Putin makes openly Nazi statements - US historian Timothy Snyder on Russian ideology

The historian spoke about this in an interview with BBC Ukraine at the YES-2023 forum in Kyiv.

In her conversation with Snyder, the BBC Ukraine journalist noted that Ukrainians are often asked how they survive so many tragic events of the war, and therefore asks the historian, who has studied in detail the Holodomor, wars, the Holocaust, repression, and the destruction of Ukrainian culture, how he psychologically withstands such topics.

"For me, complex issues are the most important to study," Timothy Snyder replied.

According to him, researching such topics is really difficult, but when you understand the nature of these phenomena, you begin to see how they fit into a broader historical context. The historian added that he feels that his work is important because it contributes to people's understanding of history.

When asked what happened after February 24, 2022, to the fear of Ukrainians of their history, which, according to Timothy Snyder, existed before, he replied that now Ukrainians are not afraid, but interested in their own history. 

"When I was in Odesa, I wanted to go to a coffee shop, and it was destroyed by a missile strike. A family that was nearby came up to me. They said they were just listening to my lectures. In a way, history gives them a sense of direction and a sense of rootedness," the historian says.

He argues that while Russians are turning to a mythical and unrealistic version of their past, Ukrainians are increasingly discovering the truth about their history.

Previously, Timothy Snyder believed that Germany made a logical mistake when it said it was an anti-fascist state, but continued to cooperate with Russia. BBC Ukraine asked the historian whether he considers the ideology of the Russian Federation, which it is currently promoting, to be fascist. After all, so far only Ukraine has recognized it as totalitarian and called it racism.

"Russia is definitely committing genocide in Ukraine," Timothy Snyder answered, but emphasized that people in the world do not officially recognize this, because then they will have to do even more to stop it. The historian calls it moral corruption.

The historian said that he studies fascist thinkers and fascist traditions in Russia and can say that they have become very important to Putin.

"To the point that during the current war he said openly Nazi things. People really have a certain fear of talking about this. To say that this is the truth about racism," explains Snyder.

He told how he heard the word "rashists" from local residents of the Kherson region and it turned out to be very common in Ukraine, but it is still impossible to introduce an official definition because the word means what people put into it.