Portrayal of the West as a “historical aggressor” to justify modern Russian policy

What it claims

Russian official outlets exploit historical tragedies and modern legal disputes to label the US and NATO as systemic violators of international law. By drawing parallels between the nuclear bombing of Japan and the war in Ukraine, the audience is nudged toward the conclusion that Western support for Kyiv is a continuation of a tradition of “war crimes” against civilians.

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.

• The atomic bombing of Nagasaki was not a military necessity but a cruel test of American weapons on humans, for which the US has still not been held accountable.

  Russian Embassy in Berlin (Telegram), 9 Aug 2026 · Archived copy

• Ukrainian troops, supported by NATO, use Western equipment to commit terrorist acts and atrocities against the civilian population in the Kursk region.

  Russian Embassy in Berlin (Telegram), 7 Aug 2026

  t.me/RusBotschaft/18113

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 undermine the West's moral authority in the eyes of German society and sow doubt about the legitimacy of supporting Ukraine by presenting NATO as a threat to global security.

Techniques used

• Appeal to Fear / PrejudiceA detailed description of the horrors of the Nagasaki nuclear explosion is used to incite fear of modern US weapons.
• WhataboutismReferences to the events of 1945 and disputes over the seabed serve to distract from Russian aggression in Ukraine.

The real grievance it exploits

The manipulation relies on the deep-seated fear of nuclear war in German society and historical guilt over past conflicts, as well as a critical attitude toward American hegemony.

How to counter

• Reframe: Russian diplomacy uses the memory of World War II victims as a propaganda tool, attempting to draw false parallels between historical events and its unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.

Sources (all time)

• Russian Embassy in Berlin (X)Tier 264,257 followers
  2 posts · 17 Aug 2026

  • 17 Aug · x.com/RusBotschaft/status/2089366647345917991
  • 17 Aug · x.com/RusBotschaft/status/2089356681524158572
• UNN — Unabhängig-Neutrale NachrichtenTier 322,557 subscribers
  2 posts · 16 Aug 2026

  • 16 Aug · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28326
  • 16 Aug · t.me/unabhaengig_neutral/28323
• Russian Embassy in Berlin (Telegram)Tier 220,660 subscribers
  5 posts · 6–19 Aug 2026

  • 19 Aug · t.me/RusBotschaft/18224
  • 10 Aug · t.me/RusBotschaft/18133
  • 9 Aug · Archived copy
  • 7 Aug · t.me/RusBotschaft/18113
  • 6 Aug · t.me/RusBotschaft/18102