Former colonel of the KGB – the Soviet agency which elevated disinformation to the rank of high art – Vladimir Putin would like people to believe that “it is impossible to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield”. According to him, “this will never happen” because it is impossible “by definition”. This is what he explained to far-right American journalist Tucker Carlson during the interminable interview (two hours) he gave him in a Kremlin lounge.
Putin suggests that his compatriots are, so to speak, genetically more resistant than other peoples on the planet. Which would explain why the Soviets once resisted the Nazi war machine while suffering immense losses – 27 million dead, including 5.7 Russians and 1.3 million Ukrainians, the rest coming from non-Slavic republics. This “narrative” is based on a legend of invincibility skillfully maintained by Moscow after the Second World War.
In fact, the reality is a bit different. Without massive aid from the United States, Hitler would likely have crushed the USSR. From 1941 to 1945, Roosevelt gave Stalin approximately 11 billion dollars (more than 200 billion today) in the form of 400,000 Jeeps and trucks, 14,000 planes, 8,000 tractors, 13,000 tanks, food, clothes, etc. Furthermore, during the “Winter War” (1939-1940), the Finns, agile and fast on their cross-country skis, inflicted considerable losses on the “invincible” Russians. They were later imitated by the Afghans, from 1979 to 1989, and Moscow today faces resistance from the Ukrainians.
The famous Russian myth and the idea that time is on Putin’s side are only as good as the credit we give them. On the contrary, we must follow Roosevelt’s example and redouble our efforts to help Ukraine. Whatever the pro-Russian disinformants say, we know that the sanctions work, that they weaken Muscovite power and that Western aid has greatly weakened the invading army. It would be enough, as Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas proposes, for each allied country of the “Ramstein group” (54 nations including the 31 members of NATO) to devote 0.25% of its GDP to the war effort, to match Russian military spending and stop Putin for good. And remind him that Western decision-makers do not always buy the Kremlin legends.