Paul Goble
Staunton, April 15 – Many opponents of Putin’s war in Ukraine blame all Russians for that military adventure because so many residents of the Russian Federation support it and even insist that they should be punished for their support even if they are less committed to the prosecution of the war than earlier, Abbas Gallyamov says.
But those who blame all Russians for the war and want to punish them for their support of it are failing to recognize that such positions undercut efforts to increase opposition to the war inside Russia but also mean that many Russians will continue to support it, the Russian commentator says (echofm.online/opinions/ne-nado-podtalkivat-grazhdan-v-storonu-vlastej-2).
They will do so because they do not want to be punished for something many of them now question and thus believe that the only way to avoid being punished by those who blame all of them for the war is to fight on until Moscow achieves victory even if they would prefer to see the war end.
Gallyamov cites two historical cases in support of his conclusion: Russia’s own experience during World War I when many Russians opposed the war without fear because “no one threatened them with punishment;” and the leaking of the Morgenthau Plan in 1944 which called for the punishment of Germans and led many of them to fight on even harder.
Obviously, he argues, “the conclusion that it is necessary to stop discussing the issue of the guilt of all Russians is not pleasant, but it must be done as emotions should not get in the way of promoting anti-war agitations.” At the very least, talk about a Punic settlement of the war must stop lest it “push” Russians toward Putin and his war even if they increasing oppose both.
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