As Brazilian philosopher Olavo de Carvalho used to say, cultural power is greater than political power, which in turn is greater than economic power. When it comes to power, the economy is the least relevant and Russia has settled into its huge oil and gas reserves like a young man who doesn’t have to work for inheriting a fortune.
Russia’s power, in fact, is cultural and military, even though it uses scrapped weaponry and poorly trained young soldiers, if not mercenaries. When you step into any former Soviet republic, you can see that Russian remains a lingua franca, in most of these countries, the only lingua franca. The ordinary Russian citizen, so to speak, thinks you should learn to speak Russian and that’s it.
Even in Ukraine and the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), where the majority of the population no longer cares about communism, the beaches and tourist cities are full of Russians in the summer because they can speak Russian. And the same is true in Goa (India), in Israel, in the resorts of Turkey, and in the most popular travel destinations among Russians: hotels and restaurants with Russian-speaking staff, bars and clubs playing Russian pop, etc.
Russia, as we know it today, was born from the actions of Ivan IV, better known as Ivan the Terrible, who declared himself the first Czar of Russia after defeating the Mongols and unifying the western territory of the country based on Moscow in the 16th century. Under Moscow, Ivan expanded militarily to the East, conquering the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, as well as Siberia, which comprises most of the Russian territory.
In a blend of Europe and Asia, Russia was formed culturally isolated from the other great empires until the 18th century, when Czar Peter the Great imported European trends of that time, such as the construction of the beautiful city of Saint Petersburg and Peterhof. Through this isolation, a separate planet was born where everything works in Russian.
There is a vast cultural universe in the Russian language that comprises literature, cinema, music, theater, ballet, cartoons, social media; and everything else imaginable in both high culture and popular culture. Do you know the cartoon Cheburashka (Чебурашка)? Have you watched the Ukrainian TV show Orel i Reshka (Орел и решка)? Have you watched the comedy film Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (Иван Васильевич меняет профессию)? Do you have a profile on Vkontakte? Have you done a search on Yandex? Have you heard any song of Leonid Agutin, Ëlka, Basta or Ivan Dorn?
I watched Orel i Reshka (Орел и решка) with my hosts in Ukraine and Russia; friends of mine from Ukraine, Latvia and Russia grew up watching Cheburashka (Чебурашка) instead of Mickey Mouse; Ivan Dorn performs in Moscow, Kyiv, Baku (Azerbaijan) and Astana (Kazakhstan). And even Ukrainian bands and singers like 5’nizza, Monatik, Vremya & Steklo sing in Russian. Just to mention a few examples.
We in the West are not aware of the cultural influence that Russia exerts on Eastern Europe and Central Asia simply because of the language barrier. And Putin’s biggest fear, like anyone else who replaces him, is that Russia will lose its influence in the satellite countries of the former Soviet Union. Therefore, to do any analysis about this country with primary sources, it is necessary to read and study in Russian. Aside from the classics of Russian literature, not much is translated into other languages.
During the Soviet Union, the state could decide up to what university course a citizen could take and where he would live. So, a person could be born in Russia and end up in Ukraine or Kazakhstan by job transfer. Or he could be born in Ukraine to a Russian family, speaking the Russian language and growing up with an all-Russian cultural background, which in the long run could be used to fuel separatist movements.
Ukraine Wants to Open Up to the World
My first contact with the Russian language and Soviet pop culture was exactly in Ukraine, where I first heard about Cheburashka while walking in Kyiv in the middle of an antique fair near the Andriyivsky Cathedral, as seen in the image below.
However, it should be noted that Ukraine has been one of the former Soviet republics that has been closest to the West since the 1990s, and that is exactly what the majority of the Ukrainian population wants. The rapprochement with the West is seen as a path to more opportunities to improve life, more jobs, and better economic conditions.
Key moments in Ukrainian history involve tensions with Russia and the best example is the biography of national hero Taras Shevchenko, whose name is present in every public space in the country. In opposition to Russian rule, he was imprisoned for 10 years (1847-1857) for promoting the idea of an independent Ukraine in his works as a writer, poet, playwright, and painter.
Unlike Russia, you can walk around the main Ukrainian cities speaking English, as a growing share of the young population speaks the language of Shakespeare. Already in Russia, I had to learn Russian while traveling even for shopping in the market and buying train tickets. Not many Russians speak English, even in bigger cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, I’ve been to hostels where no one spoke any other language when I went to a smaller city.
The majority of the Ukrainian population lives on less than USD 200 a month, to be precise, somewhere between USD 120 and USD 150. Wages in Ukraine, as in most of Eastern Europe, are low and have been even lower. In real life communism, people don’t even see the color of money, and access to everything is difficult, including food and clothing. In addition to the alms offered by the state, smuggling ended up being one of the only sources of goods and income for the common citizen without connections to influential people.
Adding to poverty, lack of freedom during Soviet times, and cruel events like the Holodomor, it is natural that the Ukrainian people do not want to know about Russian rule again. It is no accident that Ukrainians from all walks of life are risking their lives to defend their country from the Russian invasion.
The generations of Ukrainians who grew up after the collapse of the Soviet Union already have their minds far beyond the horizons of the Russian language, much more open to the world than the Latin American youth. Ukraine has established itself as an IT hub, startups are popping up in major cities and young people are training in search of better opportunities.
There are many challenges for Ukraine in addition to sharing a border with Russia, the country has a giant battle against corruption and the Soviet bureaucracy that remains alive. However, going from communism to something functional is like going from minus infinity to zero. From 0 to 1, it’s already another step. Leaving the Soviet Union and opening up to the world in 30 years is a feat that cannot be taken lightly.
Originally posted 2022-02-28 04:33:48.
