I understand your overall criticism of the Western media's portrayal of resisting to Putin as martyrdom, regardless of the nature of the opposition, yet such distinctions are important. Putin suppressed ANY kind of opposition that challenged his ability to stay in power, be it Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya (who reported extensively o…
I understand your overall criticism of the Western media's portrayal of resisting to Putin as martyrdom, regardless of the nature of the opposition, yet such distinctions are important. Putin suppressed ANY kind of opposition that challenged his ability to stay in power, be it Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya (who reported extensively on the conditions in Chechnya), Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Aleksandr Litvinenko, or Alexei Navalny – all of whom are now dead, except Khodorkovsky. All these opposition leaders did have a coherent framework within which they worked, and nationalist or not they did not carry out their ideas the same way as Azov.
Actually Putin regularly attended receptions put on by Echo Moscow, a liberal and dissident radio station setup by Alexei Venediktov until the station was shut down at the start of the Ukraine war in 2022:
Compare with the unwillingness of Democratic officials to appear, in any context, at any event from Fox News.
I've been alarmed by the willingness to ignore any tendencies, even the most overtly neo-Nazi ones, by Putin's opponents in Ukraine and Russia in order to satisfy the geopolitical needs of the moment. The cure may be worse than the illness (remember the enthusiasm for arming Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan to fight Russia's invasion?).
I used to listen to Yulia Latynina's Access Code, a program of Echo Moscow until she left Russia after multiple attempts that initially scared her with violent pranks and then openly tried to assassinate her when her car was set on fire. She left Russia before the Echo Moscow was shut down, fearing for her life. In short, I don't know which receptions Putin attended as none of it matters. That does not mean that it is ok for the Western media to willfully or unwilfully ignore the corruption or extreme tendencies that take place in Ukraine - a concern of yours that I share - but again, comparing Navalny to Ukranian militant groups or Islamic Jihadis is a stretch too far.
"comparing Navalny to Ukranian militant groups or Islamic Jihadis is a stretch too far"
Possibly, although not the Russia March he participated in.
But, excluding literary talent, Navalny could compare to Solzhenitsyn. He too was idolized in the West as a democratic opponent of the Soviet system, although some of Sakharov's associates wrote about his nationalist tendencies. Sure enough, after the fall of the Soviet Union, he laid it bare with his criticism of Western freedom and his anti-Semitic diatribe "Two Hundred Years Together".
Russian nationalists of any stripe are closer to Azov than they are to Western democracy.
Yes, I think the anti-Russian, anti-Putin tendencies are so deeply ingrained in the West that most anti-Putin dissidents are glorified to some extent. "Russian nationalists of any stripe are closer to Azov than they are to Western democracy." For sure they are not anywhere close to our understanding of democracy. Azov's tactics closely resemble Bolsheviks' dominance than any kind of democratic process.
I understand your overall criticism of the Western media's portrayal of resisting to Putin as martyrdom, regardless of the nature of the opposition, yet such distinctions are important. Putin suppressed ANY kind of opposition that challenged his ability to stay in power, be it Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya (who reported extensively on the conditions in Chechnya), Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Aleksandr Litvinenko, or Alexei Navalny – all of whom are now dead, except Khodorkovsky. All these opposition leaders did have a coherent framework within which they worked, and nationalist or not they did not carry out their ideas the same way as Azov.
Actually Putin regularly attended receptions put on by Echo Moscow, a liberal and dissident radio station setup by Alexei Venediktov until the station was shut down at the start of the Ukraine war in 2022:
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/how-putin-s-war-changed-my-moscow-a-3b5049e7-93fd-4c2a-9c9f-742635ae2099
Compare with the unwillingness of Democratic officials to appear, in any context, at any event from Fox News.
I've been alarmed by the willingness to ignore any tendencies, even the most overtly neo-Nazi ones, by Putin's opponents in Ukraine and Russia in order to satisfy the geopolitical needs of the moment. The cure may be worse than the illness (remember the enthusiasm for arming Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan to fight Russia's invasion?).
I used to listen to Yulia Latynina's Access Code, a program of Echo Moscow until she left Russia after multiple attempts that initially scared her with violent pranks and then openly tried to assassinate her when her car was set on fire. She left Russia before the Echo Moscow was shut down, fearing for her life. In short, I don't know which receptions Putin attended as none of it matters. That does not mean that it is ok for the Western media to willfully or unwilfully ignore the corruption or extreme tendencies that take place in Ukraine - a concern of yours that I share - but again, comparing Navalny to Ukranian militant groups or Islamic Jihadis is a stretch too far.
"comparing Navalny to Ukranian militant groups or Islamic Jihadis is a stretch too far"
Possibly, although not the Russia March he participated in.
But, excluding literary talent, Navalny could compare to Solzhenitsyn. He too was idolized in the West as a democratic opponent of the Soviet system, although some of Sakharov's associates wrote about his nationalist tendencies. Sure enough, after the fall of the Soviet Union, he laid it bare with his criticism of Western freedom and his anti-Semitic diatribe "Two Hundred Years Together".
Russian nationalists of any stripe are closer to Azov than they are to Western democracy.
Yes, I think the anti-Russian, anti-Putin tendencies are so deeply ingrained in the West that most anti-Putin dissidents are glorified to some extent. "Russian nationalists of any stripe are closer to Azov than they are to Western democracy." For sure they are not anywhere close to our understanding of democracy. Azov's tactics closely resemble Bolsheviks' dominance than any kind of democratic process.