Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking for a new argument to justify the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, as his previous proclamations of “de-nazifying” Ukraine and “battling the forces of Satan” are no longer enough.
Putin has proclaimed that Ukraine “is not the enemy” and has instead set his sights on the West as the new target. According to Putin, those who want to destroy Russian statehood and achieve a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield are mainly in the West.
He also attempted to recast his war as Russia’s eternal ideological struggle, claiming that the West is not helping his enemy but instead is his enemy. Putin’s rhetoric is a sign that the war is no closer to ending, and it displays an effort to set conditions for permanent Russian military build-up and to justify high battlefield sacrifices.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proclaimed Ukraine “is not the enemy” and has instead set his sights on a new target.AP
Analysts for the US-based think-tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that Putin’s statements suggest that he is preparing a long-term justification to keep forces mobilized and engaged in combat for the perpetual defence of Russia’s sovereignty against the West. Putin’s latest spin is all about “traditional spiritual and moral values,” which is the whole point of Putin’s latest spin. Putin’s totalitarian government requires a certain degree of self-justification, and his previous proclamations are no longer enough.
The war in Ukraine created an entirely new political reality for the Kremlin and prompted the enshrining of a revamped ideological foundation for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule. Now, Putin is all about “traditional spiritual and moral values.”
According to Carnegie Endowment senior fellow Andrei Kolesnikov, Putin’s regime has put in place a permanent government and highly personalized style of semi-totalitarian rule, which requires the enshrinement of basic ideological precepts and historical justifications for its despotism, all of which must also be spread to the masses.
The Kremlin relies on stories to support slogans such as “We are not the same as everybody else!” “We have a special DNA!” “We are fighting godlessness and the enemies on our country’s Western borders!” “We have to defend ourselves by reclaiming our ancient territories and ‘liberating’ them!’” According to Kolesnikov, the best defence of the beleaguered Russian nation is offence.
