Human imagination helps to tame history – it creates stories to enable us to understand the unknown and make sense of what we fear. During wartime, such legends, which may be trivial or terrifying, become a vehicle for emotions and a tool for interpretation. Today’s propaganda, in particular Russian propaganda, is able to consciously exploit societal perceptions by reinforcing fears, fuelling chaos and constructing false images of reality. What happened during the Second World War is happening again during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.