Putin’s Kremlin is obsessed with world war two

Putin’s claim that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was intended to ‘denazify’ the country looked absurd when he made it last week. In the days since, as Russia adopts a more aggressive military response with cluster bombs reportedly being dropped and children caught in the crossfire, his ludicrous justification has been exposed for what it is. But for many Russians, who have not seen the horrific images emerging from Ukraine, Putin’s claim is unlikely to seem so fanciful.

While it seems darkly ironic for Putin to call Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky – who is Jewish – a neo-Nazi, there is nothing new about this false parallel being made. The idea that fascists control Ukraine has been a mainstay of Russian propaganda ever since the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, which overthrew the disgraced president Viktor Yanukovych. Since then, Russian politicians and media have deployed every trick to convince audiences that Ukrainian Nazis had usurped power, hell-bent on the genocidal slaughter of Ukraine’s Russian-speakers.