The Russian invasion of Ukraine has strengthened ties between anti-Western autocrats, especially from Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and even Turkey, which, despite being part of NATO, is led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has given headaches to members of the military alliance.
The main movement towards this approximation takes place through what happens in parallel to military attacks: the information war. In this dispute, Russia and China take the lead in controlling content and disseminating fake news that circulate easily in other countries that, in one way or another, are opposed to the West.
information war
It is enough to access content on the Russian or Chinese internet to realize that, through what is disclosed there, the war in Ukraine is very different from what we perceive through the Western gaze.
This difference in views on the Eastern European conflict is not new. Since Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, the country has created the perspective that the region was taken over by “Nazis”. According to Russian propaganda, Crimea was asking for military aid. The ground was already being prepared for the invasion of Ukraine in February of this year.
With the space even more open to social networks and the ease of multiplying content, Russia began not only to use official media as the main channel for communicating this information, but to focus on replicating content through messaging applications.
According to a report by Microsoft, some of this false information is repurposed months later. An example of this were the rumors that accused Ukraine of developing chemical and biological weapons programs, first launched in November 2021 and massively replicated in February this year, in the early days of the Russian invasion.
“A Microsoft data analysis team identified ten influential Russian websites that simultaneously published articles on February 24 referencing the previous year’s content, trying to give it credibility,” the company said.
Another example that Russia uses fake news to justify its military attacks was the information published by the country’s official media on March 7, indicating that a hospital in Mariupol had been turned into a Ukrainian military camp. Two days later, the hospital was bombed, killing civilians.
“Russia and China spread fake news on a planetary scale,” Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize winner, told French newspaper Le Figaro. “Authoritarian powers exploit platforms like Facebook to weaken democracies and advance their interests,” she added. For her, technology is a “mass weapon” that is part of a “multinational of autocrats” who are “true dictators”.
“Not only Russia and China, but also Iran and Saudi Arabia carry disinformation operations abroad and hunt journalists,” he said.
Alignment of interests, in practice
In addition to the information war, mobilizing populations in favor of the anti-Western offensive, part of the autocratic leaders met recently to strengthen ties and reinforce the power of their speeches in the countries they command.
On Tuesday of last week (20), Erdogan and Vladimir Putin met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raissi in Tehran, shortly after US President Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East.
Since the beginning of the year, Putin has met Raissi three times. Among the interests shared by the two nations is the long-standing sale of Russian fighter jets and anti-aircraft missile batteries to Iran. Like Putin, Taïssi supports Bashar al-Assad in Syria and takes advantage of the war in Ukraine to exert greater influence in the region, through the Shiite militia.
In addition, another matter of interest between the two countries is the sending of Iranian drones to Russia, which is in full attack on the neighboring country.
Turkey’s main interest in this visit was to ask for support from allies in what Erdogan calls a “special operation” against pro-Kurds in northern Syria. For that, he needs airspace, largely controlled by Russia. In turn, Turkey offered to broker the agreement with Ukraine for the output of 20 million tons of grain through the Black Sea.
Despite being a member of NATO, the country led by Erdogan has created disagreements within the alliance, especially in its moves to make it difficult for Sweden and Finland to enter.
The meeting between these autocrats in Tehran showed that, despite NATO and the difference in positioning in Syria, the three countries cooperate with each other. Their meeting was more successful than Biden’s stint in the Middle East.
The American president failed to convince Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to organize militarily against Iran, which would be to continue his idea of an “Arab NATO”, through an American-Israeli umbrella in the region.
Russia and China
In the first weeks of the conflict in Eastern Europe, China already signaled which side it was on. In March, a draft resolution proposed by Russia on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine was rejected by the United Nations Security Council. Among other points, the document did not mention Russian responsibility in the humanitarian conflict provoked in the neighboring country. Only Russia and China voted in favour.
While Western countries are loosening their economic ties and gradually avoiding dependence on Russia’s oil, China is buying Russian barrels.
China’s overall trade with Russia rose by 12% in March, despite Putin ordering the invasion of Ukraine the previous month. Chinese purchases of Russian energy rose 75% in April to more than $6 billion.
In March, the New York Times reported on an American intelligence report that presented evidence that Chinese dictator Xi Jinping had asked Putin to delay the invasion of Ukraine until after the Beijing Winter Olympics, which ran until 20 December. February.
At the time, Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said that “the allegations mentioned in the reports are speculation without any basis, and are intended to shift blame and defame China.”
What the West Learns from Ukraine
According to Maria Ressa, quoted at the beginning of the report, by resisting the Russian invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky set an example of positioning to the entire West, which “reacted like never before”. “If he had run away, Russia could have carried out its plan,” he pointed out.
“I know it sounds innocent to say, but it illustrates the power of sharing emotions, which spread quickly, just like sadness and anger. We see that positive emotions can be an answer.”
According to her, Ukraine also stands out in the fight against disinformation, denouncing fake news and occupying the virtual terrain, avoiding leaving the last word to the Russians.
#War #Ukraine #Strengthens #Union #AntiWestern #Autocrats