In the “oversimplification of the cause” propaganda tactic, Russian propagandists often use desired generalizations to provide simple answers to complex social, political, economic, or military problems. The point is to promote simple answers to complex questions.

An example of the simplified logic of propaganda is the message that Ukrainians are trying to dissociate themselves from Russia geopolitically, economically, culturally and politically, because the so-called “collective West” insists on this. In fact, Ukrainians are striving for the country to become a member of the EU and NATO, because Ukraine is an independent and sovereign state and has the right to make its own choice without additional conditions. Western countries have real democracy, fair competition, great economic opportunities, the rule of law, etc. That is why Ukraine seeks ties with them, and not with Russia, where an aggressive militaristic totalitarian regime reigns, where a person is disenfranchised, an insane level of corruption and a poor level of infrastructure development in most of the country.

Another example of the logic of Russian propagandists is the message that Ukraine fulfills all the whims of the IMF, which always harms ordinary people. In reality, everything is more complicated: unfortunately, Ukraine still cannot do without IMF loans. Tranches are also not provided just like that: the Fund, as a creditor, calculates the most optimal options on how to push the Ukrainian economy to development so that it can pay off its debts, and not get bogged down in a debt hole and collapse.

Russian propaganda often complains about the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western powers. They emphasize that this is discrimination and their favorite word is “russophobia”. So, propaganda greatly simplifies the understanding of the problem and creates the image of a victim for the aggressor country. At the same time, hostile propagandists deliberately “forget” a key point: the first sanctions were introduced in 2014 not without reason, but in response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, as well as parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In addition, it was Russia that unleashed a bloody and brutal war against Ukraine from 2014 to the present day. The soldiers of the occupying army kill and rape Ukrainian prisoners of war, as well as the civilian population (including children), destroy the homes of ordinary people and the infrastructure of the entire country.