In Moscow's Shadows 250: Moscow's Comms Playbook (And Why It's So Bad)

In Moscow's Shadows 250: Moscow's Comms Playbook (And Why It's So Bad)

From In Moscow's Shadows by Mark Galeotti

May 31, 2026 · 41 min · Episode 250

About this episode

The episode discusses how the Kremlin's crisis management exacerbates political issues following a drone incident in Romania.

A Russian drone hits a Romanian apartment block, two civilians are injured, and suddenly a stray weapon becomes a case study in how Putin’s Kremlin handles bad news. Why does the Kremlin’s crisis management default to a belligerent, self-sabotaging sequence that turns a manageable incident into a wider political problem? It comes down to the priorities of an insecure, personalistic authoritarian system that equates any admission of failure with weakness, that regards information as a battlef...

People in this episode

Host: Mark Galeotti

Topics covered

  • crisis management
  • authoritarianism
  • political communication
  • Russian politics
  • media strategy

Keywords

  • Kremlin
  • drone
  • crisis management
  • Putin
  • political problem
  • authoritarian system
  • information warfare

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Moscow, Romania

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