- This piece originally appeared in The Ideas Letter. It has been edited for length and clarity
The Russian war in Ukraine has turned Russian society into the subject of heated political discussion and much speculation. Does ‘society’ support Vladimir Putin and his war? Does ‘society’ share the Kremlin’s imperialism? Are Russians simply conformists? Or are they resisting militarism on an everyday, rather than openly political, level? At bottom, the war raises an awful question: what kind of society would allow such a conflict to occur?
Today, there are two popular images of Russian society.
One, drawn by the Kremlin, presents a people united around the state, supporting the ‘special military operation’, demanding victory over Ukraine, and proclaiming the advent of a new era and a new world order. The other, deriving from the most radical part of the liberal class, depicts a fragmented and intimidated population mired in cowardly opportunism.
