Ruscism, also known as Rashism,, ; , group=lower-alpha Russism,, group=lower-alpha or Russian fascism,; , group=lower-alpha is a term used by a number of scholars, politicians and publicists to describe the

political ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

and

social practice Social practice is a theory within psychology that seeks to determine the link between practice and context within social situations. Emphasized as a commitment to change, social practice occurs in two forms: activity and inquiry. Most often a ...

s of the Russian authorities during the rule of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

. "Ruscism" and "Russism" are

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsfascism'; "Rashism" is a rough

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

of the Ukrainian equivalent (also a portmanteau). It is also used to refer to the ideology of Russian military

expansionism Expansionism refers to states obtaining greater territory through military empire-building or colonialism. In the classical age of conquest moral justification for territorial expansion at the direct expense of another established polity (who of ...

, and has been used as a label to describe an undemocratic system and nationality cult mixed with ultranationalism and a

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

. That transformation was described as based on the ideas of the "special civilizational mission" of the Russians, such as

Moscow as the third Rome Moscow, third Rome (; ) is a theological and political concept asserting Moscow as the successor to ancient Rome, with the Russian world carrying forward the legacy of the Roman Empire. The term "third Rome" refers to a historical topic of debate ...

and expansionism, which manifests itself in anti-Westernism and supports regaining formerly Imperial lands by conquest. The term "Rashist" is also widely used by Ukrainian officials and media to more generally identify members of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

and supporters of Russian military aggression against Ukraine. The modern use of the term can be traced back to 1995, when it was used in the context of the First Chechen War, but it became increasingly more common after the Russo-Georgian and Russo-Ukrainian wars and most recently the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Etymology and terminology

''Ruscism'' and ''Rashism'' are both attempts to transliterate the Ukrainian and Russian term ''рашизм'' (''rashizm'', ), a multilingual

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsfascism." According to Timothy D. Snyder, the word is complex, reflecting and referencing pronunciations of words in both English, Ukrainian and Russian. The ''Washington Post'' asserts that the English word “racist” contributes to the understood meaning of “rashist.”

History of use

Chechen wars

The term was, in the form ''Russism'' or ''Ruscism'' () popularized, described and extensively used in 1995 by President of the unrecognised Chechen state Ichkeria

Dzhokhar Dudayev Dzhokhar Musayevich Dudayev (, ; russian: Джохар Мусаевич Дудаев; ; 15 February 1944 – 21 April 1996) was a Soviet Air Force general and Chechen separatist leader who was the first president of the Chechen Republic of Ich ...

, who saw the military action by Russia in Chechnya as a manifestation of the rising far-right ideology. According to Dudayev, Ruscism is "a variety of hatred ideology which is based on Great Russian chauvinism, spiritlessness and immorality. It differs from other forms of fascism, racism, and nationalism by a more extreme cruelty, both to man and to nature. It is based on the destruction of everything and everyone, the tactics of

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, commun ...

. Ruscism is a

schizophrenic Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withd ...

variety of the

world domination World domination (also called global domination or world conquest or cosmocracy) is a hypothetical power structure, either achieved or aspired to, in which a single political authority holds the power over all or virtually all the inhabitants ...

complex. This is a distinct version of slave psychology, it grows like a parasite on the fabricated history, occupied territories and oppressed peoples." Dudayev is believed to have borrowed the term from either the works of the Russian revolutionary and philosopher

Aleksandr Herzen Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен, translit=Alexándr Ivánovich Gértsen; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism" and one of the main fathers of agra ...

or Russian philosopher and diplomat

Konstantin Leontiev Konstantin Nikolayevich Leontiev, monastic name: Clement (russian: Константи́н Никола́евич Лео́нтьев; January 25, 1831 in Kudinovo, Kaluga Governorate – November 24, 1891 in Sergiyev Posad) was a conservative t ...

