Vladimir Putin (70) is going to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine. That is the demand of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (45) and the international community. But despite sanctions, defeats on the battlefield and a year of war, he does not.
Dmitry Medvedev (57), deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, seems to have an explanation for this on Wednesday: “If Russia ends the military special operation without victory, then Russia will no longer exist, it will be torn to pieces.”
Medvedev paints the devil on the wall – openly instilling fear in his own people, as Frithjof Benjamin Schenk (52), professor of Eastern European history at the University of Basel, told Blick. «Russian propaganda sells the attack on Ukraine to its own people as a «defensive war». Russia must defend itself against the “collective West”, its national identity is in danger.”
Perfidious propaganda of fear
From the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation – the Russian people have had to reinvent themselves again and again. No wonder you want to protect your identity. According to the expert, the Russian leadership consciously leans on a nationalistic ideology. “Since the government cannot present its own people with a convincing vision of the future of their own country, they mainly try to justify their pride in their own country historically.”
Medvedev’s rhetoric is designed to fool the Russians into believing that the West is trying to destroy Russia – and thus the common identity. “These are elements of a process, a conspiracy against Russia. The West is trying to stir up tensions in this way,” Medvedev said in the summer.
The only way out in this lecture: to stand together, against the West. Schenk: “In the current situation, I think that Medvedev’s formulation is a nightmare scenario for Russian propaganda, which is intended to mobilize the population for an aggressive war against Ukraine.”
The worst possible end for Putin
For Putin, it would probably be the worst possible ending if the Russian Federation collapsed. He himself described the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the 1990s as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century”. It is not for nothing that he is repeatedly accused of wanting to pave the way to the new Soviet Union with the war in Ukraine.
However, Schenk considers an actual collapse of the Russian Empire to be unrealistic. “Currently, I see no signs that the power of the current regime is being threatened by regional separatist movements.” Putin’s power is too great.
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
