{"id":330701,"date":"2025-03-03T16:53:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T14:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/terytoriyi-v-obmin-na-status-kreml-gotuye-rosiyan-do-myru"},"modified":"2025-03-05T16:18:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T14:18:13","slug":"terytoriyi-v-obmin-na-status-kreml-gotuye-rosiyan-do-myru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/terytoriyi-v-obmin-na-status-kreml-gotuye-rosiyan-do-myru","title":{"rendered":"Territories No Longer Needed: Is the Kremlin Preparing Russians for Peace?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the end of February, Russian information space exploded. Oleksandr Sladkov, the Kremlin\u2019s court propagandist, published a post on his Telegram channel that turned the existing Z-discourse upside-down. The main point of his message is – Russia started the war not for the territories, but to return its \u201cstatus\u201d in the global arena. Seizing and keeping territories, by this logic, becomes unprofitable for Moscow. The next day Sladkov published another opus – \u201cthe Russian army in its current state can neither capture nor control Odesa, Kyiv or Lviv\u201d<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The  latest  version of \u201cthe real purpose of the SMO [special military operation]\u201d caused outrage among radical Russian propagandists. Sladkov\u2019s posts were seen as the Kremlin\u2019s “adjustment fire” in preparation for the ceasefire as a result of the agreement with the American administration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Sladkov gives a \u201clecture\u201d in Tula (Russia) on the topic \u201cSMO as the only solution to the Ukrainian question\u201d (It is significant that Russian propagandists are not bothered by the obvious parallels with the euphemism \u201cFinal Solution to the Jewish Question\u201d used by Nazi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For example, the Telegram-channel \u201cPozyvn\u043ey Osetin\u201d (\u0421allsign Ossetian) addressed Sladkov with an array of ironic questions: \u201cSo, the soldiers are fighting not for the Motherland, but for the status in the new world order? What status? Territories are not important in the war? What\u2019s important then?\u201d<\/em>. Later he proceeds to mock Sladkov\u2019s revelation: \u201cSo now we stop attacking? So Zaporizhzhia will be ours anyway after negotiations and we can just wait?\u201d<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering the \u201crighteous anger\u201d mode, most radical Z-channels of the Russian segment of Telegram turned to threats of retribution in case of \u201cshady deals\u201d (meaning, the Kremlin abandoning the idea of continued expansion). Appealing to losses and victims of the war became another popular tool used by radical propagandists to deny the possibility of peace. Such arguments get combined with the topic of \u201cnational pride\u201d, reminding Russians of the necessity to keep up the image of a \u201cGreat Russia\u201d in the face of the West. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a more rational Russian audience, the subject of negotiations was \u201cheated up\u201d by the Kremlin-controlled Telegram channel \u201cNezygar\u201d, which operates using the \u201cinsider leaks\u201d format. According to the channel, last week saw an intensified effort to deliver the message of ‘reaching the goal of the SMO’ to the Russian masses.  \u201cNezygar\u201d considers the weakened warmonger rhetorics of former president Dmitry Medvedev Telegram-channel against the US to be the indicator of this change. The channel also mentions the results of sociological research stating that 60-65% of Russians support ending the hostels, which the Kremlin allegedly held as proof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
The Telegram channel “Nezygar” was linked to the Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration, Alexei Gromov, and FSB Colonel Mikhail Polyakov at various stages of its development.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Telegram insiders are being rather careful when presenting their predictions. \u201cThe situation is not clear, there are no narratives that are fully formed\u201d,<\/em> –  they state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indicatively, Sladkov\u2019s rhetoric changed shortly after. His next \u201cexplanatory\u201d post assured that he was not, in fact, considering giving up Moscow\u2019s imperial ambition. Instead Sladkov stated that he was searching for the \u201cbigger plan\u201d, which would allow Russia to conquer Ukraine using not just military, but also political and economic tools in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kremlin\u2019s information pendulum swing appears to be an attempt to measure the prevalent mood among Russians. It is possible that Sladkov\u2019s purpose was to bring a controversial, in terms of official propaganda, message to the Russian information space, taking the role of a pariah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the last few years, the Kremlin kept its propaganda machine going at a dangerous speed. Therefore, political technologists recognize that this strategy might become a threat. If the stop button is hit rapidly, changing the rhetoric to \u201cconserving the winnings\u201d of the so-called SMO, the regime might lose control over the radical segments, as well as Putin\u2019s warmongers. Therefore, the narrative of exchanging territories for a new geopolitical ‘status’ of Russia is being gradually injected into the propaganda-poisoned minds of Russians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, the desire to adjust the settings of the domestic Russian information discourse arose in the Kremlin against the backdrop of intensive negotiations with the White House. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Representatives of the United States and Russia during negotiations in Riyadh, February 18, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the moment, the US does not provide comments for a question that poses a main obstacle to a ceasefire – how does Donald Trump plan to persuade his Russian counterpart to abandon the plan of occupying four Ukraine\u2019s regions within administrative borders? In response to the US administration’s calls for an \u201cimmediate ceasefire,\u201d Russian high-ranking officials repeat the stale mantra that all territories written into the Russian \u201cconstitution\u201d by Putin must come under Moscow’s control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Sladkov\u2019s provocative move could be one of the first signs that the Kremlin is considering the possibility of having to stall its claims to parts of Ukrainian territory. Apparently, concessions from the US would be an acceptable price for Moscow, which will be hailed by Russian propaganda as \u201creturning the status of a hegemonic state\u201d .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viktoriia Odusanvo, Volodymyr Solovian<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the end of February, Russian information space exploded. Oleksandr Sladkov, the Kremlin\u2019s court propagandist, published a post on his Telegram channel that turned the existing Z-discourse upside-down. The main point of his message is – Russia started the war not for the territories, but to return its \u201cstatus\u201d in the global arena. Seizing and […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":330610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[700,699,611],"tags":[],"section":[726],"form":[31943],"yoast_head":"\nTerritories No Longer Needed: Is the Kremlin Preparing Russians for Peace? | UACRISIS.ORG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At the end of February, Russian information space exploded. 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