W.hen you decouple our country from your SWIFT, we will regard it as a declaration of war, ”my friend Vladimir from Moscow ended his last message. No, not the Vladimir that everyone keeps talking about. My Vladimir works in a travel agency, he helps with the processing of foreign visas. He helped me too, was keenly interested in my work at Radio Liberty, hinted at vague connections to the highest echelons of power where certain people listened to him, and called himself competent, well-informed people. He used to write rarely, in October he went on the offensive. He is concerned about the Russian-Ukrainian question and informs me – “You and your German friends!” – every day.
“Do you think Europe or England are safe? The Americans are bringing you to the brink of destruction. That’s not 41/45 when a state was reborn from the war. It’s the 21st century, the technological age. The most technologically advanced army is ours, by the way. ”I don’t answer him, there’s no point trying to prove something when you’re talking to a machine. Which I don’t mean to say that the other person is a bot or a troll. He may actually be the person I met on the metro two years ago to hastily hand over my travel documents. But even if he still is, he still speaks with the voice of the propaganda machine. The language of propaganda, even if it comes from the media of the most expansive powers, is always the language of those with their backs to the wall. Those who think they have nothing to lose.