Labeling (stereotyping) is one of the most common propaganda tactics. Propagandists provide the phenomenon/process they are working against with negative content using a deliberate name or characteristic that evokes negative associations. Less often, this tactic is used in a positive connotation such as calling a certain group of people heroes.

For example, Russian propaganda calls Ukrainian servicemen “militants”, “Nazis”, “neo-Nazis”. All these terms have a negative connotation and evoke associations of fear of the military. Thus, the propagandists are trying to level the image of the Ukrainian soldier as a defender of the Ukrainian people and Ukraine. At the same time, by combining labeling and substitution of concepts, Russian propaganda creates the image of a “defender of the fatherland” for Russian servicemen, despite the fact that they are fighting on foreign territory.

Another example is the use of the perverse label “independent” in relation to Ukraine. Propagandists deliberately do not translate the word “independent” into Russian, but create something in between. Thus, due to the caricature of the designation, propaganda forms a negative attitude towards Ukraine as a separate and independent state. Propagandists also use this label to nourish the narrative of “external governance in Ukraine”.

As for the use of stereotypes, this tactic is best demonstrated by the “inferior” attitude of Russians towards Ukrainians as “unreasonable, helpless younger brothers and sisters”. Despite the fact that Ukraine is historically the successor of Kyiv Rus, Kyiv is an older city than Moscow. After the collapse of the USSR, Russian rhetoric highlighted the “brotherhood of peoples”, “common culture”, “common values”. These stereotypes were also used in 2014. Like, “brother goes against brother” and “that's bad”. According to Russian propaganda, Ukraine, guided by “family feelings”, should not resist Russia.