OPINION: Russification is Mind Murder

Russification irrevocably alters one’s soul. It is mind murder. Poles know what Ukrainians are going through. We know how brutal the Russification process is. You will be hard-pressed to find a Polish family who has not been negatively impacted by the ‘’Russkiy Mir’’ (“Russian world”).

Poles were sent to Siberia. There were mass detentions, killing lists and human trafficking. Poland was invaded by Russia several times, and we know Russia has no limits when it comes to cruelty and dishonesty.

This is not Russophobia, as some Westerners conveniently call it. These are historical facts.

Alexander Dugin, political analyst and staunch Putin ally, is the modern embodiment of Russification. He is a silver-tongued fanatic who compellingly conveys his ideas in English, bewitching Western audiences. It should not surprise anyone that Alexander Dugin does not want Ukraine and Poland to exist.

Yet, he claims to respect the Poles. Where is the logic in that? Denying the Poles and Ukrainians the right to exist does not sound like respect to me. There are only two options if you get conquered by Russia: enslavement or extermination. Russia, just like Nazi Germany, does not care about international agreements. When Russians negotiate, they are buying time.

Dugin’s daughter, Darya Dugina, spoke excellent English, with a tinge of American accent. Yet, she was fervently anti-Western. If she was such a strong believer in the ‘’Russkiy Mir’’, then why wasn’t she fighting the amazingly brave Azovstal defenders? I guess it was easier to take celebratory selfies at Azovstal when it was all over. At least she did not pose by bending her knee.

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Locked in an ivory tower, Dugin likes to theorize about the fate of the world. He is a philosopher, after all. Karma has now given him a first-hand opportunity to reflect upon the concept of loss. He is now feeling the sadness that many Ukrainian parents struggle with on a daily basis.

It is profoundly perplexing how people living in my part of Europe are lectured by Western intellectuals about Russia. Many of these so-called intellectuals live in North America. In fact, it is appropriate to call them pseudo-intellectuals. They do not speak Russian, they have no idea about Russia, yet they pontificate about the war. Frankly, they should shut up.

Would these ‘’smart Westerners’’ change their minds if they landed in Moscow? I doubt that. Their minds are murdered. Castrated. And that is really scary, because it shows how effective the Russian brainwashing operation is. I am pretty fluent in Russian. I was in Moscow in 2008. Does that make me an expert on Russia? Of course not. But I sure as heck know more about Russia than a monolingual Westerner who thinks Russia revolves around ballet and wedding dances.

Russia has mastered the art of projecting and deflecting. Someone said, ‘’Russia does whatever she accuses others of.’’ When Russia kills innocent Ukrainians, she accuses the West of bombing innocent kids in Iraq. To the Russified mind, Russia is in a battle against the degenerate West. Whoever accuses Russia of anything is automatically the bad guy.

Case in point, when former Polish President Lech Walesa said that the Russian population should be reduced to 50 million, there was an outcry and assassination threats. Walesa responded, saying he can face his accusers in Moscow. But when Alexander Dugin openly encouraged the Kremlin to ‘’kill, kill, kill’’ Ukrainians after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, it was perfectly justified. This is the Russian logic: “Do as I say, don’t do as I do.”

Alexander Dugin said it best: ‘’We have our special Russian truth.’’ Exactly. That special Russian truth, dear reader, is Russification. Psychopaths also have their special truth. When a psychopath does something wrong, do not expect an apology.

If anything, the psychopath is going to accuse you of doing bad things. And, just like Russia, psychopaths play the victim card really well.

Darya was Russified by her father. I am unsure if she ever had a chance to think for herself. She was a tragic example of a ‘’daddy’s girl’’ who was brought up in a political cult with esoteric undertones. Alexander Dugin murdered Darya’s mind. Karma did not care. Victim or not, Darya Dugina’s life ended in the outskirts of Moscow. She died alone, terrified, in a burning car.

When I start feeling sad about Darya’s death, my mind conjures up the horror written on the faces of Ukrainian refugees here in Warsaw. Russians deserve only condemnation for such sadism. This isn’t just Putin’s war. What nonsense. Many, if not most, Russians are proud of genocide.

Alexander Dugin, the chief ideologue with delusions of grandeur, deserves no sympathy for his daughter’s death.

Russification murders the minds of individuals and nations. Ukraine must win, or else the mind murder machine will keep trudging on. There is no telling who is next on Putin’s ‘’liberation through denazification’’ list.

Based in Warsaw, Adam Borowski is a journalist specializing in international relations. He has written articles for major South Korean and Taiwanese news outlets and is the author of a yet-to-be-published novel set in an alternate reality, ‘’Euthanizers.’’ Adam is a global traveler who worked in Chengdu, China. 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s and not necessarily those of the Kyiv Post.