Russia uses the war in Israel to divert attention from the war in Ukraine – ISW

Russia is using the Hamas attack on Israel to promote its information operations aimed at reducing the support and attention of the United States and the West to Ukraine, which is under Moscow’s attacks.

This is stated in the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) report.

Experts say that the Kremlin has intensified several information operations after the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, accusing the West of neglecting conflicts in the Middle East to support Ukraine. Russia claims that the international community will stop paying attention to Ukraine.

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that the United States and its allies should “engage” in working on a “Palestinian-Israeli settlement” rather than “interfere” in Russia’s affairs and provide military assistance to Ukraine.

“The outbreak of fighting between Hamas and Israel on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Doomsday War is an event that was to be expected. This is what Washington and its allies should have been doing. But instead of actively working on a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, these a**holes (original translation letters hidden by the editor) have crawled in and are helping neo-Nazis, pitting two close nations against each other,” Medvedev wrote.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also accused the West of blocking the efforts of the necessary “quartet” of Russia, the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations, which led to the escalation of violence in Israel.

A well-known Russian propagandist, Sergei Mardan, bluntly stated that Russia would benefit from the escalation, as the world “will take its mind off Ukraine for a while and will again be busy extinguishing the eternal flame in the Middle East.”

The report also notes that several vital sources in the Russian media shifted the focus of their daily coverage to the situation in Israel on October 7, which could affect the information environment around the war in Ukraine in the coming days or weeks.

Many Russian “warlords” focused mainly on the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7, and some contributed to the Kremlin’s information operations by claiming that the West’s attention had shifted from Ukraine to Israel.

“These narratives of the Kremlin are aimed at the Western audience and drive a wedge into the military support of Ukraine. The Russian Federation seeks to demoralize Ukrainian society by claiming that Ukraine will lose international support, and intends to reassure the Russian domestic audience that the international community will ignore Ukraine’s military efforts,” ISW experts emphasize.