It takes a certain kind of cynicism to build a cult of personality in the age of digital transparency. And yet, Vladimir Putin’s image makers have done just that, wrapping the Russian president in a cloak of hyper-masculine invincibility that would make a Victorian imperialist blush. British intelligence has now lifted the curtain on their grubby little playbook, exposing the Kremlin’s propaganda apparatus for what it is: a desperate, clumsy, and ultimately hollow exercise in manufacturing consent.
Let us not pretend surprise. The methods are as old as propaganda itself. The creation of a father-of-the-nation figure, the suppression of dissenting voices, the orchestrated rallies of adoring crowds – this is the playbook of every strongman from Julius Caesar to Benito Mussolini. What is new is the sheer scale, the relentless tempo, and the vulgarity of the digital age. The Kremlin’s bots and trolls are the modern equivalent of the Praetorian Guard, tasked not with physical protection but with ideological enforcement.
The intelligence report details a multi- pronged operation. There is the centralisation of media control, with state-owned channels like Russia Today and Sputnik acting as the willing courtiers to the throne. There is the weaponisation of nostalgic grievance, painting the West as a decadent, declining force that threatens traditional values. And there is the crudest tool of all: outright lies, repeated until they become gospel to the faithful.
But consider the irony. The Kremlin claims to champion sovereignty and national pride, yet its entire propaganda effort is reactive, defensive, designed to keep a populace cowed and distracted. A confident nation does not need a propaganda machine. A confident leader does not need a curated image. The British intelligence leak reveals a regime that is deeply insecure, terrified of its own people and the truth they might discover.
There is also a lesson here for the West. We are not immune to the siren song of manufactured consent. Our own political classes, our own media, our own social media algorithms all engage in a gentler form of manipulation. The difference is that we still have the capacity for self-correction. The Kremlin’s playbook is a closed loop, a sealed chamber where only the approved narrative can breathe. It is the difference between a garden and a mausoleum.
So yes, expose the playbook. Laugh at the clumsy sock puppets and the crude Photoshop fakery. But do not mistake the exposure for a cure. The information war is not about facts; it is about the will to believe. And as long as there are people who prefer the comfortable lie to the uncomfortable truth, there will always be a market for the Kremlin’s wares.
