🧵 Sergey Lavrov was interviewed for a "documentary," Nazism on Trial. It's obviously all completely insane. I read the transcript so you wouldn't have to. ⬇️
Lavrov suggests the entire Ukrainian nation is Nazi and has been since *checks notes* the Soviet Union was created, years before Nazism even existed.
Yes, this does suggest that Ukraine is to blame for Hitler and World War II. A novel addition to the historiography.
Lavrov: Ukraine is Nazi because of NATO, Lenin, Azov, oligarchs, because it's Ukraine, and because of America. Naughty America.
After insinuating that Ukraine and Ukrainians are innately Nazis, Lavrov complains that they are also genetically identical to Russians. Russia is only fighting the Nazis (all Ukrainians), but it is not fighting Ukrainians.
Since Ukrainians are Nazis and Russians and Ukrainians are genetically synonymous, are Russians Nazis? The interviewer didn't seem to ask.
Lavrov going for a grand slam of racism here: we love Ukrainians, some of our best friends are Ukrainians, BUT also they are dirty criminal refugees deluging Europe - just like those nasty Caucasians, North Africans, and Middle Easterners.
Keeping up this level of idiocy and hatred over quite a long interview should earn Lavrov some sort of an award. Is there an Oscar for Best Liar in a Fake Documentary?
Also to blame for Ukraine's "Nazism": all Western media, which is controlled by Western politicians and never dissents. Good, honest media like Russia Today and Sputnik got kicked out of Europe, ergo Russia had to invade Ukraine.
I feel much stupider after reading through that lot. I hope you do too. You're welcome.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
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."