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On December 19, 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a grand press conference on the year's results. For more than two hours, he answered questions from Ukrainian and foreign media journalists on the air about weapons, mobilization, and the continuation of the war. He responded expressively to questions about domestic politics, but at the same time, he spoke broadly about his vision of Ukrainian victory. If at the beginning of 2023, Zelenskyy said that "he is sure of victory this year", now he said that he does not observe any visible results in the advancement of Russian troops. Russian and pro-Russian anonymous Telegram channels reacted to the theses of the Ukrainian president and his answers to journalists: they denied the words that refer to the specific successes of the state and predicted that Ukraine would not "exist" for long.
On the same day, but a little earlier, the Russian president attended a meeting of Russia’s Ministry’s of Defense collegium. Obviously, it was done to block Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appearance and draw the attention of the anonymous Telegram channels to the propaganda theses, which would later nullify the statements of the Ukrainian side. At the meeting, Putin told that the West continues a "hybrid war" against Russia, and the occupying forces show "unprecedented" enthusiasm. In the meantime, the Russian side "fails"to record logistical and economic issues during the war. Moreover, Putin said that he did not change the goals of the "special military operation", e.g., a full-scale invasion and genocide of Ukrainians. Putin concluded with a promise: the priority task for the next year is to continue the war until the "set tasks" are fully fulfilled. Therefore, Putin is not going to stop the war and will resort to any means to keep the captured positions.
Detector Media analyzes what the anonymous Telegram channels wrote about Zelenskyy's press conference and how it was compared to Putin's speech. Moreover, we aim to understand what the latter, using the primitive and classic theses of Russian agitational propaganda, seeks to achieve.
"Punishers of mobilization in Ukraine"
One of the first questions Volodymyr Zelenskyy received from journalists, which was instrumentalized in anonymous Telegram channels, was about mobilization into the Ukrainian army. The question asked about the comprehensive plan of mobilization measures and the appeal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyy, regarding replenishing personnel. Zelenskyy said that he received a proposal to mobilize another 450-500 thousand people, which will cost "an additional 500 billion hryvnias".
Anonymous Telegram channels began to accuse Ukraine of being a "military meat grinder", explaining that now it will not be possible to escape from "burialization" [burying + mobilization]: neither children, nor older people, nor women. Regarding the last category, some cited the drafting of the draft law, made public by People's Deputy Maryana Bezuhla, who is known for her scandalous posts on social networks about Valeriy Zaluzhnyy and calls for his firing. In the published possible legislative novellas, Bezuhla mentions that women suitable for military service are put on the military register of conscripts. At the same time, during martial law, women are recruited to combat positions only voluntarily. Later, on her Facebook page, the member of parliament published a survey asking whether women and men are ready to renounce Ukrainian citizenship if they do not want to mobilize. She also explained the norms of the draft law on the mobilization of women, supporting the publication with photos of the then-future film actress Marilyn Monroe, who worked at a military plant during the Second World War.
Read also: Zelenskyy: Mobilization will cost Ukraine an additional 500 billion hryvnias
During the press conference, propagandists speculated on this thesis and added that Ukraine is ready to mobilize women. Marginal Telegram channels also resorted to conspiracy rhetoric that eventually, children would go to the front. But Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he would not sign the draft law with clauses on the mobilization of women. Regarding the reduction of the conscription age to 25 years, if there are "strong arguments", he can agree.
"Here is the answer to why there was this hype about the mobilization of women from Bezuhla. Zelenskyy needed to receive favorable feedback from his press conference," one of the Telegram channels explained the initiative of the People's Deputies; allegedly, everything was planned in advance to "soften" the impression of the event. They do not foresee that each People's Deputy can submit and create different draft laws of their own initiative. For example, earlier in the Parliament, People's Deputies tried to regulate "esoteric education".
According to our observations, the issue of mobilization in anonymous Telegram channels was given the most significant importance: this topic is one of the Kremlin’s cornerstones. Therefore, if the propagandists paid attention to the press conference, they mainly appealed to the mobilization process and used almost all sections of the population to demonstrate the "oppressive" policy of the Ukrainian president.
Read also: Zelenskyy's press conference: You should also have a headache
Pro-Kremlin resources continue to discuss the topic of mobilization, to hint at the exhaustion of the military, the lack of personnel, and that Ukraine needs to "resort" to radical solutions and mobilize women as well. Interestingly, Zelenskyy also called the figure of 450,000 a "severe" one, which means that he expressed doubts about whether it is necessary to mobilize so many people at the moment. Telegram channels mainly presented it as a fact and tried to manipulate it, writing in the headlines about the mobilization of "half a million" and even avoiding the range from 450 to 500 thousand people, which Zelenskyy called out. After all, it sounds more frightening that way.
"Zaluzhnyy the scapegoat"
Volodymyr Zelenskyy's relationship with Valeriy Zaluzhnyy was also not overlooked. We have already repeatedly described reports about the so-called conflict between the state authorities and the army leadership. In short, agitational propaganda talks about a particular "competition" between the president and the commander-in-chief — allegedly, Zaluzhnyy wants to take Zelenskyy's place, get rid of him, outdo him in political games, etc. According to propagandists, the Office of the President is trying to prevent Valeriy Zaluzhnyy's actions and initiatives that could increase "his support among Ukrainians."