. After Dudaev's death the term continued to be used by the leaders and ideologists of the Chechen rebels, most notably

Aslan Maskhadov Aslan (Khalid) Aliyevich Maskhadov (russian: Асла́н (Хали́д) Али́евич Масха́дов; ce, Масхадан Али-воӀ Аслан (Халид), Masxadan Ali-voj Aslan (Xalid); 21 September 1951 – 8 March 2005) was ...

who as the serving president of Ichkeria named Ruscism the main enemy of Chechnya in a 2004 interview, while the Chechen news website

Kavkaz Center The Kavkaz Center (KC; russian: Кавказ-центр, Kavkaz-centr, lit=Caucasus Center) is a privately run website/ portal which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic". The stated mission of the ...

featured a regular column titled "Russism", in which around 150 articles were published between 2003 and 2016.

Russo-Georgian and Russo-Ukrainian wars

The term ' (Ruscism/Rashism) became increasingly common in informal circles in 2008, during the

Russo-Georgian War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

. It was used in Ukrainian media after the annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation, the downing of a Boeing 777 near

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loc ...

on 17 July 2014, and the start of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...

in 2014. It appears in the Russian-language song "That's, Baby, Ruscism! Orthodox Fascism!]" by Ukrainian composer and singer-songwriter . The Committees of the Verkhovna Rada, Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on Humanitarian and Information Policy supports the initiative of Ukrainian scientists, journalists, political scientists and all civil society to promote and recognize the term "Ruscism" at the national and international levels.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

By 2022 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the terms ''Rashyzm'' and ''Rashyst'' had come into common usage among

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

and

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

elites of Ukraine, as well as by journalists, influencers, bloggers and others. For example, Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the

National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC; uk, Рада національної безпеки і оборони України, RNBO or RNBOU) is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukrai ...

, actively advocates the use of the word in the meaning of

's fascism to describe Russia's aggression against Ukraine. He also stated that Ruscism is much worse than fascism. On 23 April 2022, President of Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

stated that a new concept called "Ruscism" will be in history books: According to the

Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service is a news service primarily focusing on civil litigation. Its core audience is lawyers and law firms, who subscribe to the service;Courthouse News Service v. Schaefer', Civil Action No. 2:18-cv-39 (E.D. Va. February 20, 20 ...

, Ukrainian

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...

during the period of Russia's invasion of Ukraine called Russian troops "ruscists".

Ideological history

Ivan Ilyin

Timothy D. Snyder of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

believes that the ideology of Putin and his regime was influenced by Russian nationalist philosopher Ivan Ilyin (1883–1954). A number of Ilyin's works advocated fascism. Ilyin has been quoted by

President of Russia The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

Vladimir Putin, and is considered by some observers to be a major ideological inspiration for Putin. Putin was personally involved in moving Ilyin's remains back to Russia, and in 2009 consecrated his grave. According to Snyder, Ilyin "provided a metaphysical and moral justification for political totalitarianism" in the form of a fascist state, and that today "his ideas have been revived and celebrated by Vladimir Putin". Ilyin's book, ''Our Tasks'' was in 2013 recommended as essential reading for state officials by the Russian government, while ''What Dismemberment of Russia Would Mean for the World'' is said to have been "read and reread" by Putin according to ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

''.

Aleksandr Dugin

In 1997, Russian thinker Aleksandr Dugin, widely known for fascistic views, published '' The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia'', a book believed to have garnered significant impact among Russia's military, police and foreign policy elites. In it, he argued that Ukraine should be annexed by Russia because "Ukraine as a state has no geopolitical meaning", "no particular cultural import or universal significance, no geographic uniqueness, no ethnic exclusiveness", that " tscertain territorial ambitions represen an enormous danger for all of Eurasia and, without resolving the Ukrainian problem, it is in general senseless to speak about continental politics". He argued that Ukraine should not be allowed to remain independent, unless it is " sanitary cordon", which would be "inadmissible". The book may have been influential in Vladimir Putin's foreign policy, which eventually led to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Also in 1997, Dugin hailed what he saw as the arrival of a "genuine, true, radically revolutionary and consistent, fascist fascism" in Russia, in an article titled "Fascism – Borderless and Red"; previously in 1992, he had in another article defended "fascism" as not having anything to do with "the racist and chauvinist aspects of National Socialism", stating in contrast that "Russian fascism is a combination of natural national conservatism with a passionate desire for true changes." Another of Dugin's books, ''

The Fourth Political Theory ''The Fourth Political Theory'' (russian: Четвертая политическая теория, ) is a book by the Russian philosopher and political analyst Aleksandr Dugin, published in 2009. In the book, Dugin states that he is laying the fo ...

