When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Ideas

Putin's Big Lie: Why Russia Is Doubling Down On The "Denazification" Of Ukraine

Even as the Russian army shifts in its original invasion objectives, the country’s state media is busy fueling pro-war sentiment with what remains a central talking point, the supposed "denazification," of Ukraine, which some warn is a recipe for genocide

Photo of a protestor throwing red paint on the banner of the TV channel NASH to protest against Russian propoganda

Protesters demonstrate against the Russian propaganda of the tv channel NASH in its Kyiv headquarters.

Cameron Manley

-Analysis-

At the end of March, Russia appeared to clearly readjust its ambitions for the invasion of Ukraine. Moscow was no longer requesting Ukraine to be “denazified,” and according to state media would “magnanimously” retreat from Kyiv towards the Eastern and Donbass regions of Ukraine.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

But the would-be magnanimity didn't last long: the rhetoric coming from Russia now seems to have retreated back to familiar ground. The spurious narrative of denazification as the primary excuse for the “special military operation” is being pushed harder than ever before.


Central to this renewed push was an article written by Kremlin political operativeTimofey Sergeitsev entitled“What is Russia to do with Ukraine?,” and published last week on Russian state-run media site Ria Novosti. It has since stoked a series of debates on state TV channels Rossiya 24 and Perviy Kanal, with viewers being bombarded with denazification propaganda in an attempt to fuel the pro-War sentiment in Russia.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians have warned that the article is a“blueprint for genocide,

Ukrainian "Stockholm Syndrome"

The harrowing article argues that denazification of Ukraine goes hand-in-hand with de-Ukrainianization. He writes: “The political elite must be eliminated, its re-education is impossible. The common people, who actively and passively supported it by action and inaction, must survive the hardships of the war and assimilate the experience as a historical lesson and atonement for its guilt.”

Sergeitsev goes on to advise Russia “to finally part with pro-European and pro-Western illusions,” demanding that Ukraine be freed from the “intoxication, temptation and dependence of the so-called European choice.”

Where should the process of denazification stop? What should we do with Zelensky?

The article has since been viewed millions of times and was published in tandem with an article byVictoria Nikiforova, advising Ukrainians on how to cure themselves of their “Stockholm Syndrome” with the West. She comments on the psychological instability of the Ukrainian people, who support “drug addicts and neo-Nazis,” saying that “after the liberation of Ukraine, of course, a whole range of measures will be required to bring these mentally unhealthy people to their senses.”

Photo of a woman looking at the exhibition "Call the War a War" in Lviv, Ukraine

The exhibition "Call the War a War: Russian Crimes Against Media in Ukraine" in Lviv, Ukraine

Mykola Tys/SOPA/ZUMA

Russian state TV

With liberal press in Russia facing 15 years of imprisonment for contradicting the Kremlin’s official line, Russians are left with little option but to receive news from state-run TV. On Thursday evening, during the political talkshow Evening with Vladimir Solovyov, pro-Kremlin ex-Ukrainian parliament member Spiridon Kilinkarov asked host Vladimir Solovyov “Where should the process of denazification stop? What should we do with Zelensky? Should he be removed?”

Solovyov replied: “Zhirinovsky [an ultranationalist politician] made an ingenius forecast and it went something like this: ‘Zelensky is the last president of Ukraine because after him there will be no Ukraine’.”

Kilinkarov’s first question, however, appeared to be answered on Friday on a different talk show onPerviy Kanal. Here Nikita Danyuk, Deputy Director, Institute for Strategic Studies and Predictions of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, said, “I've got the impression that the denazification operation should in one way or another take place not only in Ukraine because what we're now seeing in the Baltics is an outright honoring of the Nazis.”

Indeed, neighboring countries, such asMoldova, have already begun to fear that Putin’s relentless war mongering will spill over into an invasion of their nation of 2.6 million.

Russian media creating its own world

Now, too, the Kremlin is pushing that same line. Representative for the ministry of foreign affairs, Maria Zakharova, who has been relentless in her anti-West rhetoric since the start of the war, called out the alleged presence of Nazism in Ukraine ina press briefing on April 7: “They don't want to compromise,” she said. “This is what we are talking about — xenophobia, Nazism, extremism in all forms.”

The Russian state is creating its own world.

Propaganda in Russia is becoming increasingly distant from reality. The Russian state is creating its own world, according to the narrative it wishes to depict. After the atrocities revealed in Bucha, the Rossiya 24 network aired a video of military men placing mannequin bodies on the ground claiming it was proof of a set-up by the West and Ukraine. It was later revealed that this was behind the scenes footage of a TV series filmed in St Petersburg.

The longer the “special military operation” goes on and the further away “victory” appears to be, the more tempestuous and violent Vladimir Putin becomes, and the harder state-controlled media must work to keep Russians believing in the decisions of their elite.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

After Belgorod: Does The Russian Opposition Have A Path To Push Out Putin?

The month of May has seen a brazen drone attack on the Kremlin and a major incursion by Russian rebels across the border war into the Russian region of Belgorod. Could this lead to Russians pushing Vladimir Putin out of power? Or all-out civil war?

After Belgorod: Does The Russian Opposition Have A Path To Push Out Putin?

Ilya Ponomarev speaking at a Moscow opposition rally in 2013.

-Analysis-

We may soon mark May 22 as the day the Ukrainian war added a Russian front to the military battle maps. Two far-right Russian units fighting on the side of Ukraine entered the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, riding on tanks and quickly crossing the border to seize Russian military equipment and take over checkpoints.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

This was not the first raid, but it was by far the longest and most successful, before the units were eventually forced to pass back into Ukrainian territory. The Russian Defense Ministry’s delay in reacting and repelling the incursion demonstrated its inability to seal the border and protect its citizens.

The broader Russian opposition — both inside the country and in exile — are actively discussing the Belgorod events and trying to gauge how it will affect the situation in the country. Will such raids become a regular occurrence? Will they grow more ambitious, lasting longer and striking deeper inside Russian territory? Or are these the first flare-ups at the outset of a coming civil war? And, of course, what fate awaits Vladimir Putin?

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest