The Anatomy of Power
When you realize that US politics are actually similar to Russian politics...
Figures like Donald Trump have consistently styled themselves as the "ultimate victim," transforming legal challenges or political opposition into acts of "persecution." This positions the leader as a symbolic proxy for a "victimized American public," particularly "victimized American men," by channeling collective frustrations and grievances. This narrative leverages the "politics of grievance, blame, and hate" against specific groups, such as immigrants, the trans community, or the "woke liberal elite," identifying them as "national enemies." The message simplifies complex problems: "Things are bad, but because 'they' are responsible, things are fixable if 'they' are punished and purged."
Trump's ongoing tariff policy was also based on the narrative that the rest of the world owes something to the US, despite the sad reality that big part of the US economy is built on exploiting the workforce and resources of other countries. The usual US tactics on how to militarily control these countries is through the narratives of "liberating these areas from totalitarian control and instilling democracy."
On the other hand, Russia's narrative is liberation from "fascism": this idea that they're "liberators" who are saving people from a great evil is rooted in the 2nd World War narrative. The way World War II was taught during the Communist rule and still is this way taught in Russia isn't about a full, nuanced picture. It is about a specific, politically useful narrative:
Minimizing Western efforts: The role of the US, UK, and other Allied forces was downplayed.
Exaggerating the Soviet role: The Red Army's contribution was presented as the primary, and often sole, reason for the victory.
Hiding Soviet crimes: The atrocities committed by Stalin and the Soviet regime were completely erased from the official narrative.
Omitting the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: The fact that the Soviets had an agreement with Nazi Germany was never mentioned.
Hypocrisy: The undeniable faults of the West, like colonialism and interventionism, are used to justify Russia's actions.
Denialism: The fact that Russia has its own long history of colonialism and imperialism is completely denied in its official narrative.
The victim-savior complex: The belief that Russia is always being "terrorized" by the world and must constantly defend itself. Russian moral superiority and a sense of being perpetually under threat. The Soviet Union aggressively promoted the term "liberation" to describe the Red Army's entry into various Eastern and Central European countries, including Poland in 1944–45. This was a fundamental element of their image-building, designed to disguise Soviet imperialism and the forced subservience of these nations as acts of freedom. This narrative was consistently enforced throughout the Communist period, even though for many, it simply meant a shift from one form of totalitarian enslavement (Nazi occupation) to another (Soviet domination), accompanied by extensive repression against various social groups.
We already know that Russia in its military actions in Ukraine since 2014 (including the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in the Donbas region) has consistently claimed that it is protecting ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers from what it calls a "fascist" or "Nazi" regime in Kyiv. It's a similar narrative to the 1939 invasion of Finland. Soviets also employed a form of ideological justification. They claimed they were "liberating" the Finnish proletariat from what they called a "bourgeoisie" and "fascist" government in Helsinki. To officially justify the invasion, the Soviet Union staged a false flag incident known as the "Mainila shelling." The Soviets claimed that Finnish artillery had shelled a Soviet village near the border, killing and wounding Soviet soldiers. This fabricated event was used to abrogate the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact and initiate the invasion.
Russian Colonialism
The current demographic landscape of Siberia and the Russian Far East is marked by a significant ethnic Russian majority. This current reality, where ethnic Russians constitute approximately 71% of the total Russian population, prompts a critical examination of the historical processes that led to such a profound transformation. In the Asian part of Russia, indigenous peoples represent a much smaller proportion, accounting for about 5% of the total Siberian population, or roughly 1.6–1.8 million individuals. More precisely, the 2021 Russian Census recorded 1,707,829 indigenous Siberians, making up only 1.24% of the total Russian population.
