Is Putin the most vile man in Europe?

Any impartial observer of the Russia-Ukraine War would be aggrieved at the innocent suffering of the Ukrainian people in the face of Russia's immoral and unjust invasion of their country. I commend this new documentary, A Faith Under Siege, to my readers. 

In Ukraine's eastern regions, once known as the post-Soviet "Bible Belt," a thriving Evangelical and Protestant community faces existential threats under Russian occupation. A Faith Under Siege explores the brutal persecution of Ukrainian Christians caught in Russia's imperial ambitions. Deemed heretics by the Russian Orthodox Church—a key Kremlin ally—these believers endure systematic oppression: their churches demolished or confiscated, pastors subjected to torture or execution, and families fractured through forced religious "conversions" or kidnappings. Despite facing extrajudicial killings and conducting worship in secret, while thousands of children are transported to militarized Russian camps, an unexpected solidarity has emerged. Christians across denominational lines have united in resistance, bolstered by international supporters determined to spotlight their ongoing suffering.

https://www.faithundersiege.com

Vranyo

Some thoughts on the Russia-Ukraine War, in light of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's ill-fated meeting with American President Donald Trump. 

Very few self-styled experts on this situation, which proliferate in the alternative media these days, are saying anything about malevolent state actors like Russia. How many people naively thought that Russia would become a viable democracy after the collapse of the USSR in 1991? That will never happen now. 

These experts give Russia and President Vladimir Putin a free pass, but seem very concerned about corruption in Ukraine, Zelenskyy’s corruption, suppression of civil liberties, and its neo Nazism. They conveniently ignore that under Putin's 25 year rule, corruption, fascism, and suppression of individual freedoms are all massive problems in Russia. Freedom House, a think tank that monitors levels of freedom in countries around the world, rated Russia as not free in its 2024 annual report. 

If social media was a thing during the Second World War, there would be plenty of people unwittingly parroting Axis propaganda, like the radio propagandists Lord Haw-Haw, or Axis Sally.

The point is that those who pile on Zelenskyy, but condone Putin’s actions, like to make out that they are free thinkers, immune to brainwashing by what they see as the completely untrustworthy mainstream media. 

It pays to check the sources of the material you post, such as memes, articles, or videos. Who is the original author, and is it credible information? Someone with the time and inclination could do this work, tracing it to its original source. What if it was shown that they were uncritically and unwittingly parroting Kremlin propaganda? The Kremlin has a sophisticated online propaganda factory. It has the ability to underhandedly influence Western public opinion on the war. 

In the Second World War, the Axis powers paid people to spread propaganda for them. Now, Putin’s regime can use social media to instantly and rapidly spread its propaganda to millions of people around the world. Investigative journalists have looked into this, such as Shannon Bond of NPR. Her work, without access to intelligence agencies, who would be right across all this, would only scratch the surface of what Russia is doing. International relations think tanks, such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies, are also monitoring this activity. 

https://www.csis.org/analysis/cyber-operations-during-russo-ukrainian-war

https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2025

https://www.npr.org/2024/06/06/g-s1-2965/russia-propaganda-deepfakes-sham-websites-social-media-ukraine

Is Putin unfairly maligned?

On Russia by George Christensen

Nation First airs a Russian Orthodox priest's thoughts on Russia being the last Christian stronghold against Western decay

Read on Substack

He is if you ask former Australian federal politician, George Christensen, and the author of this blog article, Michael Wood, a Russian Orthodox priest.

Speaking of Putin, Wood writes:

“we can at the very least see that Putin is a man with a committed personal faith.” This drives him to build Russia as a strong Christian nation, protected from the moral degeneracy of the west. 

Perhaps Father Wood pictures Putin in deep conversation on spiritual matters with an Orthodox priest, consulting with him for a regular spiritual check up. Then, of an evening, before turning in for the night, curling up in bed in his private apartments in the Kremlin, he would be working his way through a devotional book, that has space for the reader to write their reflections on the excerpt of the Bible they have just read. Perhaps he subscribes to the Russian translation of the popular Our Daily Bread devotional.

