Putin’s propaganda machine is fighting a desperate PR battle—at home and abroad—for control of the narrative of its war against Ukraine.  Setbacks make the battle for German public opinion even more crucial, a battle that is now being conducted on the front pages of the German press. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s covert aggression in Ukraine continues – and so do Western sanctions against his country. But the economy is not all that is under threat; Russia’s soft power is dwindling, with potentially devastating results.

The fact that families run from a war zone is heartbreaking but hardly unexpected. (...) Most of those who fled were Russian speakers from the east, but this still raises a sobering question: If this is a conflict between Ukraine and Russia, why did so many Ukrainians choose to cast their lot with the enemy?
 

Russia under President Vladimir Putin doesn't rely much on soft power to get its way abroad, in the same way it doesn't do much liberal democracy at home. It does, however, do manipulation, and Europe is only just waking up to how much and how well.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea has found supporters in an unlikely country: Last Sunday, an opinion poll in Germany found that nearly 40 percent of the country's population accept the move.

The image of the Russian leader has not improved after American magazine Forbes declared him the most powerful man on Earth for the second year in a row, with US President Barack Obama as a runner-up.

Russia’s appeal among the Indian public is limited to the intellectual elite and those with nostalgia for the golden age of socialism. The time has come to reach out a wider set of Indians.

Russia unveiled a new initiative to spread Moscow’s message by radio and Internet in 30 different languages, the latest effort in the Kremlin’s intensifying information war with the West.