'', published in 2009, has been cited as an inspiration for Russian policy in events such as the

war in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regula ...

, and for the contemporary European far-right in general. Although there is a dispute on the extent of the personal relationship between Dugin and Putin, Dugin's influence exists broadly in Russian military and security circles. He became a lecturer at the

Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia The Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (russian: Военная академия Генерального штаба Вооруженных Сил Российской Федерации) is the ...

in the 1990s, and his ''Foundations of Geopolitics'' has become part of the curriculum there, as well as in several other military/police academies and institutions of higher learning. According to John B. Dunlop of the

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes Economic liberty, personal and economic liberty, Free ...

, " ere has perhaps not been another book published in Russia during the post-communist period that has exerted an influence on Russian military, police, and foreign policy elites comparable to that of ..''Foundations of Geopolitics''."

Timofey Sergeitsev

According to

Euractiv Euractiv (styled EURACTIV) is a pan-European news website specialised in EU policies, founded in 1999 by the French media publisher Christophe Leclercq. Its headquarters and central editorial staff are located in Brussels,with further offices in ...

, Russian political operative Timofey Sergeitsev is "one of the ideologists of modern Russian fascism". During the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, when the victims of the massacres in

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, w ...

became known, the website of the Russian state news agency

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asset ...

published an article by Sergeitsev titled "What Russia Should Do with Ukraine", which was perceived to justify a Ukrainian genocide. It calls for repression, de-

Ukrainization Ukrainization (also spelled Ukrainisation), sometimes referred to as Ukrainianization (or Ukrainianisation) is a policy or practice of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of ...

, de- Europeanization, and

ethnocide Ethnocide is the extermination of cultures. Reviewing the legal and the academic history of the usage of the terms genocide and ethnocide, Bartolomé Clavero differentiates them by stating that "Genocide kills people while ethnocide kills socia ...

of the

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Or ...

. According to Oxford expert on Russian affairs Samuel Ramani, the article "represents mainstream

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

thinking". The head of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Edgars Rinkēvičs Edgars Rinkēvičs (born 21 September 1973 in Jūrmala) is a Latvian public official and politician, currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, a role he has held since 2011. Before beginning in this role, he served as head ...

called the article "ordinary fascism". Timothy D. Snyder described it as a "genocide handbook", and as "one of the most openly genocidal documents I have ever seen". Similar rhetoric appeared in 26 February op-ed by Peter Akopov in

titled "The Coming of Russia and of the New World", which praised Putin for a timely "solution of the Ukrainian question". It was un-published after three hours.

In Russia

Z symbol flash mob at Platinum Arena in Khabarovsk

According to

the Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

, Vladimir Putin began to draw on post-Soviet fascist thinking in response to waning popularity. The highly popular 2000 film Brother 2 by Alexei Balabanov has been "a key contributor" to Ruscism becoming the cultural mainstream of Putinist Russia by seemingly concidentally containing "the main framework of the quasi-ideological narrative, as well as its most forceful formulations, which have since been recycled by almost every major political party in Russia", according to professor at the Department of Slavic Languages of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

Mark Lipovetsky Mark Naumovich Lipovetsky (russian: Mарк Наумович Липовецкий; born June 2, 1964) is a Russian literary, film, and cultural critic who advocates the position that postmodernism is replacing socialist realism as the dominant art ...

. In 2007, the first post-Soviet Prime Minister of Russia,

Yegor Gaidar Yegor Timurovich Gaidar (russian: link=no, Его́р Тиму́рович Гайда́р; ; 19 March 1956 – 16 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician, and author, and was the Acting Prime Minister of Russia from 15 J ...

