Putin Always Accuses Others of Doing or Planning What He is Doing or Planning Himself, Preobrazhensky Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 11 – There is at least one constant in Vladimir Putin’s behavior: he invariably accuses others of doing or planning to do what he has done, is doing, or plans to do himself, an effective propaganda tactic but a dangerous practice that allows others to see or predict exactly what his actions are or will be, Ivan Preobrazhensky says.

            In what the Russian analyst says is a “classical” move for Putin, the Kremlin leader “always accuses his opponents of crimes which he himself is planning or has already committed” even though that means that ever more people around the world will see Russia as the terrorist state he accuses others of being (dw.com/ru/kommentarij-putin-razbusevalsa/a-63402871).

            Accusing Ukraine of terrorism for blowing up part of the Kerch Bridge, Putin feels perfectly free to attack Ukrainian targets including ones that no one would  describe as military – schools, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure and thus makes himself and his country into the terrorists he seeks to describe others as being.

            That will work for some who seem unconscionably willing to accept almost anything the Kremlin leader says or does in what can only be described as a cult like fashion. But his approach and their have become so transparent because of their repetition that others can see what is going on even if he and they will not admit to it.