A thousand days after the start of the “special operation” in Ukraine launched by Russia, the future of the conflict remains very unpredictable. The two armies continue to try to mobilize their troops so as not to lose ground on the front, while trying to convince their populations of the good reasons to fight. This is how the obsession with the Nazi enemy was established in Russian propaganda.
From 2014 and the Maidan revolution, this narrative was first used for European populations in order to “establish the idea among Westerners that the Ukrainian revolution was carried out by neo-Nazis by playing on the sensitivity of Europeans towards Nazism , and, at the time, it worked,” recalls Anna Colin Lebedev, political science researcher and specialist in post-Soviet societies.
The ultimate ideological argument
From the start of the offensive launched on February 24, 2022, Moscow propaganda highlighted the need to “denazify Ukraine” to justify the entry of its tanks into foreign territory. This time, the Kremlin addressed itself more to its internal population because “what unites all Russians today, regardless of standard of living, social class, origins, is this belonging to the people who defeated the Nazism, which defeated fascism, which defeated absolute evil,” explains Tatiana Kastouéva-Jean, director of the Russia/NIS Center at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri).
This period, even if it is distant, has marked the different generations and the term “Nazism turns on certain lights”, adds Anna Colin Lebedev. “The current generation has the impression that their grandparents showed patriotism, fought for great values, the special military operation in Ukraine offers them the opportunity to do the same and give meaning to their lives” , develops Tatiana Kastouéva-Jean.
The policy embodied by Vladimir Putin is nourished by this history never questioned in Russia. “It is the basis of Russian patriotism today, the basis of Putinian policy,” summarizes Carole Grimaud, researcher in Information and Communication Sciences at Aix-Marseille University and Russia analyst. The patriotic motive is, according to a study cited by Tatiana Kastouéva-Jean, one of the main reasons for the enlistment of young people in the ranks of the Russian army.
The “decadent” West, the other enemy to fight
And behind the “absolute evil” that Nazism represents, the idea that it came from the West is gaining ground. A second speech held in parallel castigates Europe and its American ally, calling them aggressors. NATO is in the crosshairs. A communication moreover used more in official Russian speeches after two years of war. “NATO is the other historical enemy of the USSR which seeks to destroy the Russian Federation,” explains Carole Grimaud. In this story, Ukraine serves as NATO's armed wing. “In this story that is more understandable today for the population, the West also represents evil but with new characteristics and in particular that of being decadent,” adds Anna Colin Lebedev.
“It works better than Nazi Ukraine but we still have the idea of a sacred and ideological war,” adds Anna Colin Lebedev. The war in Ukraine then becomes a fight to protect traditional conservative Russian values, which have become one of the priorities of power since the rise of Vladimir Putin in the 2000s. Because “Russia is defending itself, but what is it defending? Religious and family values are the response to public opinion,” analyzes Carole Grimaud.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
In both speeches, Russia relies on past greatness, praising a history and a tradition modeled at will to fit the message conveyed. When the “Great Patriotic War” is taught in the country, nothing mentions the facts of collaboration, the German-Soviet non-aggression pact or the partition of Poland. A beneficial version of the story. When the West is criticized, nothing mentions the Russian elites who choose, despite this “decadence”, to send their children to study in Europe.
Related News :