In front of a huge, jubilant sea of people, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the stage in Moscow on Friday afternoon.
Putin also said that the Russian troops are making a heroic effort. The speakers also praised Putin for fighting Nazism in Ukraine.
– Trying to attach iron grip
The speech is now attracting the attention of many.
University lecturer and expert in, among other things, communication and rhetoric at Kristiania University College, Ketil Raknes, says that Russia is slowly slipping into the role of a fascist dictatorship.
– DICTATOR: Rhetoric expert believes Russia and Putin are approaching a fascist dictatorship. Photo: HOST PHOTO AGENCY / Reuters / NT
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– Putin is trying to secure an iron grip on the part of the population that still supports him, Raknes says.
He believes Russia is now approaching becoming North Korea and Iran.
– When the Iranian regime is about to fire up, they send people out to burn American flags in the streets. It’s about diverting attention from the real problem. But it is not the Americans who are the problem – the problem is that it is a dictatorship. And Putin does the same, says Raknes.
Putin spoke at his propaganda show: – It has been a long time since we have been so united
Effective grip
Nevertheless, the rhetoric expert is clear that this is an effective move on Putin’s part.
– Group affiliation is one of the strongest identity markers we know. Therefore, it has enormous explosive power. If someone in a democracy says “Norway for Norwegians”, then ten others will come and say “we disagree with that”. But the Russian people have been fed by exclusive nationalism for ten years already. This is reinforced in school and on TV.
– HERO: Putin was welcomed on stage as a hero. He was also thanked for fighting Nazism in Russia. Photo: HOST PHOTO AGENCY / Reuters / NT
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Raknes believes Putin has completely lost the global information battle.
– The only thing he has left is his own population. He has previously been able to lean on the fact that he had some support in the West, but now there is no mouth in Western democracies who are willing to defend him, says the college lecturer.
Zelenskyj-kopi
Raknes is aware that Russia and Putin have now fallen into a completely different division of dictatorships.
– They have moved down in the dictatorships’ response to the corporate series, the ones that everyone thinks of as a complete cook.
Professor at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Oslo Met, Kristin Skare Orgeret, tells TV 2 that what we witnessed from the stage in Moscow on Friday, was a very directed and slightly absurd show.
– Nobody knows what’s going on inside Putin’s head, and we do not know how much he follows in the international media. But Zelensky has received much praise for his speaking skills, despite the fact that his country is under attack. One could almost get the feeling that Putin also wanted to show that he can talk to the people, says Skare Orgeret.
– Staged propaganda show
The professor says that Putin’s actions were about creating unity, patriotism and fighting spirit.
– But it is almost a staged propaganda show.
Despite the fact that Russia is known for arranging parades, Skare Orgeret believes that it all seems absurd considering the background.
– They are at war and lose many soldiers every single day. One might think that this is to prepare the inhabitants for the losses that are coming.
