IDEOLOGICAL FACTORS OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR OF 2014-2026

Abstract

The article examines the foundations of the new ideological paradigm of the Russian Federation, the so-called "Russian world", the substance of which is made up of the old ideologies of Russian nationalism: pan-Slavism/Slavophilism/Pan-Russism, Eurasianism, national-Bolshevism, to which in the 2000s Racism joined, researchers call it the Russian analogue of Nazism, or Russian neo-Nazism. The reasons for the Russian regime's concentration on the past, rather than on finding ways to effectively construct the future and create conditions for mutually beneficial cooperation in the region, are examined.
The mechanism of dissemination of ideologues generated for the Kremlin authorities is clarified, the key elements of which are the ruling regime itself, the Russian Orthodox Church (the Russian Orthodox Church and its affiliated churches in other countries, in particular the Ukrainian Orthodox Church), propaganda media, Russian “ideologists”-speakers who may not be directly associated with the Russian Federation, but work for it by working out a modified agenda.
It is found that after the fall of the “Evil Empire” in the Russian Federation, approaches to organizing and conducting propaganda have not changed. Since the propaganda machine inherited from the USSR remained institutionally stable. The set of ideological clichés or clichés without substance has also not changed due to the desire of the Russian Federation to return and maintain the old picture of the world where the USSR was the pole of geopolitical attraction.
The signs of the maximum tension of the Russian state machine in early 2026 are emphasized, which has completely reoriented to a war of attrition, where internal stability is sacrificed for illusory territorial gains. The fixation on aggression against Ukraine is causing the Kremlin one defeat after another at the geopolitical level and ultimately hurts the Kremlin's ambitions. A clearer position of the US administration towards the Russian Federation may accelerate its strategic defeat at all levels, including in Ukraine.