Russian Amb. Rebuffs Jokowi's Statement on Russian Propaganda

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobyeva said she objected to the use of the term “Russian Propaganda” by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the latter’s recent statement. 

Lyudmila said the phrase “Russian Propaganda” was coined in 2016 in the United States during the campaigns of the U.S. presidential race, and that it was not based on reality.  

“We underline that the principle position of Russia is not to intervene in domestic affairs and electoral processes of other countries, including Indonesia, our close friend and important partner,” said Lyudmila in a statement, Monday, February 4. The official statement is posted on the Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in Jakarta. 

The embassy’s press attaché, Denis Tetiushin, said the statement underscored Russia’s position that was against the use of the term in Indonesia’s political affairs. 

Read: Jokowi: `Indonesia Extinct` is Scare Tactic, Spew of Lie

“We are against the use of this term, because the term ‘Russian Propaganda’ was a pure defamation made by the U.S,” Denis told Tempo on Monday. 

Earlier, President Jokowi claimed there was a party adopting Russian Propaganda to distort facts. The president was referring to the "firehose of falsehood" technique that US-based political consultancy agency Rand Corporation ran in 2016. Before Jokowi, the National Campaign Team of Jokowi-Ma'ruf had long used the term to attack the Prabowo-Sandiaga camp ahead of the 2019 presidential election. 

DEWI NURITA