Dressed in an impressive fur coat, she was waiting for me at the frigid, deserted station of Tynda, a sleepy town in Eastern Russia. ‘Welcome stranger!’ she cried. As a young Ukrainian full of ideals, Elena moved in the 1970s from the warm Odesa to the freezing cold and inhospitable Siberia. She wanted to help build the BAM railway, one of Brezhnev’s megalomaniac prestige projects. The BAM was a major failure and her Soviet ideals were dashed, but Elena never returned to her homeland. “I’m poor here, but happy.”
We’ve been in touch since we met five years ago. Until Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Then it got quiet. ‘Are you okay? And is family in Ukraine safe?’ There was no response to my apps. Until she sent a photo of a group of bald neo-Nazis marching down the Champs-Élysées. “Poor Europeans,” it read below. ‘Are you with all those Ukrainian refugees? Stay strong! Elena.’
I was shocked. Was it fear or had Elena been indoctrinated by all the fake news from the Kremlin by now? During my travels through Russia, I often noticed that Putin has many followers, especially among the generation of Elena, who grew up in Soviet times. The result of the longing for times gone by and years of systematic misinformation.
For a long time, propaganda and fake news seemed a thing of the past from autocratic regimes like Russia, China, Iran. But the Bolsonaros, Trumps and Orbáns are bringing it closer. They confront us with the painful reality of elected leaders who squander democracy in no time. With a created sham reality of its own facts, positioning itself as the savior of the people.
Although 70 percent of the Dutch say they are satisfied with the functioning of democracy, the same democracy is also having a hard time in our country. That became clear again this week, when not only RIVM professor Van Dissel turned out to be a victim of fake news, but also a publicly funded broadcaster shamelessly gave way to racist disinformation from the extreme right. Even in the House of Representatives – the heart of our democracy – a raving Baudet managed to poison the debate during the General Political Reflections with his bizarre spy conspiracy theory. The cabinet set a limit by leaving the room and the President of the Chamber cut Baudet off the floor.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to ignore him?” some wondered. ‘Because what you pay attention to, it grows.’ Perhaps. But what gives you space, even more. Putting an end to the anti-democratic bag of tricks used by autocratic leaders such as Putin is the only correct answer. Fortunately, this is still possible in the Netherlands. Not in Russia anymore. There remains only hope that Elena and her compatriots can one day burst the Kremlin-created filter bubble, full of nonsense about a special operation to protect Russia from neo-Nazis in neighboring Ukraine.
The recent demonstrations are hopeful. Just like the action of Russia’s acclaimed and beloved singer Alla Pugacheva. Last Sunday, she asked the Kremlin to put her on its spy list. In solidarity with her husband, who was previously branded a spy because of his criticism of the war. The message quickly went viral among the Russian population. Perhaps it will help Elena and all those others who grew up with her songs to see the true nature of the former KGB spy in the Kremlin and give them the strength to soon dethrone their fake czar for good.