Russia in the western media discourses in early 2021

The article considers the peculiarities of assessments, conclusions of western analysts, experts, and politicians on Russia, which were published earlier this year in the electronic versions of a number of media, such as Der Spiegel, The Times, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Bild, The Telegraph and others. The relevance of the proposed analysis is determined by the fact that it allows understanding the “specifics of the moment” – the perception of actions, behavior of Russia by Europeans and Americans, so to speak, while “fresh in the mind”, but not over a certain time. The analysis of views of the representatives of several European countries as well as of the USA (as countries that support Ukraine and condemn the Russian occupation) in real time (early this year) will serve as a basis for expert assessments coming out in the future and will confirm or refute the expectations of Europeans and Americans. The conducted qualitative analysis allowed identifying a range of issues that proved to be a priority for western analysts and, accordingly, most often came to their attention in the first months of 2021. It is established that Russia is perceived as an anti-democratic state led by an authoritarian leader suffering from technological backwardness, environmental problems, but shows its aggressiveness, which is manifested in the occupation of the part of Ukrainian territory, in intervening in conflicts in Syria, Myanmar, Libya and other countries. Despite this, there are those among Europeans who do not lose hope of modernizing Russia and promoting its democratic foundations, of taking steps that will prevent the Russian Federation from moving towards the People’s Republic of China, which would contribute to strengthening the European security