Ms. Pagung, you have been dealing with Russia's foreign and security policy for a long time.

What did you notice about Putin's televised speech announcing the mobilization?

Melanie Muehl

Editor in the Feuilleton.

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It was striking that the first part of the speech was intended to once again make it very clear to the Russian public that a war is at stake between Russia and NATO or the West.

We've seen this rhetoric intensified since February, but it's getting stronger in relation to the topos of "denazification" and the destruction of Ukraine.

Secondly, in his speech Putin spoke of a mobilization that we call partial mobilization: people who have already done military service in some way are to be recruited.

However, if you look at the new law, this restriction is not made there at all – it is about citizens.

The narrative of the "military special operation" should thus finally be passé.

In the past week, following the military successes of the Ukrainian army in the counter-offensive, it has gradually collapsed.

The term “military special operations” was originally intended to fool the average Russian into believing that they are not greatly affected and that this mission will be over very quickly.

This narrative is no longer tenable, and the people in Russia notice that, even if they get very one-sided information from the Russian media.

Nevertheless, I believe that the normalization of the concept of war will certainly be successful.

It is no coincidence that Putin's speech placed a strong focus on the war with the West, with NATO.

The Russian leadership has been talking about this conflict for a very long time.

In this way you can make people understand that there is an existential threat to your people, not to mention that this threat is the legal condition for mobilization.

I don't think this change of terminology from "special operations" to "war" will provoke popular opposition.

The word “war” was increasingly used in debates on Russian television last week.

Were these exceptions?

All you saw in these televised debates was a brief moment of reflection, a departure from the Kremlin narrative because there simply wasn't one so soon after the Ukrainian reconquests.

But we shouldn't delude ourselves: This open thinking is no longer happening.

Rather, it is clear that the aggressive narrative against the West dictated by the Kremlin is being reinforced on the talk shows.

The talk shows are not only a kind of propaganda training for the Russian population, but are also used specifically to send signals to the West - especially about the threat of a nuclear escalation towards the NATO countries.

How likely do you think a nuclear escalation is?