Nine months have now passed since Russian army invaded Ukraine. Vladimir Putin wanted a quick and victorious war – but his soldiers were met with fierce Ukrainian resistance. The Ukrainians are still defending their country, with significant help of the West which stood in solidarity with them. From time to time, Western media predict a fall of Putin’s government, while the media in Russia claim that the society is united around the president and generally supportive of his actions.
In the new episode of Cross-Border Talks, these images are verified together with the Russian historian and socialist Felix Levin, who is also a member of the Russian Socialist Movement.
Małgorzata Kulbaczewska-Figat and Veronika Sušová-Salminen from Cross-Border Talks and Felix Levin discuss the social, economic and political situation in Russia. They try to determine the actual attitude of Russian society and different classes within it towards the war in Ukraine and explain why it is difficult to trust official opinion polls.
They also explore how the long deliberate de-politicisation of Russian society is now colliding with the influence of big politics on people’s lives. Felix explains why most Russians still want to live as if nothing has happened – and why this is impossible in the (not too) long term.
Other questions to be answered in this video: Are there serious signs of a growing resistance or potential for protest against the war and the regime in Russia? How has the war affected the position of labour? What are the prospects for Russian society in the future?