Most Russians are interested in finding out how their country’s particular
actions are perceived in the West. To satisfy this interest, the website
Inosmi.Ru was established almost twenty years ago, and since then, this
website has selected, translated, and published foreign – mostly Western –
media reports on Russia. This paper analyses the publications on the website,
including translated articles and editorial comments, with the aim of
understanding Russian discourse on the Western critique of Russia’s actions.
The paper applies the theoretical lens of Orientalism as an analytical tool
as an important characteristic of the Russian discourse on Western critique
of Russia’s actions; in this paradigm, it is the assumption that the West
treats any Russia’s action with an attitude of hubristic superiority. In conclusion,
this paper illustrates the two major strategies that Russian agents
apply in order to cope with this assumed Western conceit: mimicry and
self-Orientalisation.