DISINFO: "Russia must be destroyed" is an integral part of US politics and ideology
SUMMARY
The western countries were fine with a weak Russia. However, as soon as a revival of the Russian economy started and the country announced its status as a global power, it was accused of human rights violations, interference in domestic affairs of the US, Ukraine, and other foreign countries, cyberattacks, etc. The saying "Carthage must be destroyed" has been converted into "Russia must be destroyed" which has become an integral part of US politics and ideology.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin propaganda narrative about ubiquitous Russophobia and a belligerent agenda against Russia. As explained in our analysis, a variety of events, be it the situation around Alexei Navalny, protests in Belarus or COVID-19 pandemic are presented by pro-Kremlin media outlets as a massive Western attack on Russia.
Russia's criticism concerning human rights violations, interference in Ukraine, US elections follows not from Russophobia and the West's intention to weaken Russia, but is based on factual evidence behind these accusations.
Undisputable evidence exists concerning Alexei Navalny poisoning in Russia (read more here) and Russia's military involvement in Donbas (read more here).
Russian meddling in the 2016 US Presidential election was established by US intelligence agencies, and at least two units within the Russian GRU were accused of targeting both the Joe Biden and Donald Trump campaigns ahead of the 2020 US Presidential election. The US Department of Justice indicted in 2017 two FSB officials and their Russian cybercriminal conspirators on computer hacking and conspiracy charges.
There is substantial evidence that cyberattacks targeting companies and governments between Europe and the US originated from Russia and are also linked to the Russian government. Russian President Vladimir Putin is known to have admitted that ‘patriotic hackers’ might target election campaigns abroad. Cyberattacks linked to Russian military intelligence have targeted companies researching Covid-19 drugs and vaccines. Check out our article regarding GRU-linked cyber attacks, and our analysis: The “Russophobia” Myth: Appealing to the Lowest Feelings.
Read similar cases claiming that Brussels uses Russophobia as a uniting idea to prevent the EU's collapse, or that it is speculation to say that cyberattacks originated in Russia, that the Western intelligence agencies are working with Navalny, and that the West will falsely accuse Russia of poisoning Navalny, as with Skripal and Litvinenko.