footage of antiwar protests that sprung up in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian cities to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Those images showed peaceful protesters being chased, beaten, and then arrested by baton-wielding police. Some 1,700 people were reportedly detained. There were no hot tubs or bouncy castles.

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It’s clear that convoy protestors and their supporters have an unflattering view of communism, or what they think communism stands for. FYI, communism doesn’t exist anymore. Totalitarianism, however, is another story. Still, they raced to blame NATO or Joe Biden—when they weren’t blaming Justin Trudeau—for the crisis in Ukraine. Joe is “an old fart” and “Justine” is a “drama teacher” seem to be the prevailing views.

By contrast, they admire Russian president Vladimir Putin’s cunning and seem attracted by his hypermasculinity. Most also share his autocratic and anti-LGBTQ views and the idea that the West is out to crush Christianity. Freedom? Their version looks like authoritarianism.

Most of them are too young to remember the Cold War or have probably never read The Communist Manifesto, whose co-author, Karl Marx, espoused the view that violence is “the midwife of history”.

But long before Putin fired a shot in Ukraine, he was laying the ground war for his assault on the West. Only, it wasn’t with ground troops but in cyberspace. 

It started with the influence-peddling campaign online that led to the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and later unleashed a near–civil war in the United States. Today, it’s aligned itself with the far-right and given birth to an enemy within.

As Russia continued its incursion in Ukraine, convoy supporters online were spouting familiar Putin talking points found on Russian Television—and now increasingly among leading Republicans stateside—as their counterparts in the U.S. prepared for another mass protest over COVID mandates in Washington, D.C. As if we don’t have enough to worry about with war and a pandemic. An overarching theme seems also to be “not our war, not our problem”.

Ronald Reagan called on Mikhail Gorbachev during the Cold War to “tear down that wall” dividing East from West. Today’s GOP and its friends at Fox News embrace a Russian dictator who wants to return his country to its former glory as head of a Eurasia spanning from Eastern Europe to India.

While Canada’s Conservative party establishment has yet to fully adopt the death-cult mentality of the GOP, a large part of its base certainly runs in the same circles and trades in the same conspiracies online.

Where will those individuals stand when the conflict in Ukraine, god forbid, turns into a full-scale war in Europe? 

The Russians have long been masters of disinformation. They practically invented it. The state-run Novosti Press Agency, the former Soviet Union’s propaganda arm, was created to spread the idea of communism around the world—and keep dissidents among the population at home in check. 

The 143-page booklet entitled What Is Communism: Questions And Answers was published by the agency’s publishing house in 1961 at the height of the Cold War just before the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was specifically aimed at American readers “who desire first-hand information on the theory and practice of communism”. 

Among the questions posited is this one on page 25: Is communism a totalitarian regime? It offers that the picture painted by the West of “the ‘dictatorship concept,’ by the state’s interference in ‘personal and family life,’ by the omnipotent ‘political police’ …[is] an awful picture, indeed.”

It goes on to explain: “A totalitarian regime pre-supposes the existence of a ruling clique in the country, a kind of caste, whose interests contradict those of the people. But in the socialist state, the people themselves wield power governing the country in the interests of the whole nation through their direct representatives.”

That may have been the idea but it’s safe to say that’s not the way it turned out. Oligarchs run the show in Russia. 

And while moves to open up the economy under perestroika brought wealth and the former USSR closer to the rest of the world, Russia under the current president has in recent years become increasingly authoritarian and more isolated. Putin, a disciple of KGB-era communism, has shown no scruples about changing the rules to continue as leader indefinitely or jailing dissidents and political opponents to maintain his grip on power.

When protesters poured out into the streets in St. Petersburg and Moscow on Thursday to signal their opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin was rolling out the red carpet as part of a state visit for Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, another nuclear actor in his axis against NATO. Xi Jinping in China, with whom Russia signed a “friendship agreement” recently, and Ali Khamenei in Iran are the others as he challenges the world order in Ukraine. India may be next to join Putin in his quest to redraw lines on the global map.

Here too, Russia’s propaganda machine has been working overtime in recent years to sell the narrative that no one in NATO came to the aid of Muslims when the U.S. was bombing Syria and Afghanistan (although, Russia has its own history there), not to mention Israel-sponsored violence in Palestine. 

Trudeau didn’t mince words in a press conference on Thursday when he characterized Putin’s assault on Ukraine as “a massive threat to security and peace around the world”. 

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland described the Russian invasion as “barbaric”. Defence minister Anita Anand talked in terms of “days and months and years” in her description of the situation while announcing that some 3,400 Canadian Armed Forces “personnel” have been put on standby. 

Canada has already deployed some 1,260 troops as part of Operation Reassurance to NATO, alongside 120 gunners, two frigates, and a surveillance aircraft. 

There will be no NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine directly fighting Russian forces. But if we’re to judge by the rhetoric and movements alone, the West seems poised for war at some future date should Putin cast his gaze further West. American forces have been moved from Germany and are amassing closer to former Soviet satellite republics as Putin has indirectly threatened to avail himself of the nuclear option.

“Yes, it is a moment of grave danger,” said Freeland. “It could be an extremely serious challenge if Russia succeeds and we can’t let that happen. It would be devastating for the world and it would be really bad for Canada.”

Sanctions won’t be enough to deter Putin, even as stock markets crashed in Moscow, this week delivering a blow to the Russian economy. 

Trudeau was asked on Thursday if the world is dealing with an “irrational actor”. He dodged calling Putin’s incursion “an act against democratic principles”. But it seems clear. Putin’s stated rationale for his “special military operation” is to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

Some Russia-philes believe Putin has not sold his war to the Russian people—which would be ironic because he has certainly sold it to the far-right here—and may have backed himself into a corner.

We woke up to a changed world on Thursday. For those who remember the Cold War era, it’s a familiar feeling. For those among the pro-Putin crowd, I recommend page 106 of Novosti’s guide to communism. It’s on freedom of conscience.

@enzodimatteo