"Love bombing" is a tactic used by propagandists to attract people to their cult or ideology. It works like this: they try to cut a person off from existing social support and replace him or her with communication with members of a particular group, that is, supporters of a particular ideology, who deliberately bombard the person with affection, trying to isolate them from the previous belief and value system.

For example, Russian propagandists are trying to convince those in Bakhmut that they should support Russia. The messages of supposedly former residents of the city, who have already “evacuated” to the aggressor state, are oriented towards civilians. There are also statements from seemingly residents of Bakhmut that they have “suffered a lot from the Ukrainian army over the past 9 years”, are waiting for the arrival of “real liberators” from Russia and, in order to speed it up, they even adjust the fire on their city. The tactic of “love bombing” in such messages is used to justify cruelty with humane intentions.

“Love bombing” was also used in the hope of reaching out to the military defending Bakhmut. For example, they circulated publications about other Ukrainian military men who seemed to have “smiled with happiness” and were taken into Russian captivity, where they seem to be treated well.

The Russians used “love bombing” tactics when they violated international law and forced Ukrainians to leave for Russia. They present the deportation as a “vacation in Russia”, and the war against Ukraine as “revenge for the children of Donbas”.