Russian invasion: In one of the countries of Moscow does the same thing before the attack on Ukraine - ISW

According to the Institute of War Study (ISW), Moscow reproduces the rhetoric, which it used before the war against Ukraine, creating an information basis for possible aggression against NATO. According to American analysts, the latest statements of Russian high -ranking officials are intended to form a false idea of ​​the "oppression" of the Russian -speaking population in the Baltic States.

The Head of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin accused the Latvian authorities of "persecuting" Russian -speaking citizens and stated that Russia should "defend its compatriots" abroad. The head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Leonid Slutsky supported this rhetoric, calling the Russians in Latvia part of the "Russian measure".

The ISW analytical report emphasizes that the concept of the "Russian measure" is a deliberately blurry ideological design, which is defined by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a set of territories of the former Kievan Rus, the Russian Empire, the USSR and the modern Russian Federation, as well as everyone who "feels. " Researchers believe that the Kremlin continues to use the thesis of "protection of countrymen" as the main tool for legitimizing their invasion.

It was this narrative that Moscow used during aggression against Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. "The Kremlin narratives about Russian" compatriots "in the Baltic States and the broad" Russian measure "are part of the Kremlin's long -term efforts to create conditions to justify the possible Russian aggression against NATO in the future," - said ISW experts.

According to Focus, Russia probably accelerates the information and psychological phase of its campaign to prepare for a possible war with NATO. The American Institute for Studying War believes that the Kremlin began to create conditions to justify its aggression in the future and to sow fear in Europe. Focus also wrote that Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to be convinced that Moscow will be able to withstand a long war against Ukraine and the West and force Kiev to full surrender.