Laser bears and occupants: These are the masterpieces of delusional Russian propaganda

In September, the group released a nutty video presenting the war in Ukraine as a ruse orchestrated by the United States to weaken Europe and Russia — all for the sake of boosting America in its competition with China. The downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 is presented as a CIA operation. War, the video frantically argues, will save the American treasury — just as World War II rescued the U.S. economy from the great depression. At one point, a shirtless Putin rides into a cityscape atop a bear shooting lasers from its eyes.