Pavel K. Baev
In September 1999, Moscow and the whole of Russia were shaken by a series of deadly explosions that marked the beginning of a still ongoing era of autocratic degradation under the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The perpetrators of those crimes were never prosecuted beyond reasonable doubt. There is no doubt, however, that the swift exploitation of this shock propelled Putin into power (The Moscow Times, September 18). The Russian polity was instantly reconfigured for waging war against presumed terrorists. The brutal projection of military power, which had roiled Russian society during the First Chechen War (1994–1996), became entirely acceptable in the second one. The effects of this pivotal point in Russian history are visible today as Putin wages his war against Ukraine using the same methods he used then.
The distortion of moral guidelines and the fragmentation of horizontal ties in Russian society has been sustained by propaganda and repression. In the last 32 months, the majority of Russians have been able to internalize and normalize the reality of partaking in the war against Ukraine (see EDM, February 29, August 14; Svoboda.org, September 2). Explosions still come as a shock to some families residing in high-rises in Moscow suburbs, but the atomized society is broadly accustomed to the strict suppression of news about increasingly frequent Ukrainian drone strikes (see EDM, April 18, 24, 25; Meduza, September 15). Concern spiked at the outset of theUkrainian offensive into Kursk oblast, but seven weeks into this unprecedented occupation of Russia’s territory by hostile forces, the alarm has dissipated (see EDM, August 14, 15, September 3; Verstka, September 20).
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