In Kamchatka, only 8,000 people remained out of a previous population of 20,000 after the first half-century of Russian conquest. Ninety percent of the Kamchadals and half of the Vogules were killed from the 18th to 19th centuries. By 1882, historian Nikolai Yadrintsev identified "around 12 exterminated groups" in Siberia. In the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region, the total percentage of indigenous peoples (Khanty, Mansi, and Nenets) dropped from nearly 20% in 1939 to under 3.5% by 1979, indicating continued decline into the Soviet era. The documented extermination of entire groups and drastic population reductions highlight the genocidal consequences of Russian colonization, far beyond mere displacement. This level of demographic destruction is a core component of the "treatment" of indigenous peoples and a direct explanation for the current ethnic Russian majority. The evidence points to a process that, whether by design or consequence, resulted in the near-extermination of numerous indigenous groups. The term "genocide" is used by sources, emphasizing that the impact was not incidental but a systematic destruction of indigenous life, whether through direct violence, disease, or the collapse of traditional systems. This directly addresses the "how they treated" part of the query by detailing the ultimate, devastating outcome.
Russian Tsar Peter I introduced a systematic policy of forceful cultural integration, issuing decrees in 1706 and 1710 that prescribed the burning of indigenous idols, the replacement of pagan sacred places with Orthodox churches, and the forced baptism of local populations. The Russian Orthodox Church held a monopoly on missionary activity, allowing conversion to Orthodoxy but explicitly prohibiting conversion from it, and actively fighting against "superstitious" rituals, magic, and divinations.
During the Soviet era, many nomadic communities were forced to adopt a sedentary way of life. This policy was part of a broader ideological push to integrate indigenous peoples into the "new society." This forced sedentarization represents a fundamental assault on indigenous cultural practices and traditional economies. It demonstrates a colonial project that sought to "civilize" and control populations by altering their very way of life, making them easier to administer and exploit. This policy was a key component of the "civilizing mission" and later Soviet "socialist progress," aimed at breaking traditional indigenous self-sufficiency and integrating them into the Russian/Soviet economic and social system.
In essence, the current ethnic Russian majority in Siberia is a direct legacy of a colonial project that employed military force, economic exploitation, demographic engineering, and cultural subjugation to transform a vast, diverse territory into an integral part of the Russian state. The historical record underscores the immense human cost borne by the indigenous peoples of Siberia, whose lands, lives, and cultures were fundamentally altered by this relentless eastward expansion.
Echoes from the Past: Lessons from Communist Czechoslovakia
Communist regimes understood that controlling information was paramount to maintaining power. In Czechoslovakia, after the 1948 communist takeover, the state swiftly moved to establish absolute control over all means of communication.
The communist revolution in Czechoslovakia, like in other socialist states, aimed for a complete societal transformation that included nothing less than an "extreme makeover of human nature." The goal was to create a "New Socialist Man." This new individual was envisioned as intelligent, healthy, muscular, utterly selfless, and supremely dedicated to the communist cause, prioritizing the collective good over any personal benefit or family loyalty. The idea was that if socialism was not working, it was because human nature had not sufficiently adapted to the system.
Education was seen as the main instrument for this ideological indoctrination, molding young people into devoted adherents of Marxism-Leninism. Schools and youth organizations, such as the Young Pioneers (for ages 8–15) and the Czechoslovak Union of Youth (for ages 15–25), were designed to remove children from "petit-bourgeois" family influences and immerse them in a "collective way of life." They were taught to be "completely Red" and to prioritize the "world revolution" over family ties.
The "Cadre" System's Grip: Political Loyalty Over Merit
Beyond direct propaganda, the communist regime implemented a system that deeply influenced individual lives and careers: the "cadre profile" or kádrování. Access to higher education and opportunities for career progression depended heavily on the "political compliance of students and their families." University admission procedures, disciplinary actions, and even graduation were influenced by political authorities. The "cadre profile" of parents was meticulously examined for university admissions, including their origin, Communist Party affiliation, and religious beliefs.
Children of political prisoners, well-to-do farmers, dissidents, or known adherents of a religion were often denied admission to higher education. Amnesty International reported that applicants were ranked based on their parents' party membership (two KSC members first, then one KSC member), or if they were children of farmers or workers. Those who failed to meet these conditions were considered last, effectively disqualifying children of dissidents. This system served as a "formidable 'stick'" to enforce compliance. The system also led to desperate measures and corruption. Members of the intelligentsia, for instance, might temporarily take jobs as manual laborers to allow their children to claim "proletarian status" and gain admission. There were also charges of bribes surrounding university admissions.
