“The Wolf in a Sheep’s Skin”

What We Should Expect From Russia

 

Victor Hvozd
Doctor of Military Sciences

 

As a folk wisdom goes: “Everything new is actually well-forgotten old”. For example, half a thousand years before our era, the ancient Greek poet Aesop composed the fable “The Wolf in a Sheep’s Skin”. Later, many more fables and other works were written on this topic, but their essence remained unchanged. A certain criminal is disguised as a decent person and under this guise does his dirty deeds.

Since ancient times, this technique has been actively used in practice both, at the level of ordinary fraudsters and in big politics. First of all, this applies to various dictatorial regimes trying to justify their domestic and foreign policies with good goals and intentions. At this, “black is presented as white”, and all real events and facts are distorted beyond recognition.

This policy was pursued by the former Soviet Union and is now pursued by the Russian Federation under V. Putin. Moreover, as the problems in and around Russia, which were caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and other causes (including the COVID-19 epidemic and falling oil prices), such actions by the Kremlin become more active. Evidence of this was a series of articles that have been written recently by a number of senior government officials of the RF.

…Various dictatorial regimes are trying to justify their domestic and foreign policies with good goals and intentions…

The main ones were: Russian President V. Putin’s article “75th Anniversary of the Great Victory: Shared Responsibility to History and our Future”; Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation N. Patrushev’s article “Does Russia Need “Universal” Values? Spiritual and Moral Values of the Society as the Basis of State Sovereignty”; Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, former Prime Minister D. Medvedev’s article “Security Cooperation During the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic”.

The articles are programmic and were written on the eve of the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Day of Victory over Nazi Germany (postponed due to the epidemic to the end of June this year) and the vote to amend the Russian Constitution. Both events are of fundamental importance to the leadership of the Russian Federation.

Thus, the anniversaries of all significant events related to the «Great Patriotic» War are traditionally used by Moscow as an occasion to demonstrate Russia’s imperial power and its “decisive role in the world”. In turn, amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation should enshrine Putin’s power in Russia for life. Besides, one of their goals is to legislate the impossibility of returning Crimea to Ukraine.

 

…The articles of V. Putin, N. Patrushev and D. Medvedev are purely propagandistic and fully meet the goals of the Kremlin’s neo-imperial policy…

This is what determines the content of the above-mentioned articles, which are purely propagandistic and fully meet the goals of the Kremlin’s neo-imperial policy. Despite the various topics raised by the authors of the publications, as well as the obvious problems in their perception of both historical and contemporary realities, they include a clear system of mutually coordinated theses. In general, they correspond to the ideas of building a “Russian world” and include the following statements:

  • All, but Russia in the form of the then USSR, including Germany, the United States, Great Britain, France, and Poland, are responsible for the outbreak of World War II and the «Great Patriotic» War;
  • The USSR did not attack Poland, let alone shared it with Hitler’s Germany. The Soviet Army’s “liberation campaign” was aimed solely at protecting the population of eastern regions of Poland. And Warsaw itself is to blame for what happened in 1939;
  • The Soviet Union did not annex the Baltic states, especially under the threat of military force. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia voluntarily joined the USSR;
  • Moscow neither helped Hitler’s rise to power, nor contributed to the strengthening of Nazi Germany with the outbreak of World War II. Not to mention that Stalin did not share Europe with Hitler under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, but only tried to delay Germany’s attack on the USSR;
  • World War II was won by the Soviet Union, and in fact by Russia. All other members of the anti-Hitler coalition played a minor role in the victory over Nazi Germany and its allies;
  • Cooperation between the USSR/Russia and the West during the Second World War testified to the possibility and necessity of cooperation between the parties in resolving key international problems, which remains important in today’s world situation;
  • Positive use of such experience is hampered by the policy of the USA seeking to maintain its dominance in the world, impose American interests on other countries, and put pressure on rivals using political, economic, and military methods;
  • Evidence of such USA’s actions was assistance in the collapse of the USSR by supporting independence of former Soviet republics, barbaric bombing of Yugoslavia, and imposition and continuation of political and economic sanctions against the Russian Federation;
  • in contrast, Russia is pursuing a positive policy aimed at: uniting the world community in fighting current challenges and threats to humanity; non-discrimination of individual countries and non-oppression of their interests; compliance with international law in international politics;
  • This position of Moscow is based on traditional Russian values, including spirituality, justice, willingness to help all who needs it. All this is completely different from Western values, which are based on pseudo-liberalism and pseudo-democracy, and also prefer material enrichment over spiritual development;
  • Despite Russia’s current problems, due to Western sanctions, the epidemic and falling oil prices, the Kremlin’s policy is constructive, aimed at improving the welfare of the population and strengthening the country, and has already created preconditions for its overcoming the crisis.

