Putin’s fan club is right-wing

Conflicting “facts” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine confirm the wisdom of the Ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus: “In war, truth is the first casualty.”

No outlet is giving the full story. Censorship in Russia is obvious. Russia has blocked BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Deutsche Welle websites, among others.

Social media is curtailed. By comparison, the blocking of the RT (formerly Russia Today) TV signal seems mild. But it remains censorship, even when explained as being part of European Union sanctions. If we are unable to hear the other side, how do we know whether we’re getting the complete picture? To the closed mind, this doesn’t matter.

The closed mind knows what it wants to see and disregards the rest. It’s wrong for thousands of people, young and old, to be bombed, shot, terrorised – driven from their homes by an invading army. And international laws are being broken by President Vladimir Putin and his underlings. Yet many South Africans still “#StandWithRussia”.

To those who lived through the worst apartheid years, sympathy is understandable.

The Soviet Union, despite its flaws, supported the struggle against apartheid for longer and in more ways than Western countries did. This included financial assistance, military training and equipment, education and much more. Friendships were formed.

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It is unreasonable to expect all this to be wiped away without persuasion. Television coverage of the invasion is heartbreaking, but open to differing interpretations. Who are the bad guys? I know where I stand. But before RT was taken off air, I would watch it to try to understand the other side.

There’s still much available on social media. Many Putin supporters in SA don’t sufficiently concede that today Russia is vastly different from the old Soviet Union. Geographically. Ideologically. Credit for support during the apartheid struggle has been accorded mostly to Russia.

This does not do justice to Ukraine. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union during the struggle. Zakes Mda notes (on Twitter and quoted in the Sunday Times) that many struggle comrades lived in the Ukrainian capital.

These included doctors who went on to work in ANC camps in Africa. Putin is no liberator of oppressed people. South Africans who sing his praises should note who else is in the fan club. Francis Fukuyama says in the Financial Times: “Right-wing populists express admiration for Putin, beginning with former US president [Donald] Trump, who called Putin a ‘genius’ … after his invasion of Ukraine.

“Populists including Marine le Pen and Eric Zemmour in France, Italy’s Matteo Salvini, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, leaders of the AfD in Germany and Hungary’s Viktor Orban have all shown sympathy for Putin, a ‘strong’ leader who acts decisively to defend traditional values without regard for petty things such as laws and constitutions.”

Yet truth is seldom pure and never simple. Ukraine today exemplifies the values of freedom and democracy far more than Putin does.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is charismatic and brave, but has he incorporated neo-Nazis into Ukraine’s army? There are flaws on both sides and I am not suggesting moral equivalence. Right now the biggest threat to freedom is Putin. I stand with Ukraine.