"Rainer Nowak Talk"
Putin’s empire: “Many Russians live in a bubble”
In Wednesday evening's "Rainer Nowak Talk" on krone.tv, journalist Angelika Eliseeva, Russia expert and university professor Wolfgang Mueller and Major Albin Rentenberger, an officer in the Austrian Armed Forces, took part in a discussion.
The terrorist attack in Moscow shook Russia and also gave rise to speculation. Islamists from IS claimed responsibility for the attack, while the Kremlin suspected that Ukraine was behind it. Which was vehemently denied there. The trigger for Rainer Nowak's foreign policy talk. Angelika Eliseeva, a "true Styrian" who currently works for the "Krone", has also worked as a journalist in Russia. The Slavic studies graduate also knows the location of the attack. The shopping center in Moscow was her regular shopping center. "I was often afraid of attacks there back then. I also got pictures from friends. Helicopters circling. A friend originally wanted to go to the concert where this happened."
Wolfgang Mueller, Professor of Russian History at the University of Vienna, emphasized that Western media had been reporting since 2023 that IS could target Russia. Putin, however, had always made derogatory comments in response to warnings.
State propaganda to "dehumanize"
Can the attack have an impact on the war, asked host Nowak Major Albin Rentenberger, who was responsible for the military assessments. "You have to watch it, because initially the blame was put on Ukraine. There will definitely be a continuation of the conflict."
Putin has often taken positions that were then followed by a U-turn. Mueller: "He said there would be no invasion of Ukraine, and then there was. There are several examples. It is probably a concession to the dominant political objective of legitimizing the war in Ukraine. Everything is used for this purpose. There are still voices from Putin's entourage that are weighing on Ukraine. Russia's policy is to shift all blame to Ukraine."
Did Eliseeva expect the invasion? "I was in Moscow from 2017 to 2022, i.e. until the major attack, but if you watched the propaganda on state television, there was incitement against the Ukrainians. They tried to dehumanize the people. But I would never have expected it in this form." Many Russians now live in a bubble and feel that what is happening is right. Possibly also as self-protection.
Putin avoids general mobilization
Officer Rentenberger said that many had been mentally prepared for war by the media. Putin evokes memories of the Second World War - the narrative of the great defensive war. "Add to that a repressive system - and it works. Putin mainly recruits men from marginalized areas and professional soldiers. Not in St. Petersburg or Moscow, where the rich and influential live. There is also no general mobilization in sight in Russia, Putin wants to avoid that." Putin's KGB past has strengthened his world view, said Professor Mueller. And from the 2000s onwards, there were indications of the direction in which he would develop.
For the journalist Eliseeva, there are two Russias, the official one, Kremlin Russia, and the other, the private one, which lives by traditions and values. "But the state is encroaching further and further into the private sphere. You can see it in the debates in families. The young are curious and open-minded, but the older ones are narrow-minded." Wolfgang Mueller agreed with her: Science also makes these observations. Older people tend to watch TV, where state propaganda is active. Facebook and new media are demonized, said Eliseeva. But you can't stop the young from using them.
According to researcher Mueller, there have always been attempts to involve Russia, not only by Germany, but also by the USA. Is there still enough support for Putin in his own country? It is there, according to the tenor. There is also the prospect of a Trump election victory in the USA, after which he would stop supporting Ukraine. Rentenberger: "There is currently a war of attrition. Putin could continue this until the elections in November."
The war is not benefiting Putin as much as he had hoped, Mueller analyzed. And the war is causing not only human but also financial losses, including sanctions against Russia. Even if these would not have as strong an effect as the West had hoped. Russia has too many raw materials and countries that need and pay for them. But internally, Russia is extremely unstable. There are more arrests for political reasons than at any time since Stalin's time. "You can see this in attacks or drones circling over the Kremlin. Russia is more insecure than it has ever been."
When is an end to the war in sight? Major Rentenberger with a clear message: "Either when one side gains the upper hand or when both are too exhausted. It doesn't look like that at the moment."
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.