Who knew I would learn Russian in my later years; but here I am. My new word today is maskirovka, literally meaning “to mask or masquerade;” using elements of surprise, camouflage, deception, decoys and disinformation; especially through social media.
Where Hitler repeated the Big Lie so often, people began to believe; Putin uses “reflexive control” by planting stories (maskirovka) with just enough truth to seem credible; though sometimes fantastical lies work because they create uncertainty. The whole concept of reflexive control focuses on tricking their opponent into making decisions that work to the advantage of the instigator.
The Russians have used maskirovka for centuries in war to their great advantage on the battlefield. Today the battlefield is in cyberspace. The Special Counsel’s report clearly shows that Russia is still engaged in cyber warfare against not only the U.S., but all western democracies.
Reflexive control is highly developed technique developed by the KGB during the 1960s to control the citizens of East Germany. Maskirovka is designed to keep your enemies off balance. The idea is that you plant fake stories with a bit of truth; one example is the Hillary pedophilia gang in a pizza parlor basement. (Kernel of truth: Hillary Clinton was a presidential candidate and there was a Cosmic Pizza Parlor.) A man came to DC and shot up the restaurant even though there was no truth to the story; the restaurant didn’t even have a basement.
Mueller’s report also showed that Bernie Sanders was integral to Putin’s strategy to beat Clinton and used him to decrease her voter turnout. A barrage of nearly 9000 Russian tweets designed to urge Sanders’ supporters to back Trump were liked almost 59,000 and re-tweeted nearly 62,000 times. They used various hash tags i.e., Black Men for Bernie Leader Switches to Trump. According to Clemson University’s study, “Sanders was simply a tool to drive a wedge between Democrats.”
Whatever the outcome, the Russians’ mindset for dealing with the world is maskirovka and the reflexive control theme that they are promoting both in their home country and the rest of the world is there is no truth.