To silence opposition and intimidate the populace, the regime conducted highly publicized "political show trials." A tragic example is Milada Horáková, a brave democratic politician and feminist. Despite facing brutal interrogation, she was arrested, tried on fabricated charges of conspiracy and treason, and executed in 1950 in a "judicial murder" by slow strangulation. Her unwavering courage made her a powerful symbol of resistance against totalitarianism.
We need to understand that people who grew up under this totalitarian brainwash still represent a significant part of the population that has influence on election results. Russia is aware of the fact that within their informational warfare, these people who were successfully brainwashed already during their Soviet era childhood, they also represent the fertile ground for Russia's today effort to destabilize Europe. They can tap back into the seeds planted into the human psyche already during the Soviet Communist era.
Modern Russia's disinformation campaigns are not simply about fabricating falsehoods; they are strategically designed to identify and exploit existing societal divisions and anxieties. Russian propaganda actively constructs negative myths about Ukrainian refugees to destabilize the European Union and sow distrust in its leadership. It is vital to separate these myths from the facts.
Tactics such as "Overload" (spreading overwhelming and contradictory information to cause confusion) and "Doppelgänger" (impersonating trusted media outlets to disseminate disinformation) are also employed. The ultimate goal of these campaigns extends far beyond merely discrediting Ukrainian refugees or influencing specific elections. The broader objective is democratic erosion and destabilizing governments by undermining public trust in institutions and loosening integration with the EU and NATO. By inflaming cultural tensions, depressing voter turnout, and strengthening populist and Eurosceptic forces, Russia aims to weaken Western alliances and liberal democracies from within.
Tactics like "Overload" are designed to create so much noise and contradiction that people lose faith in all information sources, leading to apathy or radicalization. This is not just about winning an argument, it is about fracturing societies to diminish their collective will and capacity to act against Russian interests. The information war is not a separate, minor conflict. It is an integral component of a larger geopolitical strategy aimed at reshaping the global order. The long-term damage is not just to individual perceptions but to the very fabric of trust in democratic institutions, making societies more vulnerable to authoritarian appeals.
In Central European countries like Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary, Russian propaganda cleverly adapts its messaging to local trends. It capitalizes on pre-existing skepticism about refugee integration, a sentiment that has been present since the peak of the EU migration crisis in 2014–2015. This makes populations with negative attitudes towards refugees a prime target audience for Russian narratives, as the demonization of Ukrainian refugees aligns with their existing beliefs. Long-term disinformation efforts actively contribute to deepening social polarization, creating an environment where constructive dialogue becomes increasingly difficult. Perhaps most critically, these campaigns systematically damage public trust in democratic institutions—governments, media, and even the electoral process itself. This erosion of trust leaves societies vulnerable to populism and authoritarian appeals, as citizens become disillusioned and susceptible to leaders who promise simple solutions to complex problems. As seen in the psychological impact of cognitive dissonance in Communist societies, living under constant, contradictory narratives can lead to widespread cynicism, apathy, and a breakdown of social cohesion, with lasting societal scars.
It is vital to emphasize the importance of critical thinking in navigating today's complex information environment. This means actively questioning sources, seeking out diverse perspectives, and learning to recognize the emotional manipulation and simplification tactics that are hallmarks of propaganda. Media literacy, in this context, extends beyond simply identifying "fake news"; it encompasses understanding the intent behind narratives, the psychological tactics employed, and the broader political and geopolitical goals they serve. It is about developing a robust cognitive toolkit to deconstruct and evaluate information. Education systems and public initiatives must prioritize teaching comprehensive critical thinking and media literacy skills as fundamental components of civic education in the digital age.
This proactive approach is the primary defense against the erosion of democratic integrity, empowering citizens to resist manipulation and make informed decisions, thereby strengthening the resilience of open societies against both internal and external threats. Media literacy is no longer a niche skill but a fundamental civic responsibility. It empowers individuals to be discerning consumers of information and thoughtful participants in public discourse, rather than passive recipients of manufactured realities.