Matryoshka dolls: Youth propaganda from Moscow
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and with greater emphasis after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has intensified its soft power strategy in Latin America. On a continent where various governments and youth sectors show growing sympathy for the BRICS bloc and anti-American narratives, Moscow has found fertile ground to project an alternative image: not that of an authoritarian regime at war, but that of an attractive, modern, warm, and accessible culture. One of the most effective—and least obvious—vehicles of this projection is the digital content produced by young Slavic women (Russian, Belarusian, and Kazakh) who have settled in countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and Peru. These creators, who often fit the aesthetic stereotype of the "matryoshka doll" (blonde, with light eyes and delicate features), generate millions of views on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube documenting their "new life" in the region. The pattern is c...