Day 1 in the New Year: Russian Lunacy Continues, Belgorod, a Terrorist Attack?

The Kremlin signaled that Russian patriots should grieve for Belgorod, so in unison, they bleat

Photo by Rolf Schmidbauer on Unsplash

It’s all the rage in 2024. The Russian zeitgeist is buzzing with the “terroristic” attack on the city of Belgorod on December 30th. Putin is vowing to intensify attacks on Ukraine to make “them pay.” Holiday celebrations were canceled all across Russia in a sign of support for the victims of “terrorism.”

If it wasn’t so tragic, people, after all, are losing their lives, you would want to laugh gayly at the Kremlin-created truth. How does a Ukrainian response to an onslaught of 180 missiles and drones on December 29th become Ukrainian terrorism? 

Most Russians have no idea that their country fired 180 missiles at cities and towns all over the country on Friday. They don’t know that one missile entered Polish airspace and skirted the country’s border for five minutes. Poland didn’t shoot it down because it was clear the missile was not meant for Polish territory but vowed to shoot down any future missiles that entered.

Russians still doubt the reality in Ukraine, making it so easy for the Kremlin to commit any crime. The lack of intellectual curiosity that characterizes Russians since early 2022 guarantees the country will fall further behind all major countries again. 

Having lived there for 30 years, I can tell you that the intellectual misdevelopment that occurred because of the Soviet system was debilitating. There are so many unseen intellectual hurdles when working with Russians that most foreign business people miss them because it’s simply impossible for a modern-developed intellect to conceive that someone could think a certain way or act a certain way. 

Some of the hurdles were cultural, making them acceptable but still frustrating — all cultures are different. Too many, however, were a result of the Homo Soveticus persona that formed inside of each Soviet citizen. If a person did not assume the traits of Homo Soveticus, then they were guaranteed trouble with the Soviet authorities.

Homo Soveticus has been removed from the closet and revived for many. For the nation’s youth, a new form of this mindset is forming that will exile Russia to an intellectual island of its own making for generations. The Kremlin has decided to make Belgorod a rallying point for Russians, and with all of the societal insincerity that they can muster, Russians seeking protection or gain from the system will become “Belgorod Strong.” They will send aid to the affected families in the city, although most of it will get stolen by the police and politicians before it reaches anyone. Belgorod becomes the reason that Russia can clamp down more on the people, oppress more of its citizens for “free thoughts,” and also intensify its war of genocide against Ukraine.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the shelling of Belgorod by the Ukrainian Armed Forces a terrorist attack. The Ukrainian side hit the city with “indiscriminate weapons hitting squares,” he noted. The head of state added that “everything is boiling” for him, but Russia should not hit places with the civilian population of Ukraine in response (The Number of Victims in Belgorod Increases).

This is the kind of nonsense that Russians read and hear. Putin comes off as being sensible. A benevolent, war-time leader wanting only what’s best for his people and even the people of the nation he is genociding. No one wants innocent people to die anyone, especially children. Five children have already died in the attack on Belgorod. Russians and Putin, as we see, will fume over the deaths of these children, but what of the thousands of Ukrainian children who have died? What about the thousands who were stolen from their country and families and are forced to live with Russian families in places like the Far North and Siberia? 

The world “is boiling” over these crimes. 

The attack on Belgorod, however, served a greater purpose. The Russian national lament — whine, really — that “everyone is against us and wants to destroy us” was, for one day, in this brand-new, shiny year, made whole — “See, they really do hate us. Look at what they did in Belgorod.” And a clueless herd of cacophonous sheep for one day bleat in unison.