“Anti-Russia”: how Kremlin Labels its Neighbors to Justify Aggression

This narrative was picked up by Russian propaganda and is now being utilized in reference to Moldova.

The concept was used in Vladimir Putin’s historic essay “On the Historic Unity of Russians and Ukrainians.”

This textual content may be thought to be a theoretical justification of Russia’s subsequent full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putin outlined his worldview through which Ukraine was constructed up by outsiders as an “anti-Russian bridgehead.” He repeatedly labeleld pro-Western Ukraine as an “anti-Russia,” negating the nation’s company and blaming the West for dividing Ukraine and Russia.

The idea of nations as “anti-Russias” is an entire new narrative used not solely by Russian propaganda but additionally launched to Russia’s schooling system. The Russian Ministry of Training issued tutorial tips for the educating of non-history specialists at universities. This doc explained the need of the so-called “particular navy operation” by the Ukrainian authorities’s “transformation of Ukraine into an ‘anti-Russia’ with the assistance of NATO.”

As well as, head of the State Duma Committee on Worldwide Affairs Leonid Slutsky said on February 5, whereas commenting a latest interview by ex-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, that it was Kyiv which rejected the negotiations with Russia in March 2022, as a result of “the West could not abandon its brainchild, the ‘anti-Russia’ mission in Ukraine.”

On February 10, Russian Overseas Ministry spokeswoman demanded that the Moldovan authorities cease turning the nation into “anti-Russia.” Zakharova insisted that exterior powers had been attempting to impose an “anti-Russian course” on Moldova as “was finished beforehand with Ukraine.” She threatened that Moldova’s pause in cooperation with the Commonwealth of Impartial States would severely hurt the nation’s financial system.

These remarks echoed statements by Russian Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said on February 2, that Moldova was being thought of for the function of a “second Ukraine.” He argued that the West was attempting to make Moldova into “one other anti-Russia.” Lavrov added that “they want to flip Georgia into one other irritant,” invoking the instances of pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili throughout whose time period Russia invaded Georgia in 2008.

Moldovan Overseas Ministry Spokesman Daniel Vodă responded to Lavrov’s phrases by insisting that European integration was the need of the Moldovan individuals.

On February 9, throughout his go to to Brussels, Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that he had warned Moldovan President Maia Sandu of Russian plans to take management of Moldova.  Chișinău confirmed their information of those plans and reported that Moldovan safety providers had uncovered and prevented acts of subversion towards the nation’s authorities.

The time period “anti-Russia” is problematic at its core. Why ought to Russia be the reference level for any of its former vassals or colonies? One can recall the e book by former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma titled Ukraine is Not Russia.

Russia appears to have nice problem accepting the concept the international locations it used to regulate can pursue their very own international insurance policies, even ones that defy Moscow. What makes this harmful is that this narrative has already gained momentum in Russia’s public discourse, and one want look no additional than Ukraine to see how dire the results of this imperialist pondering may be.