There is symbolic significance in the fact that the odious deputy of the Russian Security Council recently quoted Stalin's telegram during a meeting with the heads of Moscow's defense enterprises. The quote reads: "Now I am asking and hoping that you will fulfill your duty to your homeland. In a few days, if you are found to be in violation of your duty to your homeland, I will start beating you like criminals."
Medvedev accompanied Yosef Jughashvili's telegram to the managers of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, which produced tanks during the Second World War, with the words that the "homeland" was then "in a similar situation." This provides insight into how Putin's adventure - the war - is perceived in Russia, particularly in the current situation at the front.
Medvedev will undoubtedly find more quotes from the dictator's "heritage" to share with his compatriots, from farmers to philologists. Stalin's "complete collection of works" was not removed from the Kremlin offices, even when Khrushchev removed his comrade's corpse from the mausoleum.
“Medvedev will undoubtedly find more quotes from the dictator's "heritage" to share with his compatriots, from farmers to philologists. Stalin's "complete collection of works" was not removed from the Kremlin offices, even when Khrushchev removed his comrade's corpse from the mausoleum”
I once wrote about Abuladze's film "Repentance," where one of Varlam Aravidze's victims digs up his body from the grave. However, in modern Russia, it seems to be the opposite: Stalin is being resurrected by his associates and heirs.
The media activity of the deputy head of Russian Security Council is as "rich" as Jughashvili's writings. I have no doubt that Putin himself speaks through his "sparring partner" in the position of President of Russia.
Recently, Medvedev repeated Putin's delusion about the historical "absence of Ukraine" and "Ukraine as Lenin's invention." "Let's be honest, Ukraine is a part of Russia due to geopolitical reasons and history, but we have had to accept living in different apartments for a long time," said Medvedev.
Symbolically, Stalin was an ardent opponent of Ulyanov-Lenin but had to put up with "Ilyich's" authority. The "shortcut" for ruling the Bolshevik empire that Koba seemingly received from Lenin's hands was a fake and a fabrication.
At times, Medvedev can be prone to exaggeration. He asserts that "Western countries failed to recognize Russia's determination to initiate a war in Ukraine," but just a few days earlier, Putin himself acknowledged that Muscovy was unprepared for a full-scale war, at least in 2014.
Regardless, there are no doubts that Putinism and Ruscism represent modernized, improved forms of Stalinism. Putin employs brutal methods to deal with political opponents, especially those who persistently remind Russia of Stalinist terror. He is willing to conduct "purges" in industrial, military, and media services if he detects any "enemies of the people'' there. Moreover, he is unrestrained in his pursuit of "victories'' and will not hesitate to make human sacrifices, regardless of the numbers involved. This is evident in the recent events in Bakhmut and the foolish actions of the Russians in Chornobayivka.
“There are no doubds that Putinism and Ruscism represent modernized, improved forms of Stalinism. Putin employs brutal methods to deal with political opponents, especially those who persistently remind Russia of Stalinist terror”
I believe that Medvedev will soon reveal Stalin's infamous order No. 227 of July 28, 1942, which introduced penal formations and so-called "blockades'' during the battles near Voronezh. Who's to say that these standards aren't still in use today? Testimonies from the captured mobilized suggest that there are also punitive squads made up of Kadyrov’s people.
Previously, Russia had cultivated a form of "light-Stalinism" embodied in the glorification of victory and the display of "grandfathers on sticks" during the actions of the "immortal regiment". However, now during wartime, the Stalinist machine of repression has been overhauled by Kremlin specialists and is working at full capacity. There's no mask of "liberalism" or "democracy" to hide behind.
Five years ago, Putin cynically compared Stalinism and Hitlerism, claiming that while Stalin's regime had its faults, it never set out to destroy people. What would he say now, after his catchphrase about "the final solution of the Ukrainian question"?
Meanwhile, the public is being served up a dish of "patriotic war" seasoned with myths and a cast of "heroes". Memorial plaques are being placed on school facades to honor recidivists and rapists, and pilots who shot down an American UAV over the Black Sea are being awarded orders of courage. US National Security Council coordinator John Kirby has expressed his disbelief, he said he didn’t know of any other military in the world, any other air force, that would reward a pilot for crashing into a drone. If that's bravery, then they probably have a different understanding of it.
They definitely do. They also have a different understanding of the times the rest of the world lives in.
About the author. Ihor Hulyk, journalist, editor of the Espreso website.
The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.