RIGA - The duration of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which will reach 1,418 days on January 12, thus exceeding the Soviet Union's participation in World War II, or the so-called "Great Patriotic War," is not perceived by Russian society as a blow to the regime, because the dominant imperial ideology justifies this war as a historical necessity, political scientist and historian Karlis Dauksts told LETA.
He points out that in Russia, the Soviet Union is still considered the greatest Russian achievement in terms of territory and influence, and the idea of returning to such a superpower status is alive in the public consciousness. Therefore, the comparison with the "Great Patriotic War" is not perceived by the Russian public as an admission of defeat, but rather as an ideological continuation.
According to Dauksts, the prevailing view in Russia is that Russians must return to their "historic territories," which are understood to be the former lands of the Russian Empire. In his opinion, this imperial ideology prevails not only in the Russian mass media, but also in the public consciousness, which is why the aggressive actions of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin are not fully condemned, but are understood as an attempt to return to the ranks of the world's great powers.
The historian noted that Russia's initial plan to capture Kyiv "in three days" and its failure to achieve decisive military success in more than 1,400 days is a painful blow to Russia's political ambitions, but this is not openly acknowledged. In his opinion, this contrast highlights Putin's pretensions when compared to cases where leaders of other countries have achieved political results in other regions, including Latin America, in a short period of time. In Dauksts' view, this reinforces Putin's inability to agree to a peace process that is unfavorable to him and encourages efforts to achieve at least symbolic military success.
Dauksts emphasized that in Russia, the war has turned into an ideological war, cultivating the idea of Russia as a special civilization with a special mission and Russians as a special people. In his opinion, this narrative of superiority is structurally similar to ideas that have historically been based on the denigration of other peoples, including the idea that "the others are not human." In the historian's view, the Russian sense of superiority has become a powerful unifying idea in society and, at the same time, one of the most significant factors determining the psychological background of the war in Russia.
In his opinion, one of the most significant successes of Russian propaganda is the long-standing perception that the war is not only against Ukraine, but that Europe is waging war against Russia and its ideology-the so-called "Russian world"-through Ukraine. He emphasized that in this narrative, the US, which had previously been consistently used as the main enemy of propaganda, has receded into the background, while Europe is portrayed as the main obstacle preventing Russia from restoring the might of the Soviet Union.
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