A nationwide campaign encouraging children to make candles for soldiers has become so popular that anyone questioning it in a school chat group could be branded a “Nazi and an accomplice of the West.”
At the same time, he argued, daily life for Russians without a family member fighting in Ukraine has changed little, which has masked or mitigated the costs of the war. Western officials estimate that at least 200,000 Russians were killed or wounded in Ukraine, a far more serious number than analysts had predicted early in the war. Still, the economy has suffered much less than analysts predicted, as Western sanctions have failed to drastically reduce the quality of life for average Russians, even as many Western brands left.
“One of the scariest observations, I think, is that for the most part, nothing has changed,” Mr Chernyshov said, describing the urban rhythm of restaurants and concerts and his students dating. “This tragedy is being pushed to the periphery.”
In Moscow, Putin’s new war ideology is on display at the Victory Museum – a sprawling hilltop compound dedicated to the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany. A new exhibit, “NATOzism,” explains that “the purpose of establishing NATO was to achieve world domination.” A second, “Everyday Nazism,” includes artifacts from Ukraine’s Azov Battalion, which has far-right connections, as evidence of the false claim that Ukraine is committing “genocide” against Russians.
“It was scary, scary and horrible,” said a patron named Liza, 19, of what the exhibit showed her, declining to give her last name because of the political sensitivity of the subject. She said she was dismayed to learn of this behavior by Ukrainians as portrayed by Russian propaganda. “It shouldn’t be like that,” she said, signaling her support for Putin’s invasion.
Hundreds of students were visiting on a recent afternoon, and elementary school children in green army hats marched when their supervisor shouted, “Left, left, one, two, three!” and addressed them as “soldiers.” In the main hall, the studio of Victory TV — a WWII-focused channel launched in 2020 — filmed a live talk show.
