The New Svyatogor—the “Ukrainian Nazi”
Normal human beings cannot stomach too much killing of people just for the sake of winning a war. It helps motivate troops if they are actually killing some sort of monster, instead.
The Nazis were truly monstrous, and look, they are alive again in Ukraine!Svyatogor is a classic mythical monster who haunts the edges of Russian imagination; a gigantic Ukrainian warrior. Children are discouraged from dangerous or antisocial behavior by the threat of Svyatogor. They are also taught that the time will come when the Russian hero will shut the giant into a stone coffin.
Is this the time to kill the monster we have been taught to fear since childhood?
In this regard, Putin might be able to ignore world opinion if he can ensure home-ground advantage. One aspect of his war-chumming messaging has been Putin’s elevation of the WWII Red Army victory to national cult status. Russia has been carefully led to forget the horrors of Stalin, while having their memories of Hitler vividly refreshed. Fortunately for Putin’s rhetoric, there are indeed a handful of neo-Nazis in Ukraine. It is a simple matter for a well run press to turn all Ukrainians into new Svyatogor-Nazi monsters.