This propaganda tactic is based on the constant and systematic belief of the target audience that the side represented by the propagandists will certainly win and achieve their goals. This may happen soon or sometime in the future, but it seems to happen for sure. In this way, people affected by this manipulation are persuaded not to “be late” and join the ranks of the winners while there is still such an opportunity. Along with this tactic, another similar tactic is almost always used - “multiple repetition”.

Russian propaganda used this tactic as early as World War II. Everyone is well aware of the phrase “our cause is righteous, the enemy will be defeated, victory will be ours”. It was said in a slightly modified format by the then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Viacheslav Molotov on June 22, 1941, the day the Nazi troops invaded the USSR. Further, Soviet propaganda very often used it as a mantra in order to raise the morale of the army and the civilian population. Throughout the war, the “chief announcer of the USSR” Yurii Levitan ended with this slogan each of his radio messages to the population of the USSR with important news from the front.

Modern Russian propaganda also systematically uses this tactic. Back in 2014, Russian President Volodymyr Putin threatened the EU leadership that he would take Kyiv in two weeks. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, propagandists shouted with one voice that the Russian army would “capture Kyiv in three days”. But the situation turned out quite differently, and thanks to the Ukrainian Defense Forces, this phrase has become a meme and a tool of ridicule from the occupying army and Russian propaganda.

After that, Russian propaganda changed the approach to using this tactic. Now they note that Ukraine is allegedly losing the “war of attrition” in the long run due to the fact that the Western allies are tired of the war and seem to be about to significantly reduce the size and volume of both military and financial assistance to Ukraine. Russian propaganda places great hopes on a possible change of power in the United States, the victory of the Republican candidate in the presidential election, ideally Donald Trump, known for his populist rhetoric.