Why Putin's propaganda 'doesn't live on' in Britain - response from a prominent journalist

British journalist and correspondent of The Guardian Luke Garding is one of the few foreign reporters forcibly expelled from Russia after the Cold War. He was placed on the Kremlin's blacklist after publications exposing the actions of the Russian authorities. In an interview with Slawa.tv, Garding spoke about the influence of Russian propaganda, British attitudes towards the war in Ukraine and the reasons why Donald Trump remains the most pro-Russian president in US history.

Why Russian propaganda is not taking root in the UK

According to Garding, there are at least two reasons for this. The first is the historic sense of justice and British sympathy for the weaker side:

This is not a conflict of equals. Russia, a big military power with vast territory and resources, is trying to destroy a smaller democracy. Supporting Ukraine is perceived as an element of fair play," the journalist explains.

The second reason, he believes, is much more personal for the British - the experience of their own clashes with the Kremlin's methods:

Russian assassins came to our country to eliminate their dissidents. This has shaped attitudes: it is realised here that Putin is a KGB man, which means he lies all the time. He has no moral constraints to eliminate anyone he considers an enemy.

This is why, Garding believes, Russian disinformation does not resonate widely in Britain, unlike in other countries where public perceptions of Russia may be less unequivocal.

As Socialportal wrote, contemporary Russian ideology claims to be both the heir to the USSR and the Russian Empire. This contradictory eclectic combination, which Vladimir Putin uses to explain his invasion of Ukraine to both the Russian people and the outside world, for example in a notorious interview with Tucker Carlson, is far from historically accurate. However, the Russian authorities probably consider it sufficient for external aggression and internal mobilisation. For more details on the nature of contemporary Russian ideology, see Socialportal.