, warned about the rise of post-imperial nostalgia, stating that "Russia is going through a dangerous phase", and making a reference to history by stating " should not succumb to the magic of numbers but the fact that there was a 15-year gap between the collapse of the German Empire and

Adolf Hitler's rise to power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

and 15 years between the collapse of the USSR and Russia in 2006–07 makes one think". In 2014, Boris Nemtsov criticized what he perceived as a turn towards "cultivating and rewarding the lowest instincts in people, provoking hatred and fighting" by the Russian regime, stating in his final interview – hours before his assassination – that "Russia is rapidly turning into a fascist state. We already have propaganda modelled after Nazi Germany. We also have a nucleus of assault brigades ... That’s just the beginning."

Alexander Yakovlev Alexander Nikolayevich Yakovlev (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Я́ковлев; 2 December 1923 – 18 October 2005) was a Soviet and Russian politician, diplomat, and historian. A member of the Politburo and Secret ...

, architect of democratic reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev, made statements about the connection between the security services and fascism, stating " e danger of fascism in Russia is real because since 1917 we have become used to living in a criminal world with a criminal state in charge. Banditry, sanctified by ideology—this wording suits both communists and fascists." Several scholars have posited that Russia has transformed into a fascist state, or that fascism best describes the Russian political system, especially following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2017, Russian academician Vladislav Inozemtsev considered that Russia is an early-stage fascist state, thus claiming the current Russian political regime as fascist. Tomasz Kamusella, a Polish scholar on nationalism and ethnicity, and Allister Heath, a journalist at ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', describe the current authoritarian Russian political regime as Putin's fascism. Political scientist Maria Snegovaya believes that Russia as led by Putin is a fascist regime. In March 2022, Yale historian

Odd Arne Westad Odd Arne Westad FBA (born 5 January 1960) is a Norwegian historian specializing in the Cold War and contemporary East Asian history. He is the Elihu Professor of History and Global Affairs at Yale University, where he teaches in the Yale History ...

said that Putin's words about Ukraine resembled, which Harvard journalist James F. Smith summarized, "some of the colonial racial arguments of imperial powers of the past, ideas from the late 19th and early 20th century". In April 2022, from the Institute of History of Ukraine in her article "The Anatomy of Ruscism" stated that Russia has never reflected on the tragedies of totalitarianism and did not decommunize its Soviet totalitarian heritage unlike Ukraine. According to her, that was the major reason for the formation and rapid development of Ruscism in modern Russia both among political and intellectual/cultural elites. She also noted that Ruscism, in the form of a threat to the world order and peace, will remain until there is a global condemnation of Soviet communist ideology and its heir Ruscism. On 24 April 2022, Timothy D. Snyder published an article in ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'' where he described the history, premises and linguistic peculiarities of the term "Ruscism". According to Snyder, the term "is a useful conceptualization of Putin's worldview", writing that "we have tended to overlook the central example of fascism's revival, which is the Putin regime in the Russian Federation". On the wider regime, Snyder writes that " ominent Russian fascists are given access to mass media during wars, including this one. Members of the Russian elite, above all Putin himself, rely increasingly on fascist concepts", and states that "Putin's very justification of the war in Ukraine ..represents a Christian form of fascism." Snyder followed this article in May with an essay titled "We Should Say It. Russia Is Fascist". According to Snyder, " ny hesitate to see today's Russia as fascist because

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

defined itself as antifascist", stating that the key to understanding Russia today is "Stalin's flexibility about fascism": "Because Soviet anti-fascism just meant defining an enemy, it offered fascism a backdoor through which to return to Russia ..Fascists calling other people 'fascists' is fascism taken to its illogical extreme as a cult of unreason. ..

t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...

the essential Putinist practice". Based on this, Snyder refers Putin's regime as ''schizo-fascism''. In July 2022, Japanese-American political scientist

Francis Fukuyama Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama (; born October 27, 1952) is an American political scientist, political economist, international relations scholar and writer. Fukuyama is known for his book '' The End of History and the Last Man'' (1992), which a ...

stated that Putin's regime in Russia more than anything resembles to that of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

whose only ideology is

extreme nationalism Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...

