“Passive loyalty is absolutely necessary to the Kremlin, but pugnacious patriotism is not.” The political scientist Masha Lipman discusses how Russians view the war in Ukraine—and how Putin wants them to view it.
an invasion of Ukraine
What is changing, however, is the interest in this war. Fewer people say that they follow what is going on in Ukraine. There is a tangible sense of fatigue, and this is especially prominent among young people, who show even less interest than the Russian people on average. There is a desire to distance from that news, which is still disquieting, but not to the extent of people rising up to resist it or changing the over-all perception of this war as the right thing.
After the stormy first decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union, people readily surrendered responsibility and disengaged from politics. Over time, the nonparticipation pact changed. There were mass protests when, in a way, people were in breach of that pact and did meddle in politics, and the Kremlin responded in a brutal fashion after a while. But I think a certain demobilization remains.
It didn’t happen. There has been a creeping mobilization of reservists and attempts to hire more contract soldiers, but without any pomp and without any publicity. Mobilization of the people at large is not happening. Should this have happened, I think it would have changed the political scene in Russia. This would have changed, radically, how Russia is ruled. It would likely empower the most hawkish part of the Russian élite, changing the balance.
The Kremlin has also always been concerned about the far right. Around ten years ago, the Kremlin launched a campaign against radical nationalists, especially those who tended to be violent. Many of them were tried and sentenced to long terms in jail. If we look back at 2014 and 2015, the period right after theand the beginning of the war in the Donbas, there was a period when propaganda was mobilizing, pugnacious, with certain characters on television who were hysterical.
You mentioned that the invasion is now being presented as a war against the West, or of everyone against Russia, as much as a war against Ukraine. I know Putin’s propaganda has always been anti-Western in some ways, but how do you see the case the Russian government is trying to make?
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