Putin is obsessed with history. He even spent more than half an hour lecturing Tucker Carlson about medieval Russia. Starting in 2023 all Russian high school students were obliged to study history using a textbook written by his former minister of culture (and Putin’s ghostwriter) Vladimir Medinsky. It’s a brilliant example of terrifying propaganda. Reading it reminds one of the textbook described by Orwell in 1984.
Last year I wrote a book named War and Punishment about an alternative anti-imperialist Russian historical narrative and it was vital for me to read the pseudo-narrative pushed by the state. Unlike Putin’s notorious textbook, my book has no chance to be published in Russia. And no wonder why. I’m debunking exactly those myths Putin’s uses to justify this war, exactly those he was trying to feed to Tucker Carlson.
Here are three of Putin’s favorite myths.
Putin’s Myth #1
There are no Ukrainian people. Ukrainians are…
