The Lego Blocks of Lies: How Russian Propaganda Builds and Rebuilds Itself

Note: the majority of this post was written by Paul Dragan, Ph.D. in Political Problems of International Systems and Global Development (from Kyiv, Ukraine). I translated it to English and added a few paragraphs with examples at the end.

All aspects of both external and internal propaganda continue to be tightly controlled by the Kremlin. Spontaneous outbursts are only allowed at the very lowest levels: in schools, vocational colleges, and non-strategic state enterprises. In the media and blogosphere, such freedom is absolutely out of the question.

A unique feature of the Russian propaganda machine is its achievement of the ideal cascade structure. No other country in the world-whether totalitarian or democratic-can match Russia in this regard. A typical Russian propaganda campaign has a cascading structure made up of interconnected narratives. Because of the universality of these units, blocks of similar narratives are linked with one another-which means the levels of these blocks are linked as well.

Ultimately, information campaigns themselves become interconnected, their elements interchangeable, so that any one piece can be swapped for another at any moment. Figuratively speaking, Russian propaganda is as universal as Legos. Very little time is needed for adjustment and adaptation.

Depending on the chosen audience and country, Russian curators emphasize those components of a typical information campaign to which the target audience is most sensitive. Moreover, Russian propagandists have long understood that the totality and intensity of pushing the desired narrative is far more important than proving its truthfulness. Resources are more likely to be spent on developing the narrative that “things aren’t so clear-cut” and that “there are no good guys here.”

All of the above characteristics (the cascading structure of narratives, their complete interconnection at all levels, the prioritization of intensity over correctness, the Lego-like universality) together create the concept of ‘multi-move strategy’. Even failure can be used to one’s advantage or become a new step in another “foreign policy game.”

This strategy is most visible in the information campaigns surrounding the war on Ukraine. For example, whenever debates over aid to Ukraine intensify in the United States and Europe, Russian propaganda quickly activates the well-worn “Ukraine is corrupt” narrative across multiple audiences (never mind that Russia’s corruption rating is much worse than Ukraine’s). Domestically, this corruption narrative reinforces the idea that Western support for Ukraine is foolish and doomed; abroad, it is customized to inflame taxpayer resentment and political divisions. At the same time, the “Ukraine is neo-Nazi” storyline is revived, presented inside Russia as moral justification for the invasion and abroad as a way to discredit Ukraine’s leadership. When these efforts begin to lose momentum, they are seamlessly swapped out for other “Lego” blocks-such as “Ukraine is losing anyway” and “the West is tired.”

Even battlefield outcomes get folded into this multi-move approach. After the costly and bloody battle for Avdiivka, where Russian forces suffered major losses, Russian state media quickly reframed the defeat as part of a clever attrition strategy meant to wear down Ukraine’s resources. Simultaneously, other channels pushed emotionally charged but misleading stories about Ukrainian shelling of civilians, designed to support the broader “there are no good guys” narrative among neutral or skeptical international audiences. In each case, the cascading structure of interconnected messages ensured that even failures could be spun into new victories within the Kremlin’s flexible, highly adaptive information ecosystem.

Recognizing this strategy is critical to countering it. The most effective defense is to stay alert to patterns, not just to individual pieces of disinformation. Critical thinking, cross-checking sources, and resisting emotional overreactions are vital for blunting these campaigns.

Originally published at https://ukraineinsights.substack.com.