People often misunderstand Kremlin propaganda because it's so infantile, stupid, and self-contradictory. The fact is, however, that it is very effective because a great many people are infantile, stupid, and clueless. The way Russian propaganda works is to provide something for everyone. They know that ordinary empty-headed people will notice and positively respond to whatever resonates with them, and ignore the rest. So for example babble about "Ukrainian fascists" won't appeal to anyone with an IQ larger than their shoe size, but that's OK - there will be something else for those folk, such as "Russia needs a buffer zone" or some other such empty soundbites. We tend to forget that millions of people in the West are easily duped by simple-minded nonsense (which is why they vote for creatures like Trump and stupidities like Brexit), and that hundreds of millions of people elsewhere are likewise easily manipulated. Huge swathes of Asia, Africa, and South America are either neutral or actively pro-Russian, thanks to the propaganda Russia keeps churning out every day. As most people are (i) ignorant, and (ii) very stupid, the best propaganda recognizes and exploits these facts to the fullest.