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Most People Forget: Putin Has Been Waging a War on “Fascists” for a Long Time
Since 2014, Putin put a lot of energy into messaging that they are in fact waging a war on fascists in Ukraine, the Baltic states, and other formerly Soviet Republics.
That’s obviously far from the truth.
Are there fascists or neo-Nazis in Ukraine? Obviously, yes. But there is not a significant presence of them. Moreover, there are almost certainly more of them in Russia than in Ukraine.
Let me explain.
In his speeches, Putin has often drawn on Russia’s experience during the Second World War. He has extensively praised the sacrifices made by the Soviet people in defeating fascism.
And sure enough, this was no small task. Arguably, without the Soviet war machine, it would have been much more costly for the Allied forces to win against the Axis forces.
And Putin loves to overuse this historical fact to the great pleasure of the Russian people.
As a result, Putin has long argued that the Ukrainian government is controlled by “fascists” and “neo-Nazis.” Correspondingly, he stresses that the Ukrainian government is merely a puppet of the West, wanting to oppress ethnic Russians in Ukraine.
