Mykhailo Mischenko, Deputy Director of Razumkov Centre's Sociological Service
Have you noticed that the topic of "fighting Nazism" as a justification for the "special military operation" against Ukraine has actually disappeared from the rhetoric of Russian politicians and propagandists?
Meeting with students and teachers on August 29, Putin invented a new metaphor – "about killer whales and polar bears", which, he believes, explains why Russia started the war in Ukraine: Killer whales "eat these bears like minnows. Yes, they just pounce on them in a pack like this – boom! – they tear them apart. This is all very interesting. Yes-yes-yes, such a food chain. Children also need to be told about this so that they understand what kind of a world we live in and why we are conducting a special military operation".
It doesn't matter how true the story about killer whales and polar bears is from the zoology viewpoint, the main thing is Putin's idea of "what kind of a world we live in." These ideas fully reproduce the worldview of the National Socialism, its main components being:
- Social Darwinism: extension of Darwin's biological theory of natural selection to human society;
- assertion that history is a continuous war of peoples and races for survival and world domination;
- rejection of pacifism: the idea that peace and cooperation lead to degeneration, while permanent confrontation makes a nation stronger;
- destruction of the weak: weak peoples and races, from the Nazi viewpoint, are doomed to submission or destruction;
- Living space (Lebensraum): justification for aggressive expansion and seizure of new lands by force of arms;
- militarism: elevation of war and violence to the rank of a state policy.
In addition to Putin's statements, one may cite countless quotes from representatives of the Russian propaganda zoo, who actually repeat similar theses of the famous Nazi propagandist, publisher of the weekly Der Stürmer Julius Streicher, who was the only one of the eleven sentenced to death by the Nuremberg Tribunal not for actions but for the propaganda in his publication.
Lebensraum is about Dugin, who recently wrote on the social network X: "If you want us not to escalate, give us Ukraine and we won't".
Destruction of countries, cities and civilians is about Solovyov, who in March 2024 called for the destruction of Kharkiv "block by block", in November 2025 – to completely destroy Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Sumy and Dnipro, in August 2025 he threatened a nuclear strike on Lviv: "the Russian army should not pay attention to children or women when striking".
This is also about the vice-speaker of the Russian State Duma, Tolstoy: "Do you think that we call for cruelty? But we call for demoralizing the population to such an extent that they would come out to meet our troops with their hands up."
About the Rodina party head, Zhuravlyov: "It is permissible to destroy or expel up to 50% of Ukraine’s inhabitants."
About the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, Medvedev: "The Hague Conventions on the Laws and Customs of War have lost their relevance."
Such a reversal in ideological rhetoric indicates, first of all, that that part of Russian society, on whose support the Russian government relies, no longer needs ideologues about the "fight against Nazism," since Putin's supporters have long been psychologically ready to adopt the main theses of the Nazi ideology.
Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin, who was a consistent supporter of Fascism and who is known as "Putin's favourite philosopher" (the latter sponsored the reburial of his ashes, together with the White Guard General Anton Denikin, in Russia) bequeathed to build the future Russia, recreating the main principles of Fascism, without repeating the mistakes of previous generations of fascists: "Let's hope that Russian patriots will think through the mistakes of Fascism and National Socialism to the end and not repeat them." In particular, "Fascism should not have taken a position hostile to Christianity and any religiosity in general. Fascism might not create a totalitarian system – an authoritarian dictatorship would be enough." And most importantly, "not to openly call its regime Fascist."
By all appearances, these commandments are being implemented by the Russian political regime.
