Dehumanization

Aggressors may use propaganda practices to strip members of the colonized people of their human features. The victim is deliberately marked with derogatory labels (e.g., "subhumans," "militants," "Nazis," "fascists," "terrorists"), which is intended to remove psychological and moral barriers among the occupation troops and to legitimize any atrocities in the eyes of the aggressor's society, leading to a complete loss of empathy.

ID: T0006
Sub-techniques:  No sub-techniques
Peoples: Nokhchi (Chechens), Ukrainians
Version: 1.0
Created: 21 April 2026
Last Modified: 21 April 2026

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
S0009 Diplomacy

Publication of an article by D. Medvedev (October 2021) in which the Ukrainian leadership is marginalized, called non-independent "vassals" of the West, and directly compared to Nazis, which served as an ideological signal that any peace negotiations were pointless[1].

C0096 Election Interference and Countering the "Orange Revolution" (2004)

Use of a landing party of Russian political technologists to wage an aggressive information campaign in which political opponents were demonized and groundlessly accused of fascism[1].

S0008 Government

The government of the Russian Empire deliberately constructed an image of the Indigenous population as criminal savages: historian Michael Khodarkovsky records that in administration documents the highlanders were labeled as "inconstant and treacherous," while their actions were explained by references to their "predatory craft, to which they are predisposed by their very nature and upbringing"[2].

S0008 Government

The apparatus of the Russian Empire constructed an image of the Indigenous population as savages: historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov points out that pre-revolutionary historiography described the highlanders' struggle as «the actions of barbarians devoid of 'civilized' notions of independence and freedom»[3], while the imperial historian and participant in the events V. A. Potto cites the words of General A. P. Yermolov, who declared that «the cruelty of the local mores cannot be tamed by mercy»[4]. In his «Notes», General Yermolov characterized the Nokhchi as a born breed of brigands: «the Chechens, the most vicious of the brigands, attacking the line», their land a refuge where «the villains of all other peoples, abandoning their own land on account of some crimes, were received amicably», while Chechnya itself «may justly be called the nest of all brigands», «were less filled than others with brigands who had previously taken part in all the raids of the Chechens on the line. In them predators gathered and took cover…»[5].

C0102 Ideological Preparation for the Full-Scale Invasion (2020–2021)

Publication of an article by D. Medvedev (October 2021) in which the Ukrainian leadership is marginalized, called non-independent "vassals" of the West, and directly compared to Nazis, which served as an ideological signal that any peace negotiations were pointless[1].

C1105 Imposition of an Image of Backwardness and the “Civilizing” Mission (1721–1800s)

The government of the Russian Empire deliberately constructed an image of the Indigenous population as criminal savages: historian Michael Khodarkovsky records that in administration documents the highlanders were labeled as "inconstant and treacherous," while their actions were explained by references to their "predatory craft, to which they are predisposed by their very nature and upbringing"[2].

S0021 Propaganda

Use of a landing party of Russian political technologists to wage an aggressive information campaign in which political opponents were demonized and groundlessly accused of fascism[1].

C1106 Propagandistic Inversion of Roles and Dehumanization (1800–1864)

The apparatus of the Russian Empire constructed an image of the Indigenous population as savages: historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov points out that pre-revolutionary historiography described the highlanders' struggle as «the actions of barbarians devoid of 'civilized' notions of independence and freedom»[3], while the imperial historian and participant in the events V. A. Potto cites the words of General A. P. Yermolov, who declared that «the cruelty of the local mores cannot be tamed by mercy»[4]. In his «Notes», General Yermolov characterized the Nokhchi as a born breed of brigands: «the Chechens, the most vicious of the brigands, attacking the line», their land a refuge where «the villains of all other peoples, abandoning their own land on account of some crimes, were received amicably», while Chechnya itself «may justly be called the nest of all brigands», «were less filled than others with brigands who had previously taken part in all the raids of the Chechens on the line. In them predators gathered and took cover…»[5].

G0009 Russian Empire

The government of the Russian Empire deliberately constructed an image of the Indigenous population as criminal savages: historian Michael Khodarkovsky records that in administration documents the highlanders were labeled as "inconstant and treacherous," while their actions were explained by references to their "predatory craft, to which they are predisposed by their very nature and upbringing"[2].

G0009 Russian Empire

The apparatus of the Russian Empire constructed an image of the Indigenous population as savages: historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov points out that pre-revolutionary historiography described the highlanders' struggle as «the actions of barbarians devoid of 'civilized' notions of independence and freedom»[3], while the imperial historian and participant in the events V. A. Potto cites the words of General A. P. Yermolov, who declared that «the cruelty of the local mores cannot be tamed by mercy»[4]. In his «Notes», General Yermolov characterized the Nokhchi as a born breed of brigands: «the Chechens, the most vicious of the brigands, attacking the line», their land a refuge where «the villains of all other peoples, abandoning their own land on account of some crimes, were received amicably», while Chechnya itself «may justly be called the nest of all brigands», «were less filled than others with brigands who had previously taken part in all the raids of the Chechens on the line. In them predators gathered and took cover…»[5].

G0011 Russian Federation

Use of a landing party of Russian political technologists to wage an aggressive information campaign in which political opponents were demonized and groundlessly accused of fascism[1].

G0011 Russian Federation

Publication of an article by D. Medvedev (October 2021) in which the Ukrainian leadership is marginalized, called non-independent "vassals" of the West, and directly compared to Nazis, which served as an ideological signal that any peace negotiations were pointless[1].

References