Invoking Nuremberg to label EU elites as “Nazi”

What it claims

European leaders’ calls to prepare for war with Russia are cast as proof that Europe itself is preparing a war against Russia, while Moscow’s statement that it has no such intention is passed off as unquestionable. The anniversary of the Nuremberg Tribunal is used to label EU elites as bearers of “Russophobia” and Nazism. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is simultaneously portrayed as protecting people and upholding the UN Charter.

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.

• Europe is preparing a war against Russia, although Russia does not intend to fight Europe.

  Russian Embassy in Poland (Telegram), 27 Sept 2026 · Archived copy

• EU elites have not learned the lessons of Nuremberg and promote “Russophobic” and Nazi ideas.

  Russian Embassy in Poland (Telegram), 27 Sept 2026 · Archived copy

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Goal

To persuade Polish citizens with low trust and nationalist-conservative views to see European governments as aggressors and to question support for Ukraine.

Techniques used

• Appeal to Fear / PrejudiceEurope’s preparations for war are presented as a direct threat to Russia.
• Reductio ad HitlerumReferences to Nuremberg and a “Fourth Reich” are used to equate European elites with Nazis.

The real grievance it exploits

The narrative exploits Poles’ understandable fear of war in Europe, distrust of EU elites’ decisions, and historical memory of Nazi crimes and the Nuremberg Tribunal.

How to counter

• Fact-check: The Nuremberg Tribunal tried leaders of Nazi Germany for specific crimes. Referring to it does not, by itself, establish guilt by contemporary politicians or institutions.
• Technique exposure: When present-day disputes are reduced to imagery of Nazism, separate emotional labelling from verifiable facts and the specific decisions under discussion.

Sources (all time)

• Russian Embassy in Poland (Telegram)Tier 2373 subscribers
  2 posts · 27 Sept 2026

  • 27 Sept · Archived copy
  • 27 Sept · Archived copy