, but it is at the same time "less institutionalised and revolves only around one man

Characteristics

In 2017, Yuliia Strebkova of

Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" (NTUU KPI) is a public technological university located in Kyiv, Ukraine. Name *1898–1918 Kiev Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Alexander II *1918–1934 Kyiv ...

indicated that Ruscism in combination with

Ukrainophobia Anti-Ukrainian sentiment, Ukrainophobia or anti-Ukrainianism is animosity towards Ukrainians, Ukrainian culture, the Ukrainian language, Ukraine as a nation, or all of the above.Andriy Okara. Ukrainophobia is a gnostic problem.n18texts Okara. Ret ...

constitutes the ethno-national vector of the more broad Russian neo-imperial ideological doctrine of "

Russian world The "Russian world" (russian: Русский мир, lit=Russian world', 'Russian order', 'Russian community, translit=Russkiy mir; la, Pax Rossica, Pax Russica) is the concept of social totality associated with Russian culture. ''Russkiy mir'' ...

". In 2018, Borys Demyanenko (Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi State Pedagogical University) in his paper Ruscism' as a quasi-ideology of the post-Soviet imperial revenge" defined Ruscism as a misanthropic ideology and an eclectic mixture of imperial

neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, g ...

, great-power chauvinism, nostalgia for the Soviet past, and religious traditionalism. Demyanenko considers that in internal domestic policy, Ruscism manifests itself in a violation of human rights along with a freedom of thought, persecution of dissidents, propaganda, ignoring of democratic procedures. While in foreign policy, Ruscism demonstrates itself in a violation of international law, imposing its own version of historical truth, the justification of occupation and annexation of the territories of other states. Political scientist

Stanislav Belkovsky Stanislav Aleksandrovich Belkovsky (russian: Станисла́в Алекса́ндрович Белко́вский, born 7 February 1971, Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian political analyst and communication specialist. He is a founder and ...

argues that Ruscism is disguised as

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

, but has a fascist face and essence. Political scientist Ruslan Kliuchnyk notes that the Russian elite considers itself entitled to build its own " sovereign democracy" without reference to Western standards, but taking into account Russia's traditions of state-building. Administrative resources in Russia are one of the means of preserving the democratic facade, which hides the mechanism of absolute manipulation of the will of citizens. Russian political scientist Andrey Piontkovsky argues that the ideology of Ruscism is in many ways similar to Nazism, with the speeches of President Vladimir Putin reflecting similar ideas to those of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. According to

Alexander J. Motyl Alexander John Motyl ( uk, Олександр Мотиль; born October 21, 1953) is an American historian, political scientist, poet, writer, translator and artist-painter. He is a resident of New York City. He is professor of political science ...

, an American historian and political scientist, Russian fascism has the following characteristics: * An undemocratic political system, different from both traditional authoritarianism and totalitarianism; * Statism and hypernationalism; * A hypermasculine cult of the supreme leader (emphasis on his courage, militancy and physical prowess); * General popular support for the regime and its leader. According to Professor , Ruscism is an ideology that is "based on illusions and justifies the admissibility of any arbitrariness for the sake of misinterpreted interests of Russian society. In foreign policy, Ruscism manifests itself, in particular, in violation of the principles of international law, imposing its version of historical truth on the world solely in favor of Russia, abusing the right of veto in the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, ...

, and so on. In domestic politics, Ruscism is a violation of human rights to freedom of thought, persecution of members of the 'dissent movement', the use of the media to misinform their people, and so on." Oleksandr Kostenko also considers Ruscism a manifestation of sociopathy. Timothy D. Snyder argued in an essay that a "time traveler from the 1930s" would "have no difficulty" identifying the Russian regime in 2022 as fascist, writing:

Boris Kagarlitsky Boris Yulyevich Kagarlitsky (russian: Бори́с Ю́льевич Кагарли́цкий; born 29 August 1958) is a Russian Marxist theoretician and sociologist who has been a political dissident in the Soviet Union. He is coordinator of ...

