Russia’s Response to U.S. Aid: Shrugs, Disinformation and Warnings of Nuclear War

A man walks past the Kremlin wall as the Russian national flag flutters above the residence of the Russian president in Moscow on June 24, 2023. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on June 24, 2023 said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a “stab in the back” and that the group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia, as he vowed to punish the dissidents. Prigozhin said his fighters control key military sites in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. (Photo by Natalia KOLESNIKOVA / AFP) (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)

Posted: April 26th, 2024

By Stanislav Kucher

Stanislav Kucher is Editor-in-Chief of the Samizdat Online anti-censorship platform and a former Russian TV presenter. He left Russia in 2019.

By Tom Nagorski

Tom Nagorski is the Managing Editor for The Cipher Brief. He previously served as Global Editor for Grid and served as ABC News Managing Editor for International Coverage as well as Senior Broadcast Producer for World News Tonight.

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — Russia’s reaction to the new infusion of U.S. aid for Ukraine has ranged from shrugs to fury, from warnings of nuclear conflagration to arguments that the $61 billion will make no difference. Some top Russian propagandists have responded with conspiracy theories and disinformation. Overall, the Kremlin propaganda apparatus has kicked into high gear – but with a confusing mix of messages.

For months, Russia assumed that this part of its war in Ukraine was won: the flow of billions of dollars in American military aid was ending, and Russian forces would take advantage of shrinking Ukrainian air defenses and a rapidly growing edge in ammunition supplies.

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