Now that Russia has shifted its focus to Syrian Civil War and reportedly sent its troops and military hardware to the war-torn country, the Kremlin is looking for ways to strengthen its international image and drum up support from Westerners. Russia Defend Itself from US Russia has been trying to find support for its policy around the world with the help of its international broadcaster RT, aka Russia Today. And the Kremlin has significantly stepped up its efforts to influence the Western opinion ever since annexing Crimea in March 2014. Now that there are indications that Russia is serious about entering Syrian Civil War, it looks like the Kremlin is going to be beefing up its propaganda machine more robustly. However, the West is not sleeping either. Western media has been looking for ways to target Russian speakers living in the West. Last week, the BBC announced its plans to open a Russia version of its satellite TV and video service. The BBC explained that it is needed to counter the well-financed propaganda, which comes from the Russian RT channel. However, the budget of the BBC exceeds the budget of RT. On top of that, the BBC has nearly half a century of experience more than RT. “If the BBC feels challenged by RT, it can be explained by the fact that the Russian propaganda is working,” said Igor Korotenko, a Russian military expert, who is often published in Russian media. “It seems that Russia has succeeded in getting into the heads of Westerners, and that’s a dangerous thing. Some Westerners begin to feel like they are being lied to by the Western media, which is why they turn to alternative sources of news. And that’s where RT sweeps them off their feet,” Korotenko said in an interview with ValueWalk. Growing attractiveness of Russian propaganda It was also reported that the EU’s European External Action Service is going to... More