KEY MESSAGE THIS WEEK: Russia’s terroristic tantrums against Kyiv are designed to obscure Russia’s failures at the frontline and at the rear.
During the past year, our Monday Memo, sent only by direct message to influential voices for Ukraine, became a reliable resource for those engaged in the information war. Soon, out of our control, it was circulating well beyond the original audience, to the U.S. Congress, military HQs, and global embassies.
Leaders and activists began to turn to our weekly document to figure out how to avoid Russia’s propaganda traps. We got results, including getting world leaders to start saying “Stop the Russian War Machine” instead of “Stop the Killing”: The former makes it clear that Russia needs to be stopped; the latter equivocates between Ukraine and Russia.
Now, with a panicked Russia revving up its levels of optical manipulation, and with Ukraine having a real chance to defeat Russia but also a real chance to lose Western support first, we urgently make this memo public.
Key principle we always must remember: If you want to be understood, you first have to understand those whom you seek to persuade, as unfair as it often feels.
*If you want to be at the core of our efforts to push through the propaganda, join our Information War Club at $100 per month. We need a council of persuaders, and we want you on it. *
**Every bit helps UFN get louder—including showing up at Western summits to help leaders and activists communicate in a way that punches through Russian propaganda. **
Russia is pounding Kyiv to scare the West. This is only because Russia is losing both at the front and at the rear.
Russian strikes have now fully or partly closed three of Kyiv’s six road bridges over the Dnipro. Russians are seeking to make life in the capital unbearable. And this is before winter, when Russia is expected once again to shut down heating, electricity and water. On Saturday, Moscow promised to keep up massive strikes on Kyiv and told foreign diplomats to leave the city.
An army that is winning at the front line doesn’t need to scare diplomats out of a capital.
Ukrainians, deciding not to care about Western sensibilities and corruption, are with increasing expertise hitting the “Russian rear”: the oil infrastructure that fuels the Russian war machine. Ukraine’s long-range drones have now damaged 51 percent of Russia’s oil-refining capacity, Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara said this weekend, up from 45 percent two weeks earlier.
Russia needs to scare the West into pressuring Ukraine to hold fire, which in turn would give Russia a chance to regroup and push for new ways to kill Ukraine.
It is going to get worse. But “getting worse” is a sign of moving toward victory. The more Ukraine succeeds, the more murderous tantrums Russia will throw at Kyiv city. Russia’s terroristic tantrums against Kyiv are designed to obscure Russia’s failures at the frontline and at the rear.
Say “Russia’s war against Ukraine.” Never say “the Ukraine war” or “the war in Ukraine.”
Say “murderous terror strikes on Kyiv.” Avoid “Russian retaliation,” which suggests the solution is for Ukraine to stop hitting Russian oil.
Avoid “escalation.” The rhetoric of avoiding escalation creates an acceptance of a never-ending war. For Ukraine to win, something has to escalate. Everyone complains about a “stalemate.” Well, a proper “escalation” is the way out of the stalemate. Let’s go.
Say “Russia lashes out because it is losing.” Russia is desperately trying to change the optics in order to buy time to change the reality.
Ukraine is striking the oil refineries that fuel the Russian war machine. Russia is striking the schools, homes and bridges where Ukrainians live.
Russia is the school-shooter of nations.
This is a massive effort to undertake, and we request your support at $10 a month. If you want to be at the core of our efforts to push through the propaganda, join our Information War Club at $100 per month. We need a council of persuaders, and we want you on it.
*JP Lindsley, an American journalist based in Ukraine, is co-founder and editor-in-chief of UnderFire.News. *
**Merz Visits Kyiv as Germany Expands Winter Defense Support—**Germany willfinance tens of thousands of interceptor drones manufactured in Ukraine, expanding production by Quantum WIY Industries, the Ukrainian-German venture combining WIY Drones and Quantum Systems. Announced during Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s October 4 visit to Kyiv, the order forms part of Germany’s winter military assistance and will scale up systems already used operationally. The program addresses Russia’s increasingly fast, jet-powered attack drones, with Ukrainian production intended to respond quickly to battlefield demand. Merz’sunannounced visit came amid warnings of Ukraine’s hardest winter yet.He and Zelenskyy have also been pressing partners, including Japan, for Patriot missiles and additional ammunition for Ukrainian F-16s. Berlin announced €1 billion in additional military aid and €350 million for energy repairs, including generators and transformer stations. Air-raid sirens repeatedly interrupted the visit, while another Russian strike damaged Kyiv’s Northern Bridge. Merz warned that failing to stop Russia in Ukraine would expose Europe itself to Moscow’s war machine.
