How much to blame does the Russian people have for the brutal war against Ukraine?
Former oligarch and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky (59) has now sparked this debate and, surprisingly, protected the Russians. Khodorkovsky, who spent ten years in prison in Russia and has lived in exile in London since 2013, tweeted: “Stop saying the war in Ukraine was waged by Russia and the Russian people.”
It was “a war of Putin and his regime”. Saying that “Russia as a whole is at war benefits Putin and that’s not true,” said former oil tycoon and now opponent of Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin (70).
Khodorkovsky justifies his claim that the Russian people are NOT behind the war as follows:
︎ Even if “many brainwashed viewers cheer the invasion”, only “a very small part” is willing to sacrifice their lives for the war. Putin’s partial mobilization proves it: it was only necessary because, despite the high pay, not enough volunteers had signed up for military service.
Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky
︎ Khodorkovsky also does not see any warlike fanaticism among the Russians: people would parrot the propaganda because otherwise they would risk prison “or don’t know any better”. But the Russians “do not feel that this is their war.” TV ratings for propaganda programs would continue to decline and the official narrative would “fatigue” people more and more.
Expert: ‘Russians are responsible’
Is it really just Putin and his regime waging war? Khodorkovsky gathers fierce opposition to his theses.
︎ Publicist and Ukraine expert Euan MacDonald replied on Twitter: “The war in Ukraine is actually being waged by Russia, and the Russian people bear the same responsibility for Putin’s war against Ukraine as the Germans for Hitler’s wars “. the sooner they succeed in eliminating fascism in their society”.
︎ Kazakhstan-born sociology professor Azamat Yunisbai also clearly contradicted the Kremlin opponent. “The desire to portray the Russian people as blameless in Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine is alarmingly widespread among the Russian opposition,” said Yunisbai, a social sciences professor at Pitzer College in California.
That even Putin’s opponents “despite all available evidence are united in not acknowledging the guilt of the Russian people” is a worrying signal for the world. Continued popular support for Russian imperialism remains “a ticking time bomb” even after the Putin era.
Men go to war, women say goodbye. Despite the mobilisation, there is no resistance to Putin in Russia
Polls show: Russians are for war
As evidence of the Russian people’s support for the war, the professor cites polls by the Russian non-governmental polling institute Levada. As a result, 81% of Russians support Vladimir Putin’s course. 74% said they supported their army’s war against Ukraine, while only 11% spoke out against it. Even though fewer and fewer Russians consider their army’s “military operation” a success, support for the war remains high.
︎ The German historian and Eastern European expert Jan Claas Behrends (including the European University of Frankfurt/Oder) views Khodorkovsky’s statements critically. “What privileged Muscovites and Petersburgers don’t understand: Great Russia outside the metropolis,” Behrends told BILD. “Europe and its values do not count here”.
Behrends does not believe in Russia’s enthusiasm for war, but he does not absolve the people of responsibility. “Pot is good for you. Public space is strictly controlled,” says Behrends. “Every person here is an island in the vast sea of authoritarian power. You submit to survive and go to war for the only country you know.
Numerous Ukrainians also took to Twitter to explain why they blamed not only Kremlin dictator Putin but also the Russian people for the war.
︎ “Who kills, tortures, rapes Ukrainians?” Ukrainian journalist Ostap Yarysh (Voice of America) asked on Twitter. “Putin himself? What are other Russians doing to end this war? Most Russians are not victims. They are either spectators of this bloody theater or facilitators of Putin’s regime.”
