russia’s “special military operation” has expectedly caused a surge of anti-russian sentiments, which affects not only holders of russian passports, but also former citizens of the russian federation living in the EU.
Over the past month, russophobia in the world has reached such intensity that it has pushed all other sentiments into the background. In addition to Ukraine, anti-russian sentiment is especially strong in Great Britain and Poland, where russia is traditionally perceived as a threat to Western peace.
The following facts can testify to the depth and extent of the spread of russophobic sentiments in the Western community.
russian students are expelled from world universities and subjected to bullying.
russian tourists are beaten in hotels, property of russian citizens is seized.
Despite the fact that hatred of russia among the Western public has reached its maximum, average Europeans recognize that in russia the government and the population are divided. Western governments separate russia from the current policy of its authorities and try not to confuse “russophobia” with “kremlephobia”. Real russophobia really exists not in Ukraine and not in the Western mass media, but in the heads of russian leaders.
It should be noted that before the events of 2014, the number of manifestations of russophobia in European countries was much lower. In the countries of the European Union, the United States and Canada, russians have never encountered any manifestations of russophobia.
It is indicative how good the attitude of Ukrainians towards russia as a state was before 2012 and how it worsened with the next round of putin’s aggression in February 2022.
According to the results of public opinion polls, even in September 2020, 42% of Ukrainians had a positive attitude towards russia, but after February 24, this indicator is only 2%.
Today, the russian government appeals to the lowest, nationalist feelings of its own citizens and hammers into their heads that the whole world hates them.
russophobia is currently being adopted by the kremlin as the last line of defense of the russian government against its critics.
It consists in the assertion that all those who criticize putin are mentally unbalanced “russophobes” and supporters of “anti-russian hysteria”.
The term “russophobia”, that is, fear or hatred of russia or russians, practically did not appear in official russian statements before 2014. It was only after the events of March 2014 that the russian Foreign Ministry and russian state propaganda bodies began to officially use the term “russophobia” to justify the annexation of Crimea, characterizing the Ukrainian government as russophobic.
The tactic of justifying any foreign criticism of the kremlin’s policy with russophobia has continued since February 2022, only on a much larger scale.
In addition to the russian-language media outlets, RT and Sputnik were connected to the disinformation information campaign.
After the use of the term “russophobia” in official addresses of russian officials in 2022, it almost doubled the total number of uses in the previous thirteen years.
After the introduction of sanctions against russia, the label of “russophobes” was given to foreign critics of the kremlin’s policy, primarily the USA, the Baltic states and Poland. Members of the European Parliament are blamed for the surge of anti-russian hysteria and russophobia for criticizing what is happening in Ukraine.
russia’s official position on “russophobia” is actually the last argument that expresses the fundamental weakness of the kremlin’s position, because attempts to justify military aggression have not proven convincing for most countries.
The aggression began on February 24, 2022. putin finally destroyed the “russian world” in Ukraine. And there is no doubt that the continuation of this war will lead to the complete destruction of russia as a state.
All that putin has achieved is to increase hatred and contempt for russians all over the world.
In Ukraine, russian-speaking Ukrainians are switching to the Ukrainian language en masse and confessing their sympathy for Ukrainian culture, which they did not fully understand until February 24.
