In recent weeks, pro-Russian social media accounts shared a sophisticated yet fundamentally misleading video, purporting to show French farmers dumping manure outside the Ukrainian embassy in Paris, which has since gone viral. In another recent incident in Prague, a farmer protest was quickly taken over by rowdy pro-Kremlin activists, leading one of the original organizers to lament that the demonstration had been “stolen.”
In short, Europe’s farmer protests are proving fertile for Russian propaganda, with the Kremlin persistently seeking to amplify them — in some cases even hijack them — all to the detriment of European decision-makers and farmers alike. And it’s time we start paying attention.
Moscow’s attempt to weaponize a diverse array of protest movements for its own propaganda purposes shouldn’t come as a surprise — this is Russia’s time-tested modus operandi. The same pattern has played out with everything from Black Lives Matter and the Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S. to the Pegida anti-migrant movement in Germany, the Yellow Vests in France and a swath of anti-vaccine movements in between.
While the Kremlin wasn’t directly behind the emergence of any of these movements, it did seek to maliciously fan the flames, amplifying them through social networks and other digital channels, often spreading disinformation in the process. And this is exactly what’s happening with the farmer protests.
Of course, this doesn’t invalidate the legitimacy of farmers’ grievances. However, it’s crucial to understand how Moscow is spinning these events for its own ends.
Regardless of the protest movement in question, the Kremlin’s first objective is always the same: Stir up unrest to spread anxiety and discord, and undermine national cohesion. Distracting, and thereby weakening, Western governments in this manner then serves the dual purpose of leaving them less able to cope with Russian threats, while also strengthening extremist parties, which are generally more complacent, even sympathetic, toward Moscow.