Puddin is essentially plugging into a ready made slot in the russian psyche. It's this t that has this deep seated fear of fachists and notses. S exploiting this history, he's also really blowing it completely out of proportion. But do the claims of a fascious threat still resonate with ordinary russians? For many they do.
For years, President Vladimir V. Putin has taken advantage of Victory Day — when Russians commemorate the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany — to champion his country’s military might and project himself as a leader of enormous power.
This year, he drew on the pageantry of May 9 for an even more pressing goal: making the case for the war in Ukraine.
Guest: Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.
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