Russia's historical and political narratives in the Kremlin's influence activities targeting Western (including Estonian) and Ukrainian audiences in context of Russo-Ukrainian war

The proposed project will examine the contemporary political and historical narratives of Russian Federation (RF), which the RF has been transmitting through various channels to target audiences in the West (including Estonia) and Ukraine since the full-scale war against Ukraine. The aim of the project is to identify the differences and similarities between these narratives. Within a narrower framework, the project will examine the portrayal of Estonia (Estonian political leadership, Estonia's historical events) in the historical/political narratives of RF and in the influencing of the West. The project will focus on how Russia uses history as a tool for influence at all levels, from governmental to media and societal levels. A recent example of manipulation and falsification of historical facts is the interview with Putin by the US journalist T.Carlson, where Putin presented his vision of history, which included misinterpretations and disinformation. The misinterpretation of historical facts and narratives has become a tool of influence of Kremlin. The manipulation of historical events and their selective interpretation to its own advantage has become part of the foreign policy of the Russia and the ideological framework through which the Kremlin tries to justify its imperialism, its military aggression. The project should contribute to a better understanding of how Moscow's historical policy exploits the narratives of history incorporated by the Kremlin into the political narratives they promote, with the aim of creating an alternative knowledge space. Outputs: publications, conference presentations, a report outlining a review of the channels that will continue to disseminate Russian narratives beyond 2022, and a mechanism to identify hidden Kremlin narratives.The research project will involve researchers from different disciplines: H. Mölder (political science), S. Pakhomenko (history), S.Kupp-Sazonov (Russian philology, translation studies), V. Sazonov (history).