Right Sector and the Big Bad Wolf

Russian disinformation uses ‘big bad wolves’ to move the emotions of its victims — Right Sector, a civil society organisation formed in February 2014 to resist Russia’s impending invasion of Ukraine, is a perennial character, like Azov, in Russian Disinfolklore. Another aspect was the use of the “under age daughter” to hint at how Russia’s folkloric enemy — the big bad wolf from Pravy Sector — would affect the fertility of the tribe.

As in folklore, stereotypical characters are the norm in Russian Disinfolklore. When parsing Russian (or any form of Disinfolklore), it’s important to ask: What does this stereotyping tell us? In the current case, the stereotype of the systematic torturing Russian occupier is applied to the Other — the Ukrainian “whose security forces regularly blackmail civilians through threats and intimidation.” That was simply untrue. It is a clear case of mirroring which, again, the Russian occupier stereotype and their Disinfolklore is famous for doing.

Source: Disinfolklore (4)

The Big Bad Wolf in political dress. ‘Right Sector’ and ‘Azov’ function as perennial characters in Russian Disinfolklore — bogeymen designed to trigger fear about threats to the Inner Realm’s fertility and security. The diagnostic question: What does this stereotyping tell us? The answer, almost always: mirroring. Russia projects its own behaviour onto the Other. When you see a stock villain in a news story, ask whose Disinfolklore created it. See Spectacle.

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