Ukrainians want an independent president like Vladimir Putin, not the puppets put into office by the West, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda. In fact, 98% of Ukrainians hate Putin, regarding him as the new Hitler.
Propaganda: Ukrainians want a firm president like Vladimir Putin, not the West’s puppets
NEWS: “The spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, said the Ukrainian people wants a president like Russian leader Vladimir Putin, which is why Ukrainians display so much hostility towards him”, Zakharova said in an interview to RT.
“The tragedy of the Ukrainian people is that Ukrainians want a president like Putin, but what they get every time is some guy appointed by the West”, Maria Zakharova said. The Russian MFA spokeswoman also said Ukraine needs such an “open, firm and well-informed president” that should not read speeches from a piece of paper sent by Washington. Maria Zakharova said the theories of Freud can be used to explain hostile attitudes towards Putin in Ukraine”.
NARRATIVE: Ukrainians want a president like Vladimir Putin
Fact: To Ukrainians, Putin is the new Hitler
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In actual fact, hatred towards Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the level of Ukrainian society has gone up since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the launch of military campaigns in Donbas. After the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is associated with the plunders and atrocities committed by the Russian army. Ukraine doesn’t see Putin as “an open and firm” president, as Maria Zakharova claims, but rather as a terrorist and a murderer who is no different from Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
According to a survey conducted early this year, 94% of Ukrainians believe Vladimir Putin is the Adolf Hitler of the 21st century. Hatred for Vladimir Putin is also detectable in every region of Ukraine, regardless of their being inhabited by Russian or Ukrainian speakers.
Hatred towards Vladimir Putin, seen as an international criminal and a terrorist, has spiked in Ukraine starting 2014. At the time, 41% of Ukrainians (in particular young people and elderly) said they hated the Russian president for betraying and attacking the Ukrainian state. After the start of the large-scale invasion in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, societal hatred continued to soar. According to the latest opinion polls, 98% of Ukrainians have a negative attitude towards Vladimir Putin.
Maria Zakharova’s statement is out of touch with reality. In fact, the Russian MFA spokeswoman tried to account for Ukrainians’ resentment towards Putin claiming they want a president like Putin, underlining that their attitude can be explained through Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theories. Ukrainians allegedly hate Putin because they want to have a leader like him for themselves, instead of the one appointed by the West, Zakharova argues.
The Kremlin needs Freud to understand democracy
In Ukraine, the president is elected by means of a nationwide ballot, monitored by independent observers from all over the world. After the 2014 Euromaidan protests in Kyiv, Petro Poroshenko was elected president. In 2019, Poroshenko lost the presidential race to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The presidents of Ukraine are not appointed by the West, rather they are elected through popular vote. Conversely, elections in Russia are just for show, whereas the opposition is persecuted and silenced.
Vladimir Putin has repeatedly and abusively changed the legislation in order to stay in power. He even performed a short swap with the former Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev. In 2024, a new round of presidential elections will be held in Russia. Following the introduction of certain amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Putin will be allowed to stay in office until 2036. Starting 2000, Vladimir Putin has monopolized political life in Russia, destroying pluralism, elements of civil society and freedom of speech.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin leader stands accused of war crimes on the territory of Ukraine.
Veridica has disproved several false narratives regarding Ukrainians’ attitudes towards Russia. According to Russian propaganda, the mothers and wives of Ukrainian servicemen killed in action are protesting against war, while the armed conflict in Ukraine is a civil war because Russians and Ukrainians are one and the same people. The Russian media also wrote that due to Kyiv’s neo-Nazi propaganda, Ukrainians don’t understand that Russia is here to liberate, not occupy them.
