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Former President Proves Russia is Pursuing Modern-Day Fascism
The claims of Dmitry Medvedev denying the existence of Ukraine remove all doubt about the Kremlin’s genocidal thinking. But what of its totalitarian methods?
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On 8 April the one-time place holder president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, published a rant on his verified Twitter account where he has 1.1 million followers, a rant entitled “Why will Ukraine disappear? Because nobody needs it”.
In what can only be described as a genocidal screed, Medvedev resorted to the typical Russian language with regard to Ukraine and Ukrainians, describing that country and people as “Nazi” as well as “unterukraine” and “blood-sucking parasites”. He went on to describe Ukraine as an artificially cut territory” on which “millions of our [Russian” compatriots” live and those people have allegedly been harassed for years by the “Nazi Kiev [sic] regime”. He concludes by saying “nobody on this planet needs such a Ukraine. That’s why it will disappear.” Medvedev is openly advocating for genocide, and echoing the language of Hitler.
It is widely believed that Medvedev suffers from an alcohol problem, however it would be unwise to dismiss this as yet another drunken outburst, because the problem is that what Medvedev is voicing is not just his own (possibly vodka-induced) deluded musings, he is expressing the thoughts of not only Putin, who is directing this outrageous illegal war against Ukraine, but these opinions are also shared by the millions of ordinary men and women of Russia who both support and fight in this war.
With such evil being stated by a former head of state, regardless of the fact that he held the role in name only as Putin of course still occupied the real seat of power, and with that vile view being one that a vast majority of Russians side with, it is time to state that the inescapable conclusion. Russia, today, is has descended into a fascist state.
Fascism, as defined by Wikipedia, is described as follows. “Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy” and any rational analysis of modern-day Russia shows that all of these criteria are met.
Exporting Fascism
Not only is Russia itself guided by a “far-right, authoritarian and ultranationalist” government, they clearly align with similarly far-right, authoritarian and ultranationalist movements and governments the world over. They are, therefore, not only a fascist state but at the same time they are active exporters of fascism elsewhere.
The dictatorial leader part, well that’s self-evident. Vladimir Putin has gradually eroded the guard rails of any normal society, by closing down all dissenting media, assassinating or imprisoning any political opposition, and outlawing any criticism of his government or their policies. That last point in particular with regard to any domestic criticism of the war criminals that make up his army as they lay waste to swathes of territory across Ukraine.
This erosion of the societal norms commonplace in normal countries was actually, and remarkably, achieved with the buy-in of the Russian people. The social contract that existed was that (mainly buoyed by high global oil prices rather than any economic genius from Putin) if living standards rose, the people turned a blind eye to the journalists that would have informed them of the perilous path their country was on being murdered.
Militarism has been covered by me in a previous article for Byline Times on Russia’s War Addiction.
Forcible suppression of the opposition. Vladimir Kara-Murza, one of the leading voices of political sanity in Russia is languishing in prison awaiting sentencing on charges of treason, the prosecutors are demanding a 25 year sentence for him. It is believed that the Kremlin has twice tried to kill Kara-Murza by poisoning. A leading anti-corruption campaigner, Alexey Navalny, (himself not immune to the chauvinism towards Ukraine that is common among Russians) also occupies a jail cell in Siberia. These are just the two most high—profile cases. Dissent is not allowed in any shape or form, and that applies on a national scale.
The social hierarchy in Russia is best demonstrated by Putin’s positioning of himself as a modern-day Tsar. The strata that is below him and that are entitled to extract untold wealth from the resources of the country are best described by journalist Catherine Belton in her book Putin’s People, in which she painstakingly details the rise of the cabal of former KGB and FSB operatives that have been a part of the Putin journey and his corrupt rule throughout his career.
The people are mere serfs, the indifference to the quality of their lives with rotten hospitals and squalid schools shows that Putin cares nothing for them. As does his willingness to send them to die in their tens of thousands in Ukraine.
Subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and the race is exemplified by the common, and quite untrue, justification for the war in Ukraine that is pervasive in today’s propaganda. They are fighting, they are told, for the motherland. The sacrifices (which are vastly downplayed, Russians only know of the scale of their war dead through seeing their own local cemeteries filling up, they do not know that by now 180,000 of their countryfolk have been killed for invading their peaceful neighbour) are worth it, because it is for the motherland. Of course, this is illogical, because how can one be fighting for their motherland when they’re in another country?
Totalitarian Control
The strong regimentation of Russian society and the economy is the last factor and this, again, is hardly a secret. In his close to a quarter of a century in power, a milestone he is unlikely to actually see, Putin has focused control of all key aspects of the state’s economy in the hands of the Kremlin and associated cronies. True, this is done not for some perceived ideological reason like the centrally planned economy of the communist era, but this is done to allow for those who can to loot at will. Nevertheless. This box too is ticked.
The regimentation of society itself can be boiled down to power. Those who have it, the police, judges, bosses of all kinds, they abuse it. Those who have no power are the unlucky ones who must make the best of their lot, like the saps being mobilised into the military to be dispatched, untrained and ill-equipped, to be thrown into waves of suicidal frontal attacks against the Ukrainian army.
Russia, from the words of Medvedev to the delusions of Putin and through the airwaves of poisonous propaganda, has descended into fascism. The Wikipedia article quoted earlier carries a phot of two men, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. The history books will photoshop Vladimir Putin in alongside them.