Putin’s Plot Against Russia’s Future - The Atlantic

…Putin's determined re-politicization of history has changed all of that. He began by bringing back annual celebrations, complete with Soviet flags and uniforms, of the 1945 victory in what is still called, in literal translation, the "Great Fatherland War"—as if no one else fought the Nazis. He brought back the Soviet national anthem. Slowly, Stalin was whitewashed. Nostalgia for his victories was pumped up to new levels. In 2014, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Russians were repeatedly told on state television and in thousands of social-media posts that they were fighting a war against "fascism" once more…

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/putins-plot-against-russias-future/620930/