THE RETURN OF RUSSIA TO A BACKWARD AND REPRESSIVE PLACE

Author: Max Boot

Putin's "barbaric" invasion of Ukraine is the culmination of more than two decades of "Sovietization" under Putin's regime.

Putin "has pushed 'rewind' on more than 30 years of Russian history. The faltering steps Russia has been taking since the late 1980s to develop an open society have been erased in the blink of an eye. In just a few weeks, Russia has gone from authoritarianism to totalitarianism, and its economy has been disconnected from the West. It is definitely Sovietization. Now the most sanctioned country in the world, Russia is returning to a backward and repressive place.

In response to Putin's attack on Ukraine, over 400 major Western companies have either suspended or completely abandoned their operations in Russia.

Russians are losing access not just to McDonald’s but to Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Ikea, Visa, Mastercard, Apple, Goldman Sachs, and all the rest. The stock market is closed. The ruble is in free fall. A debt default is likely. There are long lines as Western stores close, and grocery stores are rationing flour and sugar. Putin is now threatening to nationalize the assets of Western companies that are leaving Russia. If he carries through on his threat, few Western companies are likely to return.

That will undoubtedly take a massive toll on Russia's economy and its people, although the pain will take some time to manifest.

Putin has manipulated his way to remain in power for the rest of his life via venal relationships with political sycophants, Russia's wealthy industrialists (the oligarchs), and obsequious military commanders.

Putin is not a democratic politician who needs to win votes, but, like any despot, he is eager to brainwash his population. So he is cracking down on dissent, snuffing out the last remnants of a free press, and banning American social media sites. Even in the darkest days of the Cold War, there were always Western reporters in Russia. But now Western news bureaus are shuttering and few sources of independent reporting remain.

The Kremlin's aversion to free thought underscores Putin's push to impose Soviet-style mind control.

The lies of Putin’s lackeys would make Stalin blush: The United States is training migratory birds to fly from Ukraine to Russia to distribute 'bacteriological weapons.' Ukrainian victims of Russian bombing are 'crisis actors.' The Ukrainians are shelling their own cities. Russia’s foreign minister even denies that Russia attacked Ukraine. It is now a crime in Russia to call the war a war; it’s a 'special military operation.' The only war Putin mentions is the economic one being waged on Russia. This is Orwellian — or, more accurately, Putinian," .

Putin is also the "most isolated Russian leader since Stalin. Putin sees few of his own aides in person anymore Putin's self-imposed sequestration has led to him acting upon his paranoid musings, regardless of objective reality. That, along with how he perceives his place in history, is almost impossible to rationally reconcile.

While claiming to be fighting 'neo-Nazis,' Putin is creating his own fascist cult whose symbol is the letter Z (symbol for victory) which is painted on Russian military vehicles invading Ukraine. He appears to view himself as another great czar  the second coming of Peter the Great reviving the Russian empire. In fact, he is destroying not only Ukraine but also Russia in pursuit of his mad dreams of imperial glory.