Why Russian Propaganda Works – And How to Stop Falling For It

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Why Russian Propaganda Works – And How to Stop Falling For It

Roman Sheremeta<br>May 22, 2026

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One of the biggest mistakes people make about propaganda is assuming it only works on uneducated or unintelligent people.<br>That is simply false.<br>Some of the smartest people I know repeat Kremlin narratives almost word for word. Not because they are evil. Not because they are Russian agents. And often not even because they consciously support Putin.<br>They fall for it because modern propaganda is not designed to convince you that something is true. It is designed to make you doubt that truth exists at all.

The Goal Is Not Persuasion. The Goal Is Confusion.

Russian propaganda does not try to convince you of one clear story. Instead, it floods the information space with contradictory narratives:<br>“Ukraine is to blame.” “NATO provoked the war.” “Nothing can be verified.” “Both sides are equally guilty.”<br>The goal is not to make you believe something specific. The goal is to make you uncertain about everything. Because when people are confused, they disengage. And when they disengage, truth loses.<br>We saw this during COVID. Misinformation spread faster than facts, emotional content overrode analysis, and repetition created a false sense of familiarity. Propaganda works the same way – except it is not chaotic. It is intentional, strategic, and persistent.<br>The result is moral paralysis. People stop asking “What is true?” and start asking “Who knows what is true anymore?” That sentence alone is one of the Kremlin’s greatest victories.<br>Social Media Built the Perfect Weapon

Social media did not create propaganda. But it industrialized it.<br>Algorithms reward emotion, outrage, and tribalism. The most viral content is rarely the most accurate – it is the most emotionally stimulating. Nuance loses. Anger wins. Careful analysis loses. Conspiracy theories win.<br>Once enough real people begin repeating propaganda voluntarily, the system becomes self-sustaining. At that point, propaganda no longer looks like propaganda. It looks like public opinion.<br>Why Smart People Fall For It

Recently I had a conversation with someone from academic circles who argued that people like Jeffrey Sachs, John Mearsheimer, and Noam Chomsky cannot possibly be spreading Russian propaganda because they are smart and well-educated.<br>This argument misses three things.<br>First, being smart in one field does not make you an expert in another. Every time I listen to Jeffrey Sachs speak about Ukraine, I am struck by his ignorance on the subject. He may be a decent economist, but he clearly knows nothing about Ukrainian-Russian history.<br>Second, much smarter people have dismantled their arguments repeatedly. Hundreds of scholars have signed open letters pointing out exactly where these “experts” get the history wrong.<br>Third, and most importantly – the merit of an argument has nothing to do with the credentials of the person making it. Any serious historian will tell you that blaming NATO for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reflects either ignorance or deliberate dishonesty.<br>Propaganda also flatters its audience. It says: “You are smarter than the crowd. You see what others cannot. You are resisting the establishment.” That is psychologically powerful. Many people do not want truth – they want the emotional reward of feeling intellectually superior. Kremlin propaganda weaponizes that desire with precision.<br>The NATO Myth

Let me address the NATO argument directly, because it refuses to die.<br>NATO never promised Russia not to expand. The only formal agreement between NATO countries and the USSR was the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, which restricted NATO troops and nuclear weapons in eastern Germany. That is the entirety of the commitment. There was no broader promise.<br>Now look at cause and consequence. Before 2014, only 20–30% of Ukrainians supported joining NATO. After Russia annexed Crimea, that number rose above 50%. After the full-scale invasion in 2022, it reached 90%. Russian aggression is the cause. Ukrainian support for NATO is the consequence. Russia’s aggression also forced Sweden and Finland – neutral for decades – into NATO membership.<br>And if NATO expansion were truly Russia’s motive, someone should explain this: over the past hundred years, Russia attacked and invaded dozens of countries that had nothing to do with NATO. Finland in 1939. Poland in 1939. Hungary in 1956. Czechoslovakia in 1968. Moldova in 1992. Chechnya in 1994. Georgia in 2008. Ukraine repeatedly since 2014.<br>Russia is not a country reacting to external pressure. It is a country with an imperial habit.<br>Moral Inversion

Perhaps the most dangerous feature of Russian propaganda is its ability to invert morality entirely.<br>The country that invaded becomes the “victim.” The country defending itself becomes the “aggressor.” The dictator becomes the peacemaker. The...