Putin will die or be deposed. But Putinism is going nowhere - and evidence is mounting that the next generation is embracing it. themoscowtimes.com/2024/04/08/put…
@irgarner It is not Putinism. This is Russian culture. Nothing has changed. Your profession was infested by Russian soft power and "fed the heart on fantasies" - that heart did indeed grow brutal turning an empathy free eye on Ukraine and its genocide by Muscovite hands
@komarnyckyj @irgarner I've worked in this profession for decades. Many just want the war to be over, whatever the outcome, so they can go back to what they were doing, return to their archives, and reconnect with friends in Russia and shake their heads sadly over what happened (to them too, of course)
@komarnyckyj @irgarner Partner and I were just discussing the participation of a rising-star Russianist on a panel about the war and the profession they had no business being on. Star had worked closely with Russian institutions in the last year, but "wouldn't do so today." What had changed in a year?
@chukurchuk @komarnyckyj @irgarner Shaking heads sadly while buying cheap property in occupied Ukraine. Mark my words: Russia - regardless of who is in charge - will make a cult out of this war in the same way that the memory of victory over Nazi Germany has been desecrated beyond parody.