Is Russia a Fascist State? (Part 1)

Not exactly a spoiler alert, but you can likely imagine the answer provided to this question in the podcast here today. To answer the question of this podcast, I had back on the show Dr. Taras Kuzio, who was on earlier this year in a great show where we discussed whether Ukraine has a Nazi problem. He is joined by Dr. Ian Garner, prominent British-born historian and specialist in Russian war propaganda and military culture, with a focus on the indoctrination of Russia’s youth. Denazification of Ukraine has been used as a justification of this war in Ukraine by Putin since the start of the full-scale invasion in Feb 2022. Critically, this was a masterful move as Russians quickly got behind this war in strong support. Putin tapped into Russia’s sense of heroism and glory in defeating the original German Nazis and by successfully – though falsely – castigating Ukrainians in the same light as Russia’s greatest enemy in living memory in the Germans, Putin succeeded in getting high popular support for this war and for himself. However, in reality, we should be looking at Putin’s Russia to see if we can find the true Nazis and real fascism. Dr Kuzio and Dr Garner co-authored the piece from 2025 - Russia and Modern Fascism: New Perspectives on the Kremlin's War Against Ukraine.About the Guests:Dr. Kuzio is a British professor of Political Science Kyiv Mohyla University. His area of study is Russian and Ukrainian political, economic and security affairs, and he has contributed pieces to the Atlantic Council and Foreign Affairs.Dr. Ian Garner is British-born historian and specialist in Russian war propaganda and military culture, with a focus on the indoctrination of Russia’s youth. Teaches Totalitarian Studies at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw, Poland. He is the author of Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia's Fascist Youth (2023) and has been featured prominently in media. To learn more, visit:https://ubn.network/ To connect and message with Mark on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mcnamee-58950910 Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/