Quick thread: The big Russian Z campaign is still flopping. These poor local government employees have been voluntold into this photo op, one of the top hits on Insta. They don’t look elated to be there.
Here are the top #за (#za) hashtags on Instagram, which is still being widely used despite last week’s official block. None of the tags relate to the campaign.
Here are the top 30 or so #za posts. Just 2 have anything to do with the campaign, and 1 of those looks suspiciously full of bot replies.
One of the big tags being pushed, #зароссию (For Russia) has barely 80,000 posts.
Even Russians who are using the Za hashtags aren’t going in for the imagery. They’re adorning themselves with flags and national colours.
So, as I said yesterday, the Z campaign is really not taking off. And it’s not going to, no matter how much the government pushes it.
Putin's big inauguration speech. It was tedious and long - shocker! - but it contains a few interesting nuggets. en.kremlin.ru/events/preside…
Putin highlights the people of the "historical territories" now included in Russia AND the soldiers of the "special military operation" right at the top of the speech.
I can't help but feel that Putin's language about the "will" of the people is getting more forceful. You don't need me to remind you of some of the leaders of the past who've foregrounded "will of the people" talk.
Just over a decade ago, I taught English to Misha, a boy from Moscow. An oversized pair of Sony headphones were constantly clamped over his ears. His hands were always busy tapping away on the smartphone his father, a wealthy businessman, had given him.
Misha travelled abroad, spoke English, and had the best of everything. When I could tear him away from the siren call of social media and video games, Misha was desperate to hear about life in Canada. He peppered me with questions about everything from hockey to hamburgers.
In 2022, I glanced at Misha's VK profile. The boy I know had gone. His feed was flooded with news from the war: gruesome war porn depicting bombs dropping on Ukrainian towns and troops, conspiracy theories from extremist groups, and viral clips of Solovyev's televisual tantrums.
It's Thursday. It's 6pm. It's Tucker Time! I hope you're ready for this shambles... ⬇️
It's TWO HOURS LONG. What the fuck is wrong with these people?
Carlson claims Putin's sincere about his country's "historical claims" to Ukraine. Then he asks why Putin thinks America will attack Russia. He giggles wildly as Putin tells him he never said that.
The UN is often slow and impotent, but destroying international liberal institutions is exactly what Moscow wants. Change the system from within. Don’t destroy it from without.
The “fuck the UN” discourse reminds me of soft Brexiteers in the UK: “We share EU values but think it’s beyond reform, so we’re going to destroy ourselves instead of working with our partners.”
An anti-Russia alliance without the UN will be like the UK without the EU: powerless, humbled, and unnecessarily sidelined.
🧵 Russia's war on Ukraine is a spiritual-messianic crusade, exhibit #978234: the tale of a Putin-loving "military priest" and his acolytes at the front, who are undergoing a symbolic political-religious conversion by fighting.
Nice unit badge, which both soldiers and their priest wear. Putin + religion + war = good. Putin placed on a pedestal alongside traditional saints as an icon (vital to Orthodox belief).
The priest isn't just there to provide moral or spiritual support. He expressly declares that part of his role is to "accompany [troops] into battle."