notes that unlike "the classical fascism", Putin's regime is "Fascism in the era of Postmodernism", "when a coherent worldview is replaced by a haphazard pasting together of ideas, scraps of concepts and randomly assembled images", "the product of the... degradation of late Soviet society combined with the degradation of late capitalism": "using totalitarian ideology and rhetoric, the system is unable to build a workable totalitarian machine that corresponds to these principles". According to Ilya Budraitskis, Russia has evolved from a “ managed democracy” with limited personal freedoms to a new form of a society that requires unequivocal acceptance of the Ukraine invasion and treats any sign of deviation as treason. "Russian society, after thirty years of post-Soviet authoritarianism and neoliberal market reforms, has consistently been reduced to a state of silent victimhood, a malleable material from which a full-fledged fascist regime can be built. External aggression, based on the complete dehumanisation of the enemy .. was the decisive moment in the "move" made from above." Russian sociologist

Grigory Yudin Grigory Borisovich Yudin, also known as Greg Yudin, (b. 1983) is a Russian political scientist and sociologist. Yudin is an expert in public opinion and polling in Russia. He is columnist for the newspaper '' Vedomosti'' and the online magazine ...

states that the social atomization of Soviet society during the "

Era of Stagnation The "Era of Stagnation" (russian: Пери́од засто́я, Períod zastóya, or ) is a term coined by Mikhail Gorbachev in order to describe the negative way in which he viewed the economic, political, and social policies of the Soviet Uni ...

" and later neoliberal reforms and economic globalization (which helped Putin to establish an authoritarian regime and turned Russia into "a radical version of modern neoliberal capitalism") have lead to Russian society becoming extremely depolitized and atomized, on February 24 it was mobilized. According to him, it is accurate to the historical Fascist regimes, which also used to demobilize and atomize the societies, and then used the atomization to mobilize them. He also says that the image of general popular support for Putin is false and that it's being used by Putin to threat the elites and the people: the elites fear that 'the people' will support repressions against them, while individuals of the atomized society fear that if they express their disagreement, they will alone confront the non-existent "people masses". Tomasz Kamusella highlights the important and often overlooked role of Russian language in Ruscism, which, unlike other widely used postcolonial languages, such as English, French or Spanish, hasn't undergone de-ethnicization, allowing the government of Russia to exclusively claim all

Russian speakers This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of derussi ...

as members of the Russian nation and vow to “protect“ them by expanding Russia's territorial borders until they fully overlap with this perceived “

“ or Greater Russia. In practice, Russian world is more broadly equated with the use of the “Russian alphabet“ of cyrillic, which since 2002 has been imposed as the writing system on all Russia's non-Russian languages to secure an “all-Russian“ unity and bridge the "ideological discrepancy" of around one fifth of Russia's inhabitants ethnically being non-Russian. Simulteneously, the existence of Russian speaking communities in countries such as Belarus and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

has been used by some Russian ideologues to claim that Belarus or Ukraine are “pseudo-states“, because Belarusian and Ukrainian are not “real languages“. According to Kamusella, ethnolinguistic nationalism officially became part of the Russian government's ideology in 2007 with the creation of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, while the weaponization of Russian language and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these grou ...

and transition of it from an element of

soft power In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power). In other words, soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. A de ...

hard power In politics, hard power is the use of military and economic means to influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies. This form of political power is often aggressive (coercion), and is most immediately effective when imposed by one ...

took place after the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.

Reactions

In Russia

In 2014, Russian actor Ivan Okhlobystin, who holds pro-Putin views, publicly called himself a "Rashist" and made a tattoo "as a sign that I'm a Rashist, I'll live as a Rashist and I'll die as a Rashist". In 2015, he released a series of wristwatches with

Chi Rho The Chi Rho (☧, English pronunciation ; also known as ''chrismon'') is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters—chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek word ( Christos) in such a way that ...

and the text "I am Rashist" ("russian: Я рашист") on the clock face, written with a Gothic font, and with "Not only Crimea's ours - everything's ours!" on the back. The term was also embraced by the well-known Russian nationalist who published an article titled "Russism. Choosing Putin", in which he broke down Russism into three components: "Russia is above all. Russia is a state of Russians. The Lord is with Russia and the Russians". Russian economist Yakov Mirkin said that the term "''Rashizm''" is incorrect because it equates the entire Russian nation with "the ideology that brings trouble". He noted that as Nazism has never been called "Germanism" and Italian fascism has never been called "Italism", Putin's ideology should be called "as you wish", with "the most cruel nicknames", but not "''Rashizm''". Artyom Yefimov wrote in ''Signal'' (email-based media created by ''

Meduza ''Meduza'' ( rus, Медуза, t=jellyfish) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent '' Lenta.ru'' news website. Free mo ...

