Putin’s Conservative Masquerade

When reflecting on modern Russia, its worth to recall its political regime’s Soviet origins, which are fundamentally at odds with traditionalism

When I left Russia in 2022 and began travelling the world, I noticed that many foreigners hold a strangely distorted view of the country where I was born and lived for 20 years. I often struggle to even recognise Russia in their descriptions – as if my interlocutors are talking about some alternative, ‘export’ version of it that bears very little resemblance to the actual state of affairs.

In my observations, Russia has two main mythologised images that are widely accepted in different parts of the world. Ive often found myself debating the first image with people in India, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, where Ive spent nearly a year altogether. In these countries, there is a pervasive belief that modern Russia stands as a selfless opponent of Western neo-colonialism, defending the sovereignty of the Global South within the Ukrainian conflict. Many perceive this situation as a proxy war, where Kremlin confronts NATOs hidden imperialist aspirations.

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One Response

  1. Dude, get a grip.

    1. U.S. spent billions to overthrow Yanukovych. One can argue in favor of that kind of realpolitik– fine. But pretend it didn’t happen, and you’re an uneducated buffoon.
    2. The voters in Donbas largely favored Yanukovych and therefore decided to secede for obvious reasons.
    3. The Minsk agreement failed, because the Azov battallion does what it wants. Kiev has no accountability over it’s generals. Ukraine tried to sweep this under the rug, called it a Russian false flag operation, and then when that failed they pretended it didn’t happen. Unfortunately for them, the videos are all over the web.
    4. Donbas asked Putin to intervene; Putin, to his credit, tried the diplomatic approach for nearly eight years before enganging militarily. That’s not a “putin talking point” or “russian disinformation”. It’s a fact.

    Pointing out these facts does not make one a putin lover, or a russian propagandist, or a communist. It’s the cold reality of the situation on the ground — whether we like it or not.

    Everyone knows Russia’s communist past. We all know about the terrible starvation of Ukrainains. BUT NONE OF THAT MATTERS.
    Why? Because it’s 2025, and what happened in the 1930’s and 40’s, is not relevant to this particular war. This war has it’s own catalyst, and has to be evaluated on its own merits.

    I would argue that the people in U.K, need to wake up and ask themselves whether 2025 Russia or 2025 U.K. looks more like the Soviet Union. Where would you prefer to live? In London, where you might get beaten to death by an immigrant weilding a machete, or Russia where you can drink a coffee in peace? Similar to the U.K., the Soviet Union would have also arrested you for memes. You would have gone straight to the gulag, similar to how you get straight to jail today.

    Old talking points carry little weight these days. Everyone knows Putin is former KGB. Nobody pretends otherwise. He’s also — most likely — the guy who ordered the death of his political opposition, but those are domestic Russian problems: none of which have any relation to the war in Ukraine.

    Zelensky is also a man who declared martial law, and who refuses to hold an election because he’ll lose. That’s the very definition of a dictator. Would you want him to be your prime minister? Would you want to live under the same roof as a man who drags men in Kiev to the front-lines because he’s having a hard time finding people to enlist. He’s a very wealthy aristocrat who wears sweatpants and a t-shirt for the optical illusion that he’s somehow coming from the front-lines. The man has servants and lives in a mansion, far from the conflict. That’s who and what he is.

    The U.K. should not be supporting either side. We need to get our own house in order.

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