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> If Russia isn’t Russia anymore, if a large part (or, worse, all) of it gets westernized, if the Russian culture seemingly erodes What do you mean? You should

by geoka9 5y ago

> If Russia isn’t Russia anymore, if a large part (or, worse, all) of it gets westernized, if the Russian culture seemingly erodes What do you mean? You should have seen the surge of the Ukrainian culture in Ukraine after it westernized. After all, it's not the west that suppresses cultures in the region. If anything, it is the Russian regime.

layer8 5y ago
From his article https://web.archive.org/web/20220227090945/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181 https://web.archive.org/web/20220227090945/http://en.kremlin...: “The localization policy undoubtedly played a major role in the development and consolidation of the Ukrainian culture, language and identity. At the same time, under the guise of combating the so-called Russian great-power chauvinism, Ukrainization was often imposed on those who did not see themselves as Ukrainians. This Soviet national policy secured at the state level the provision on three separate Slavic peoples: Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian, instead of the large Russian nation, a triune people comprising Velikorussians, Malorussians and Belorussians.” So he doesn’t like the alleged “Ukrainization”, and certainly not an additional westernization (you know, with gay people and such).
- geoka9 5y ago
  > Ukrainization was often imposed on those who did not see themselves as Ukrainians That's a myth, a talking point in the Russian propaganda.
  - layer8 5y ago
    Of course! But my point is that Putin seems to truly believe in that portrayal. If you take what he writes in those essays and says in his speeches at face value, then you can see why he takes the actions he does. Everyone’s actions can be understood by realizing what they feel and believe. That doesn’t justify the actions, but it explains them. Trying to understand what Putin is about is important to making predictions about how he will react to possible courses of action from the rest of the world.

by geoka9 5y ago

layer8 5y ago

From his article https://web.archive.org/web/20220227090945/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181 https://web.archive.org/web/20220227090945/http://en.kremlin...: “The localization policy undoubtedly played a major role in the development and consolidation of the Ukrainian culture, language and identity. At the same time, under the guise of combating the so-called Russian great-power chauvinism, Ukrainization was often imposed on those who did not see themselves as Ukrainians. This Soviet national policy secured at the state level the provision on three separate Slavic peoples: Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian, instead of the large Russian nation, a triune people comprising Velikorussians, Malorussians and Belorussians.” So he doesn’t like the alleged “Ukrainization”, and certainly not an additional westernization (you know, with gay people and such).

geoka9 5y ago
> Ukrainization was often imposed on those who did not see themselves as Ukrainians That's a myth, a talking point in the Russian propaganda.
- layer8 5y ago
  Of course! But my point is that Putin seems to truly believe in that portrayal. If you take what he writes in those essays and says in his speeches at face value, then you can see why he takes the actions he does. Everyone’s actions can be understood by realizing what they feel and believe. That doesn’t justify the actions, but it explains them. Trying to understand what Putin is about is important to making predictions about how he will react to possible courses of action from the rest of the world.