 

…Russian “wolf” and “bear” pull on the “sheepskin”. However, who will believe them?…

Based on these statements, several strategic conclusions are drawn regarding the Kremlin’s views on Russia’s role and place in the world, as well as the principles of building a new system of international relations that should be created instead of the current one. The main conclusions are:

  • First, Russia is a separate civilization, pursues a peaceful foreign policy, is a model and support for other countries, and has a spiritual advantage over the West. In view of this, all countries close to Russia must unite around it within the framework of building a “Russian world”;
  • Second, the decisive role of the USSR, but in fact Russia, in the victory over Nazi Germany and further development of geopolitical processes in the world, require a return to the results of World War II. Namely — the restoration of the division of the world, which was determined during the Yalta Conference in February 1945 and existed before the collapse of the USSR, which became the greatest tragedy of the 20thcentury;
  • Third, new global challenges and threats to humanity require resumption of full cooperation between Russia and the United States and Europe and, accordingly, lifting Western sanctions;
  • Fourth, all Russia’s problems are purely temporary and are the result of external factors, including circumstances and actions of Russian rivals. At this, the leadership of the Russian Federation is not personally responsible for the decline in living standards of the Russian population or for other difficulties that have arisen in the region;
  • Fifth, all those who do not share such views are revisionists of history, nationalists and other enemies of Russia. In particular, this applies to Ukraine and Georgia, which are anti-Russian projects of the West and aimed at weakening the Russian Federation. It is in this context that Ukraine and Georgia are mentioned in most publications and public speeches by Russian leaders.

 

In principle, everything is clear. Including why such articles are published and such conclusions are drawn. In general, they have two main purposes, namely:

  • In the external sphere — to improve Moscow’s international image, as well as to prove the need for Russia’s return to the “club” of great powers and to confirm its right to its own sphere of influence in the world. And, of course, to discredit Ukraine and Georgia, which dare to pursue a policy independent of Russia;
  • In the domestic sphere — to convince the Russian population of the expediency of supporting the amendments to the RF Constitution, which were proposed by the Putin regime. Of course, like the results of all other votes in Russia, the results of the constitutional referendum have been falsified by the country’s authorities. At the same time, the Kremlin still seeks to legitimize its actions as much as possible.

 

…Ukrainian folk wisdom: “The Muscovite said “right”, but he also lied openly”…

In the current situation, these issues are especially relevant for Moscow, which is due to the apparent loss of Russia’s international position, as well as the catastrophic fall in Putin’s rating. All this encourages the Russian “wolf” or “bear” to pull on the “sheepskin”. However, who will believe them? As the same fables of Aesop teach: “Appearance can be misleading; we must trust not it, but our mind”.

And what does the mind tell us? Just another Ukrainian folk wisdom: “The Muscovite said “right”, but he also lied openly”. All this is true about all the ideas that are being promoted by the leadership of today’s Russia. We will not go into too much detail. We will give a few antitheses to the theses of articles by V. Putin and his associates. So:

