GUR on Putin's interview with Carlson: This is Russian special operation
Russian President Vladimir Putin's interview with American TV host Tucker Carlson is a Russian special operation.
This was stated on the air of the United News telethon by the representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) Andriy Yusov, answering the question whether the story of this interview could be a special operation, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"It could not but be a special operation, of course, it is an influence measure, it is an IPSO. And yes, it is a Russian operation, because, in fact, the target audience of this interview is the free world, the Western world. We did not hear anything new there. In Ukraine, there is a common term "urban madmen". Here's a geopolitical madman who talks about some nonsense-about international law, about history-and decides which nation should exist and which should not. All this is nonsense, of course," he said.
The GUR representative said that the fact that the Russian special services and the Russian Federation spend enormous amounts of money to try to influence the Western audience suggests that this audience is important to them.
"And they understand that it is the ability to influence the democratic world, no matter how they call it in their propaganda shows, that is critically important to them. That is, this whole operation was an attempt to bring the voice of a fictional Putin to the very West they hate so much. It failed globally, of course, because we have already seen all the assessments of leading experts, political scientists, and politicians after this interview," Yusov said.
As reported, the odious American TV host Tucker Carlson, known for his loyal support of Donald Trump, arrived in Moscow on February 8 and interviewed Vladimir Putin. Former and current members of the European Parliament called for sanctions against Carlson, who has been repeatedly criticized for spreading Russian propaganda and Kremlin narratives about the war in Ukraine.
The Institute for the Study of War said that Putin tried to use the interview with Carlson to promote the Kremlin's long-standing information strategy about Russia's alleged interest in ending the war in Ukraine to Western audiences.