“The media close to the Kremlin seek to impose a vision of the facts,” explains a specialist

“The fear of seeing the attack [de Moscou] used to justify mobilization in Ukraine is strong” in Russia, reports Sunday March 24 on franceinfo Emilia Koustova, professor of Russian history at the University of Strasbourg. “Before the Russian presidential election, we expected a hardening of the regime and a new mobilization. We heard the figure of 300,000 additional men at the front to win this war, and now this fear is even stronger,” she explains.

She also fears “even more violent, even more massive and pernicious attacks against Ukraine and its population”. The Russian president said on Saturday that “the four authors” of the attack which left 133 dead Friday evening in the suburbs of Moscow had been arrested “as they were heading towards Ukraine”. Yet the Islamic State has repeatedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Leave it to the authorities “who know better”

“Media close to power” looking this weekend “to reconcile the two elements: the demands of Daesh and the Central Asian origin of the attackers on the one hand, and on the other hand the accusation of Ukraine, as being the sponsors and facilitators of this attack”, said Emilia Koustova.

“The Russians have been accustomed to a kind of information confusion for several years.”

Emilia Koustova, professor of Russian history

at franceinfo

“The media close to power seek to impose a vision of the facts. They may not completely succeed, but in any case, they sow confusion which ultimately also serves the interests of the authorities”analyzes the historian. “Saying ‘we have lots of different information, so in the end, we don’t know where the truth is, so we leave it to the authorities who know better what is true and what is false’, that’s the attitude which many Russians adopt”, she concludes.