Portrayal of Russia as a “peaceful power” victimised by Western provocations

What it claims

Russia is presented as an exclusively defensive state that has been systematically betrayed and provoked by NATO and the West for decades. This manipulation justifies the aggression against Ukraine as a forced “border protection” measure and seeks to absolve the Kremlin of responsibility for starting the war.

Target audience

Examples (paraphrased)

We paraphrase rather than quote: propaganda's exact wording is built to spread, so we carry the claim and not the craft. Each example cites the post it came from.

• Russia has never attacked Europe in history, only defended itself against aggressors like Napoleon or Hitler, and today it is merely protecting its borders.

  UNN — Unabhängig-Neutrale Nachrichten, 15 Jul 2026

  t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/27908

• The West broke a 1990 oral promise against NATO's eastward expansion, forcing Russia to act after years of patience and ignored peace proposals.

  UNN — Unabhängig-Neutrale Nachrichten, 15 Jul 2026

  t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/27910

We link archived copies rather than the posts themselves, so that checking our work sends no traffic to the source. Where a platform cannot be archived, we print the post's address instead of linking it.

Goal

To shift the blame for the war onto the West, undermine support for Ukraine in Germany, and sow distrust towards NATO as an “aggressive” bloc.

Techniques used

• Causal OversimplificationReducing the causes of the war solely to NATO expansion while ignoring Russia's imperial ambitions.
• Appeal to Fear / PrejudiceWarnings of a nuclear conflict where “everyone will lose everything” if the West does not stop supporting Ukraine.

The real grievance it exploits

The manipulation exploits a deep-seated fear of a major European war within German society, historical guilt, and existing scepticism towards US foreign policy.

How to counter

• Fact-check: No legally binding promises against NATO expansion ever existed; every sovereign state has the right to choose its own security alliances under the Helsinki Accords, which Russia also signed.

Sources (all time)

• UNN — Unabhängig-Neutrale NachrichtenTier 322,557 subscribers
  18 posts · 14 Jul – 18 Aug 2026

  • 18 Aug · Archived copy
  • 12 Aug · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28281
  • 12 Aug · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28276
  • 11 Aug · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28264
  • 5 Aug · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28195
  • 5 Aug · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28194
  • 4 Aug · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28177
  • 29 Jul · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28088
  • 29 Jul · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28086
  • 28 Jul · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28067
  • +8 more
• RT DETier 126,429 subscribers
  2 posts · 22 Aug 2026

  • 22 Aug · t.me/rt_de/80796
  • 22 Aug · t.me/rt_de/80794
• UKR LEAKS (German)Tier 332,496 subscribers
  2 posts · 9–12 Jul 2026

  • 12 Jul · t.me/ukr_leaks_de/15386
  • 9 Jul · t.me/ukr_leaks_de/15356
• Russian Embassy in Berlin (Telegram)Tier 220,660 subscribers
  2 posts · 17–18 Aug 2026

  • 18 Aug · t.me/RusBotschaft/18220
  • 17 Aug · Archived copy