With Russia’s mounting casualties in its war against Ukraine, and Western sanctions threatening the country’s struggling economy, state television propagandists are resorting to mythical religious claims. Since the claim that Ukraine’s government is a “Nazi regime” is unfounded, the Kremlin’s mouthpieces portray the invading hordes of Moscow as modern-day crusaders and their opponents as demons and satanists.
During the Friday broadcast of The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most popular political talk shows in Russia, Kira Sazonova of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration argued: “I’ve been thinking a lot about the current situation with Ukraine, in terms of what the represents modern Ukraine to the West. It took me a long time to find the right word, but I think I finally found it. It’s ‘Gollum’. Ukraine is Gollum.”
This reference to a fictional, hideous creature from the novel “Lord of the Rings” is fully in line with the latest propaganda strategy in the Russian state media. In an apparent attempt to dehumanize their opponents, state television pundits and hosts have gotten involved describe Ukrainians as “the unclean ones” – the same word reserved for goblins, demons and witches in Russian fairy tales.
During Friday’s edition of Channel One’s The Big Game, State Duma Deputy Vyacheslav Nikonov claimed: “In the modern world we are the embodiment of the forces of good. This is a metaphysical clash between the forces of good and evil… We are on the side of good against absolute evil, represented by the Ukrainian nationalist battalions… and the American Temple of Satan in Salem expressed its support for Ukraine . This is truly a holy war, a holy war that we must fight and win.”
In early April, political scientist Sergei Mikheev went even further on Solovyov’s show: claim that “the Ukrainian god is the devil”. He added: “Ukraine will be butchered like a pig at a pagan sacrificial altar.” In the same week on the state television program 60 Minutes, political scientist Alexei Martynov described the blame is laid on Russia for its massacres in Ukraine as “Satanism”.
While Ukrainians routinely are humiliated, portrayed as an unholy nation not livable, Russian state media and lawmakers are urging Russians to abandon their personal needs in favor of the Moscow Crusade. During his Friday show, Solovyov preached to his audience about the importance of putting morality above wealth. This approach was timely to ease the frustrations caused by Western sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Economists predict that Russians will likely be able to cope with inflation of 20% or more by the end of the year.
Solovyov is a newfound fan of austerity who recently lost access to his multimillion-dollar Italian mansions. Speaking to the camera, he asked the audience at home: “What is more important: a successful life when everything is easy, or when you are venturing into the unknown? But you believe, and your faith creates miracles.”
Solovyov urged Russians not to worry about inflation, but instead focus on the positive: “There is no civil war, no intervention… and the war is not taking place on our territory.” To sweeten the pot, He pointed out how much better Russia is doing compared to Ukraine: “I haven’t even mentioned the victims that Ukraine is hiding, but I’m afraid, to be polite, we’re talking about more than 50,000 dead Ukrainians. And all of this is the fault of a certain criminal whose name is Zelensky.” The troubling number of alleged Ukrainian victims is nowhere near the official or projected numbers, meaning it was likely fabricated by Solovyov, perhaps in anticipation of Russia’s escalating atrocities.
As for Russia’s own casualties, the official figure of 1,351 released in March is a far cry from the figures estimated by experts. It hasn’t been updated since, but the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) call for increased funding for military funerals and headstones speaks volumes.
During Solovyov’s show on Friday, Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the State Duma’s defense committee, tried to stoke the excitement by presenting Russia’s war on Ukraine as an exciting challenge. He said: “We are entering a very interesting period in the development of modern history. We are all incredibly lucky to be witnesses of these great events.”
Kartapolov pompously predicted: “Historians will later study this period to speak of its role, its significance as a turning point that defined the coming world order for many years to come. And we experience it first hand! What’s more, we’re taking part! We should be proud of that alone. But more importantly, we must – and should – be proud of our President and Army for creating this turning point.”
Kartapolov digressed into sacrilegious comparisons of Putin’s murderous, looting and raping troops in Ukraine to WWII veterans: “Every day we are losing veterans of the Great Patriotic War… New veterans and new heroes should replace them, of whom we have plenty.. I fully support the idea of conducting the march of the Immortal Regiment, but I deeply believe that in addition to the pictures of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War, we should also wear the pictures of our people who carried out our goals in Ukraine , Everyone! Those who perished there, as well as those who continue to serve. They are the real heroes, they are the foundation of our country’s future.”
The difficulty in selling ordinary Russians the idea that the suffering ahead was worth it and that Ukraine had let it come seep through every state television channel. On Thursday, State Duma Deputy Chairman Pyotr Tolstoy complained on the state-funded Channel One show Time Will Tell: “The realization that things will never be the way they are is coming slowly and hard… This is a war for justice. This is a war for freedom… This is Russia’s national ideology.”
During the same program, Duma deputy Oleg Morozov pointed out that Moscow’s agenda would probably not end in Ukraine: “Today’s world is very dangerous for us, but it is also dangerous for Americans, Chinese, Europeans, Poles and others in primarily for the Baltic States. They should remember that denazification is a long, never-ending process and most likely will not end with Ukraine.”
Morozov admitted: “This new world is extremely uncomfortable for us. We don’t even know what difficulties we will encounter in building this world… Every single human being will encounter these difficulties. Someone will lose a job… Someone will lose a business.” The host, Artyom Sheynin, asked writer Zakhar Prilepin what he would like to say to the Russian people. The exasperated writer distilled his message into childish simplification: “No one loves us and our salvation lies in our own hands.”