Facetiousness aside, a blunt assessment of Putin's relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church is that he has it wrapped around his little finger. Like many a politician before him, far from being a sincere Christian believer, Putin uses Christianity as a political prop. Father Wood is too deceived to see through Putin's façade. You would expect a member of the clergy to have at least some measure of discernment in assessing someone's character. As for corruption, by all means accuse the President of Ukraine of corruption and demagoguery, but don't overlook Putin's.

Gullibility?

Former Australian Senator, Corey Bernardi, weighs into the controversy of New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet, wearing a Nazi costume to his 21st birthday party 20 years ago. Bernardi claims that Perrottet's critics are hypocrites for attacking Perrottet, but ignoring the alleged neo-Nazis in the Azov battalion, a unit of the Ukrainian military currently fighting against the Russians in the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Even if we concede that nothing is ever black and white in war, one would hope that Bernardi is not an apologist for Russia's Putin regime, or that he is condoning Putin's unjust attempts to annexe Ukraine. In any case, other sources that have a higher level understanding of the complexities of this situation than Bernardi, such as Monash University scholar, Alasdair McCallum, state that the Azov regiment simply cannot be credibly describe as Nazi or neo-Nazi. It is depoliticised. Nor is there widespread neo-Nazism or anti-Semitism in Ukraine. This disproves Russia's claim, a prominent theme in its propaganda, that its invasion was necessary to "de-Nazify" Ukraine. On the other hand, as Dmitry Kozhurin of Radio Free Europe has proven, there are actual neo-Nazis fighting on the Russian side, such as the paramilitary Rusich group, and other extremist militia groups. 

Social media may give you access to lots of information, but on the downside it creates too many armchair experts commenting on issues that they don't understand properly, but they weigh in on them anyway for reasons known only to themselves. 

https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2022/opinion/russias-long-history-of-neo-nazis

https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2022/08/19/1384992/much-azov-about-nothing-how-the-ukrainian-neo-nazis-canard-fooled-the-world

https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-neo-nazis-fighting-ukraine/31871760.html

https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-ukraine-invasion-slows-antisemitism-seeps-into-russian-media-landscape/

Across his brief?

US President Joe Biden continues to be dogged by rumours surrounding his cognitive health. Today he announced further military aid for Ukraine. 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/04/21/remarks-by-president-biden-providing-an-update-on-russia-and-ukraine-3/

As a distant observer, I have no idea whether or not there is any basis to these rumours. We will find out eventually when he leaves office. In making this announcement, he mispronounced the surname of his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt. 

In several letters Theodore Roosevelt himself specifies the correct pronunciation. In a letter to the Rev. William W. Moir dated October 10, 1898 he writes:

 

As for my name, it is pronounced as if it was spelled "Rosavelt." That is in three syllables. The first syllable as if it was "Rose."

Surely Biden's minders would be aware of this fact. Somebody in his office isn't doing their properly. 

https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record?libID=o280386

Good on them

Even in the face of war, a nation's cultural memory must be preserved. Using open source tools and Slack, library volunteers have backed up everything from Ukraine's historical records and census data to children’s poems and basket weaving techniques.

The Washington Post carries the full story. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/08/ukraine-digital-history/

Get it right

In widely reported comments, Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, was mocked for apparently giving a childish and simplistic description of the Ukraine crisis. She said:

“So, Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically, that’s wrong, and it goes against everything that we stand for.”

This analysis, quoted without attribution from The Little Golden Book of Foreign Policy, feeds the conservative narrative that Harris is a lightweight who is way out of her depth. I don't know whether or not this is a fair comment. After some digging, I discovered that this story is based on Harris's words being taken out of context. She appeared on a podcast, and was asked to explain the conflict in layperson's terms. According to Nikki Ray Ramirez, writing for the Media Matters website, Vice President Harris definitely does understand the gravity of this situation, also clearly stating that Russia’s unilateral, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine constituted a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, and explained that sanctions were being put in place by the American government in an effort to levy consequences on Russia for the decision to invade an independent nation.

By all means scrutinise and criticise political leaders, which is exactly what should happen in a democracy, but please do so using accurate informatoin. 

Schreibfehler

Without wanting to be flippant about the serious threat of Russia invading Ukraine, which, at this time appears to be imminent, one would expect a better standard of quality control on website articles from a repected international news organisation such as CNN. When was the title of the head of Germany's federal government changed to "chanellor?"