Russia is a fascist dictatorship.
With imperial ambitions.
This is the English version of my op-ed in Kristianstadsbladet 6 September 2024, and in Norra Skåne on the same day. It was also published as a letter to the newspaper Sydöstran published 2 September 2024.
Recently, the internationally wanted war criminal and illegitimate Russian president issued a decree to simplify immigration to Russia. The decree states that men who want to move to Russia in order to abuse their wives and children with impunity can now do so without being able to speak Russian and demonstrate knowledge of Russian history. The latter, by the way, makes no sense as the wanted war criminal constantly rewrites Russian history at regular intervals to suit his bizarre views.
The Kremlin welcomes child and wife abusers.
Source: Tass.
When Putin became president, he declared war on the burgeoning democracy that then existed in Russia. At the same time, he began the march against the fascist dictatorship necessary for the restoration of the Russian Empire.
As in other fascist countries, Russia is a dictatorship where political dissent is suppressed by a power apparatus with strict dominance over both society and the individual. Russian society is arch-reactionary with a strong national identity where the internationally wanted war criminal's own person as the strong leader guarantees traditional values where the nuclear family, the church and the historical greatness of the Russian Empire are celebrated.
A Russian nuclear family consists of a man and a woman who can give birth to many children. Those who question these roles have been imprisoned, chased out of the country and killed. Feminists and LGBTQI+ activists have been silenced in these ways.
The church's role is to support this message and portray liberal values and sexual minorities as satanic inventions and satinists. At Russian airbases, priests bless Russian missiles that are aimed at children's hospitals and residential buildings.
The history books have been rewritten and contain only lies and propaganda. A central message in these books is the myth of the rebirth of the nation and the victim myth of the collapse of the Soviet Union as a catastrophe staged by the West. Democracies in the West are portrayed as enemies who want to destroy Russia.
Education at all levels has undergone sweeping changes with the aim of indoctrinating the youth. The children learn at school to handle Kalashnikov rifles, throw hand grenades and control drones to defend the motherland, which according to Russia means attacks by neighboring countries.
The defense of the motherland is defined by the Kremlin as the restoration of the Russian Empire. In our immediate vicinity, those plans include at least the Baltic democracies. But on the billboards in Russia close to the Estonian border, the fascists let us know that "Russia has no borders". If the fascist conquest of Ukraine is not stopped, our children's hospitals, schools and kindergartens will be bombed to realize the Kremlin's imperial dreams.