'') that although the word "''Rashizm''" was created in Ukraine as an emotional ''cliché'', it may become a real term, as history knows examples of pejoratives being turned into real terms (e.g. ''

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

'' and ''

Slavophilia Slavophilia (russian: Славянофильство) was an intellectual movement originating from the 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed on the basis of values and institutions derived from Russia's early history. Slavoph ...

''); in Ukraine, he writes, it is being used in scientific works since 2014 (although rarely in scientific publications of other countries). Leonid Srochnikov from Socialist Alternative argued the term "post-fascism" and instead suggested the Marxist term "

Bonapartism Bonapartism (french: Bonapartisme) is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In thi ...

" and compared Putin's regime with Marx's description of the regime of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

and its relationship with the French bourgeoisie. In his opinion, "Post-fascism" in this case was needed to sidestep the issue of the political history of Putin regime" and its connection with Yeltsin's regime and privatization of 1990s, viewing only the economic of its development.

Official reaction

Russian television presenter

Tina Kandelaki Tina Kandelaki (russian: Тина Канделаки, ka, თინათინ კანდელაკი born 10 November 1975) is a Russian journalist, television presenter, producer, and a co-owner of the Apostol company. Biography Kan ...

, who supported Russia's war against Ukraine, criticized

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read ref ...

's use of the term "''Rashizm''" on her

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

channel, accusing Wikipedia of "digital fascism" targeting Russian people and calling Russians to stop using it. Russia's federal censor

Roskomnadzor The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN) (russian: Роскомнадзор �КН, is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, co ...

reportedly ordered the

English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of , has the most arti ...

on 18 May 2022 to take down the articles "''Rashizm''" and "2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine", asserting that they contain false information about the war the Russian government calls a "special military operation". After

Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or Wikimedia for short and abbreviated as WMF, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. Best kno ...

refused to do so, a Moscow court imposed a 88,000 USD fine, a decision that the foundation has appealed. On 20 May 2022, during the show '' Evening with Vladimir Solovyov'', the host Vladimir Solovyov and his panelists responded with outrage at Timothy D. Snyder's article "We Should Say It. Russia Is Fascist", an article which according to Russian media watchdog Julia Davis has "spread through Russian state media like wildfire". Solovyov attacked Snyder by calling him a "pseudo-professor of a pseudo-university" and "simply a liar", and, addressing Americans, stating: "Let me tell you a secret: first of all, your signs are idiotic in their nature. Secondly, looking at your listed indications, how are they any different from the election campaign of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

Outside Russia

Latvian journalist Bens Latkovskis of '' Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze'' has criticized the equation of Russism to fascism as terminologically inaccurate, stating that the main difference between the two ideologies is one that actually places them on almost opposite sides of the

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions polit ...

. He argues that, unlike fascism that sought to create a new anthropological order and required mass social involvement, Russism is counter-revolutionary, strictly opposed to any

social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary m ...

s and

social mobilization Mass mobilization (also known as social mobilization or popular mobilization) refers to mobilization of civilian population as part of contentious politics. Mass mobilization is defined as a process that engages and motivates a wide range of partne ...

and aims at the depoliticization of society, which it sees as a threat to its existence.

Notes

References

External links

neveragain.media/en/

WHAT IS RUSCISM? (video)
{{Portal bar, Modern history, Politics, Russia, Society Russian irredentism Political ideologies Propaganda in Russia Propaganda in Ukraine related to Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian nationalism Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia

Etymology and terminology

History of use

Chechen wars

Russo-Georgian and Russo-Ukrainian wars

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ideological history

Ivan Ilyin

Aleksandr Dugin

Timofey Sergeitsev

In Russia

Characteristics

Reactions

In Russia

Official reaction

Outside Russia

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links