The Russian press began to constantly report how residents of various EU countries allegedly criticize European politicians and the Ukrainian government based on anonymous comments on foreign media sites, writes Meduza.

In a recent example, state news agency RIA Novosti published an article about how “Germans responded harshly to Zelenskyi’s appeal to Russians,” citing comments on an article published by German daily Der Spiegel that reported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had called on Russians to resist war, which Vladimir Putin unleashed on February 24.

Moreover, the authors left comments with nicknames consisting mainly of a meaningless string of letters.

“Ah, Mr. Zelensky, it is worth starting with you, because you have become the culprit of the whole situation,” wrote zw9s, quoted by one of the official Russian state news agencies.

Volodymyr Zelensky, whom trolls accuse of “desiring to drag the West” into the war

“And what about the complicity of those who support the self-confidence of the actor Zelensky? How many lives does it cost?”, nzjdMFpV also commented on Der Spiegel’s article, RIA Novosti reports.

“From the very beginning, Zelensky wanted to involve the West in the conflict by any means, because without foreign money and weapons, his army would not stand a chance. For this, the fight against him is fueled without end,” rrnsne2 added.

As previously noted by foreign media correspondents who monitor Russian media, such as Julia Davis or Francis Scarr, in particular Russian TV presenters, they often read anonymous comments on the websites of Western newspapers in their broadcasts to “prove” the lack of support for Ukraine or other areas of Kremlin propaganda.

As The Moscow Times reported in April, the Kremlin tripled its propaganda budget in the months before the war in Ukraine and after the invasion began.

Russian authorities restricted access to the independent investigative site Meduza on March 4 this year, at the same time as blocking Russian access to Deutsche Welle and the BBC.

In July, investigative journalists for a site registered outside of Russia to avoid Moscow sanctions presented a secret Kremlin poll that showed Russian support for the war in Ukraine was actually lower than official polls presented by the country’s leadership.

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