  • Russia’s role in the formation and strengthening of Hitler’s Germany has long been known, which was the real reason for World War II. The role of the United States and Great Britain in the victory over German Nazism and Japanese militarism is similarly known. There is nothing to add here, except to mention the estimate of Putin’s article by most of the countries affected by World War II. “Lies, manipulation, hushing up, and nothing else”;
  • Russian politicians’ statements about the peaceful nature of Russia’s policy are exactly the same, as its entire history contradicts their thesis. Again, let us mention only latest events, including: Russia’s wars in the North Caucasus in the mid-1990s and early 2000s; the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008; attack on Ukraine in 2014 and intervention in the armed conflict in Syria in 2015. And how, say, do the “barbaric” US/NATO bombings of Yugoslavia differ from the same Russian bombings of Chechen, Georgian and Syrian cities and other settlements;
  • There is no point to speak about Russian “spirituality”. It is enough to watch their own Russian television programs about the true moral face of Russians, including mass drunkenness, unwarranted aggression, propensity to steal, as well as ultra-chauvinism, which has gained special growth under the influence of Putin’s policies. Not to mention the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the war against Ukraine, which not only blessed it, but also sent its mercenaries to Crimea and the Donbas as part of the so-called Russian Orthodox Army. It will just suffice to mention their call signs like “Devil”, “Babay”, “Chechen” and “Scorpion”. As for the “advantages” of moral over material values, we can mention the Russian oligarchs, led by V. Putin;
  • Even more questionable are the maxims about Russia’s “leading” role in the world. True, the USSR did play such a role, which is not the case with today’s Russian Federation. To date, it has actually squandered its potential and is of no interest to the West. Neither as the main nuclear adversary of the United States and Europe due to the possession of nuclear weapons by many other countries. Nor as a trading partner due to the aggravation of the problems in the Russian economy. Or as a leading gas supplier to Europe as a result of EU countries receiving energy carriers from other sources.

 

…The current Russia is clearly following the path of the former Soviet Union. Or rather, of its aging rulers, which at one time also lost touch with reality…

And now the question arises: does the ruling elite of Russia understand all this? According to the normal logic of things, it must understand, because the very survival of the Russian Federation depends on it. However, in reality, it seems it does not, because the current Russia is clearly following the path of the former Soviet Union. Or rather, of its aging rulers, which at one time also lost touch with reality. And exactly like the Soviet Union, during periods of critical aggravation of its internal problems, it begins to take off its “sheepskin” and show its teeth.

Thus, against the background of attempts to look “white and fluffy”, Russia continues to openly demonstrate military force and threatens the countries of the former Soviet Union. How else can we understand Putin’s speeches in April and May this year, where he threatens the United States and the European Union with the latest missile systems, which are allegedly in the service of the Russian army.

In the same way, Russia openly demonstrates its territorial claims to the countries of the former USSR, and does not hide at all possible methods of their implementation. Such claims were voiced by V. Putin in the documentary “Russia, Kremlin, Putin”, which was broadcasted just before the next anniversary of the beginning of the «Great Patriotic» War — June 21 this year. In the Russian President’s words, emphasized in the film, “some of the former Soviet republics received historical Russian territories as a gift from Moscow and did not pay their debts to Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.”

And how Russia is going to have these debts paid was explained by one of the ideologues of the “Russian world”, Director of the Institute of Political Science S. Markov. According to his vision of ways to resolve this problem, “…after the United States leaves Ukraine, Russian tanks will be able to reach Lviv in no more than a week”. Well, this is fully consistent with both the main scenario of exercises of the Russian Armed Forces and the concept of the Victory Parade, which was held in Moscow on June 24, and was accompanied by no less pompous military events in other Russian cities.

Except that “not everything turned out as desired”. At Putin’s invitation to visit Moscow to take part in the festivities, only the heads of Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as well as the leaders of Republika Srpska (including Bosnia and Herzegovina) and unrecognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia came to visit him. So much for “the great power that has respect and influence in the world”.

However, it is in this sense that we can analyze Putin’s words that the parade in Moscow “became a triumph of unseen force and a demonstration of the victory of good over evil”. This is exactly what the demonstrative separation of V. Putin from the entire civilized world showed.

But he still hopes for the best. Including that the time will come when all the leaders of the countries of the former USSR will come to him. It is difficult to say what suggests such thoughts. Is that a mention of how in 1940 the then leadership of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia was brought to Moscow under the escort of the NKVD. And from there — the lucky went to Siberian concentration camps, the unlucky — to shooting cellars.

 

…The tactics of the jackal’s behavior in various situations is fully in line with Putin’s policy…

And in conclusion, I would like to mention another theme of fables, which was raised by Aesop, and then developed by other writers. This topic concerns the tactics of the jackal’s behavior in various situations, which is also fully in line with Putin’s policy. Thus, in the fable “The Jackal and the Lion”, the coward Jackal dared to attack the king of beasts the Lion, only when the latter was trapped. And in the fable “Jackal-Intriguer” — he brought discord between Leopard and Lynx in order to seize their prey.

And now, again, someone hopes to reach an agreement with Russia. What can be advised here again? Study history. Or at least read the fables if you missed them in elementary school.

 

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