During the press conference, the Ukrainian president replied that he has a "working relationship" with Valeriy Zaluzhnyy and that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the General Staff are "responsible for the outcomes on the battlefield."
Read also: Volodymyr Zelenskyy: "I have a working relationship with Valeriy Zaluzhnyy"
But Telegram channels that broadcast pro-Kremlin rhetoric interpreted this answer in their own way: they began to claim that Zelenskyy wants to blame "all the troubles" on the commander-in-chief. Allegedly, he seeks to force society to associate Zaluzhnyy with an "inefficient military man" and, at the same time, accuse him of defeats on the battlefield:
"Zelenskyy hints that Zaluzhnyy is underperforming. He does it to give people the impression that the commander-in-chief represents something bad and negative. In principle, it is what Ze is trying to do."
The propagandists are again trying to use the "conflict" topic, and this time, they used Zelenskyy's quote as proof that, after all, he wants to remove Valeriy Zaluzhnyy from office and put someone more loyal to the government in his place.
Read also: Disinformation review: "Valeriy Zaluzhnyy will be a good replacement for Zelenskyy"
The Kremlin henchmen summarize Zelenskyy’s answer about Zaluzhnyy in this way: "We should expect the personnel decisions regarding Zaluzhnyy (e.g., his dismissal — DM’s note) right before the New Year’s Eve."
Such rhetoric is beneficial for Russians to sow discord and chaos among Ukraine’s highest power echelons, as well as to intimidate Ukrainians with the fact that they will allegedly face "tumultuous times" during the process of the "seizure" of power by the commander-in-chief. Earlier, the Kremlin spread a fake that Zaluzhnyy has called for a military coup, allegedly saying that one should not obey the "criminal orders of the current authorities".
As usual, other theses about the press conference in anonymous Telegram channels were isolated and did not form the majority.
"Balanced, calm and ‘not a rag’"
After the event, anonymous Telegram channels compared Zelenskyy and dictator Putin based on the results of the latter's visit to Russia’s Ministry of Defense. They mainly explained that Putin "spoke as befits a real leader", and the Ukrainian president, according to them, turned the whole event into a "performance". In confirmation of such theses, they appealed to the part of the speech where Volodymyr Zelenskyy answered Inna Vedernikova’s, the editor of the political department of the publication Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, questions. At first, her questions were about the work of the government, but then she asked a few additional questions. Zelenskyy answered sharply and got into an argument with the journalist.
Read also:
Why did I suddenly want to be at President Zelenskyy's press conference?
However, Russian propagandists described Putin's speech in this way: "The speech at the collegium of the Ministry of Defense has been another session of collective psychotherapy performed by Vladimir Vladimirovich. Thoughtfully, calmly, and confidently, the president explained to everyone who doubted that the war would continue until the goals were fully fulfilled. There will be enough shells for everyone, just like everything else. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are suffering terrible losses. There was no information noise; everything was clear and to the point. Like everything else that our leadership does."
Specifically, here, the anonymous authors offset the whole event of the Ukrainian leadership while elevating Putin's figure. According to the results of such an "analysis" written in anonymous Telegram channels, the West seemed to understand that it "chose the wrong leader".
Although it is clear that the theses about the Russian dictator are greatly exaggerated, and "balance" and "calmness" when a person talks about the murders of hundreds of thousands of people and the genocide of an entire nation are definitely not characteristic of a democratic leader - earlier DM has explained: any actions by Ukrainians, whether they are good or bad, are now becoming a tool in the hands of propagandists. Russians undermine the Ukrainian agenda and question whether Ukraine "can exist" in such conditions, for example, when anonymous Telegram channels mock that their colleagues were allowed to the press conference or when Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply answered some questions of journalists or did not answer some of them at all.
Authors of anonymous Telegram channels instrumentalize these issues in their messages, trying in this way to explain that Ukraine is "losing" and "it will not get any victory at all". Overall, Russians use speculation, mockery, and apparent exaggerations.
In December 2023, the Russian dictator has been developing his public activity — he participated in his "Direct Line" broadcast, where he summed up the year's results and could not answer uncomfortable questions. He also took part in the meeting at Russia’s Ministry of Defense collegium. By doing so, he demonstrated that his unhealthy desires have not changed: he aims to seize Ukraine, occupy and seize other territories, and turn it into a satellite of his empire. Among other things, Putin recently announced that he will run for the presidency for the fifth time. The elections are scheduled for March 17, 2024. According to Russia’s amendments to the fundamental law, Vladimir Putin's presidential terms were "zeroed". It will allow him to remain in power until 2036 while also obtaining lifelong immunity. By doing so, Putin lays the foundation for his re-election, feeding the electorate with propagandistic theses. Moreover, he also gives a clear signal that nothing will stop him on the way to capturing Ukraine; except, probably, his death.
