Moscow is hosting the 5th International Forum “Media and Digital Technologies Facing the Challenge of Information and Historical Falsification”. The event is organized by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s magazine “International Affairs” and Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media. The forum was opened by Russian MFA spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who – as usual – accused the “collective West” of Nazism and “Russophobia”, citing the now-classic work by Astolphe de Custine, Russia in 1839. According to her, it “contributed to the strengthening of Russophobia”:
“De Custine writes: “I often say to myself: everything here must be destroyed and a new people created. Mothers here,’ de Custine continues, ‘should weep over the birth of their children more than over their death. One must live in this desert without peace, in this prison without rest, which is called “Russia”, in order to feel all the freedom granted to other peoples in other European countries, regardless of what form of government they have”. End of quote.
Not bad, right? This is the foundation of Nazism — this is where its roots lie. They do not begin or end in the 1930s. They go much deeper, into that very “enlightened Europe.” Back then this Nazism did not yet have that name, but already had every reason to be regarded as such, since it came to us more than once — with one and the same goal: to ‘restructure’ and ‘recreate the people from scratch”.
It is worth noting that if, almost two centuries after its publication, the book still provokes such a reaction from Russian propaganda, then it must truly be a valuable work. In this context, it is ironic that immediately after the book’s release in 1843, Russia launched a propaganda campaign in Europe with the aim of discrediting it. And now, Moscow continues to produce “historical falsifications” through the mouth of Zakharova in an attempt to rewrite history and portray the “prison of nations” – as the Russian Empire was known – in a positive light.
Attention should also be paid to the fact that Kremlin propagandists confidently equate the concepts of “Nazism” and “Russophobia”. Another quote from Zakharova’s speech is equally telling:
“Today, at a new historical stage, we are at the forefront of the anti-neocolonial struggle against attempts by former metropolises to impose on the world the so-called “rules-based order”. Representatives of the “golden billion”, living in what Josep Borrell described as a “flowering garden”, openly intend to use modern technological capabilities, including neural networks, to enslave the surrounding “jungle” – but now in new technological formats”.
Thanks to Zakharova for openly placing Putin’s Russia on the same level as African dictatorships: their struggle against democracy and human rights is indeed the same – not to mention the similarities in state governance. At the same time, it is worth highlighting that Zakharova continues to claim that the “collective West seeks to enslave the world using modern technologies” – a narrative we’ve already discussed in Prophylaxis. Behind this rhetoric lies the Kremlin’s desire to drive more and more of its allied states into digital isolation under Moscow’s technological umbrella, presenting it as a measure to protect their population from the “harmful influence of unfriendly countries”.
