Why Do Many Indonesians Support Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine?

Surabaya, CNN Indonesia —

Invasion Russia ke Ukraine invited a lot of criticism from various parties, including Indonesia which supports the condemnation of Russian aggression through UN Resolutions.

Apart from Indonesia, there are 141 countries that support the UN General Assembly resolution. The resolution is the one with the most support ever put forward by the UN General Assembly.

However, the government’s attitude is not in line with many Indonesian netizens. Observers see that the Indonesian people are divided in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Researcher of Russian and Eastern European Studies at International Relations (HI) Universitas Airlangga (Unair) Surabaya, Radityo Dharmaputra, said that discussion and conversation spaces such as social media in Indonesia are mostly filled by Russian sympathizers.

Anti-United States

Radityo said there were various variables as to why the Indonesian public tended to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The first is the political alignment of the Indonesian people which is anti-US and anti-Western.

The sentiment arose after the American aggression in Middle Eastern countries, during the War on Terror or ‘war on terrorism’ which began in September 2001.

“The trend of our society [masyarakat Indonesia] After the war against terrorism, the Iraq war, society is more anti-American and anti-Western,” Radit said while talking to CNNIndonesia.comThursday (10/3).

This, said Radit, made the Indonesian people more sided with Russia. People think that anyone who is against America is the one who must be defended.

“Then the narrative becomes very easy to make, ‘oh this is anti-Western so we have to support Russia’. This does not only happen in Indonesia, in many countries China, India, Malaysia also have this view,” said the Doctoral Student at the University of Tartu. , Estonian, this.

Radit said the Indonesian people could not see clearly that the conflict that occurred today was between Russia and Ukraine. Not America and NATO member countries.

“People when talking about Russia and Ukraine don’t see this as a war between Russia and Ukraine. But they see it as if it was between Russia and the West,” he said.

The figure of Vladimir Putin

The next variable is the sentiment of the Indonesian people who prefer a strong and firm leader. That figure is considered to be in Russian President Vladimir Putin. The figure of Putin is often judged as a strong, decisive, dashing, and nationalist figure.

“As for Putin’s figure, we [masyarakat Indonesia] it delights with the valiant, the resolute. So we want a nationalist leader,” said Radit.

The public, according to Radit, tend to equate the figure of Putin with the First President of the Republic of Indonesia Soekarno, who is equally firm, as well as the military figure Prabowo Subianto.

“Judging from the popularity of Prabowo Subianto in the last two elections, which displayed a firm image, riding a horse. Such images are liked by the Indonesian people,” he said.

This also, said Radit, made the Indonesian people think that Putin is more manly and decisive than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is a former comedian.

“Putin appears to be a former intelligence officer while the president of Ukraine is a comedian. It’s as if a former intelligence person is more likely to be the government, while a comedian is the president of the country, it’s not right,” he said.

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