RUSSIA PERSPECTIVE

RT devotes two articles to the Noelia case—an unusual density for a subject neither concerning Russia nor its strategic interests. The first, factual, headlines "Noelia Castillo, 25, Dies by Euthanasia After Courts Reject Her Father's Request." The second, editorial, is more telling: "Euthanasia in Spain: What Noelia Castillo's case reveals about modern society."

RT's framing is one of civilizational critique. Euthanasia is not presented as a right but as a symptom—that of a Western society that has lost its moral bearings. The headline "They call it mercy" contains all the Kremlin's irony: implicit quotation marks around "mercy" suggest that the West dresses abandonment in the garb of virtue.

For Putin's Orthodox Russia, where euthanasia is illegal and unthinkable, the Noelia case is ideal propaganda material. It allows for reinforcement of the narrative of a decadent Europe sacrificing its children on the altar of individualism—a message that resonates with the conservative audience RT cultivates.