“Today Putin can only be stopped by force. This is Europe’s main obligation: to show determination and unity. He does everything to divide the continent, we see it with Orbán, with Slovakia, with Belgrade. If Ukraine falls into his hands, it would be a fatal signal for Europe: it would mean that Europe has lost.”
Irina Scherbakova, historian, co-founder of the organization Memorial and winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, has dedicated her life to documenting the crimes of the Stalinist regime. Since the 70s, she began secretly collecting testimonies from Gulag survivors, in order to save them from oblivion. Today, declared a “foreign agent” by the Russian authorities and forced to live in exile in Germany, Scherbakova continues to denounce Vladimir Putin’s regime, its manipulation of history and the use of memory as an instrument of power. “Putin uses history as a tool of war,” she says, adding that “he will never stop, except by force.”
PUTIN HAS TURNED HISTORY INTO MYTH AND PROPAGANDA
According to Shcherbakova, Putin’s regime is a postmodern phenomenon: “Unlike the great ideologies of the 20th century, which looked to the past but wanted to build a new future, Putin only returns to history, or rather, to a false version of it, a mixture of myths and quotes from obscure philosophers. Thus was born ‘russki mir’, the Russian world, which in reality never existed. He constantly changes the reasons why he started the war against Ukraine: sometimes for ‘russki mir’, sometimes for ‘denazification’, sometimes for ‘war against Europe’. They are just propaganda memes without any real basis.
“In every meeting, even when he talks to Trump, he spends hours talking about Russian history, not the truth, but his own myths. This is very dangerous: Putin rejects history as a science and turns it into a tool of manipulation that he spreads everywhere, even in schools, where books are reprinted to fit his version.”
ITALY, DIVIDED BETWEEN LEFT AND RIGHT NOSTALGIA
Asked about the spread of Russian propaganda in Europe, Scherbakova singles out Italy: “Italy is divided between opposing tendencies, a left with a long communist tradition and an extreme right that sympathizes with Putin. Silvio Berlusconi, the first Western leader to establish an open friendship with Putin, also played an important role. It is no coincidence that many Russian propagandists and businessmen linked to the Kremlin have invested in Italy, buying villas and opening businesses. There are also strong economic ties between Italian and Russian companies.”
UKRAINE HAS PROTECTED EUROPE, BUT IT HAS BEEN LEFT ALONE
Regarding the war in Ukraine, Scherbakova says that Kiev has done the impossible: “Ukraine has defended itself and all of Europe from Putin’s aggression, but now its forces are running out and Europe is not supporting it enough. A ceasefire could be a temporary solution, as long as Kiev receives strong security guarantees. Otherwise, Putin would use that break to regroup and prepare another offensive. It is a dramatic moment, because Trump continues to make promises that he does not keep, playing into Putin’s favor and making the situation increasingly uncertain. If Europe does not unite and show determination, American aid will no longer be enough.”
PUTIN WILL NOT BE STOPPED IN UKRAINE
“Yes, Putin will not stop at Ukraine,” warns Scherbakova. “He may not have the strength for a large-scale military invasion, but he is using other means: terror, nuclear threats, cyberattacks, sabotage, drones hitting targets in Poland, Denmark, even Spain. The goal is to create fear and division in Europe. Intimidation is also a form of war, a new way to test the resilience of the European Union.”
PUTINISM IS A FEAR MACHINE
In 25 years in power, says Scherbakova, Putin has built a machine of repression that punishes citizens for absurd reasons: “A post on the Internet, a bouquet of flowers in the wrong place, an ‘inappropriate’ song. There are not millions of arrests like in Stalin’s time, but there is no need, fear is enough. However, there is opposition, there are people who oppose the war, and today there are more political prisoners in Russia than in the Brezhnev era. But this is still not enough to overthrow the regime.”
PUTIN CAN ONLY BE STOPPED BY FORCE
According to Shcherbakova, the only way to stop Putin is direct confrontation. “Today, Putin can only be stopped by force. This is Europe’s main obligation: to show determination and unity. He does everything to divide the continent, we see it with Orbán, with Slovakia, with Belgrade. If Ukraine falls into his hands, it would be a fatal signal for Europe: it means that Europe has lost.”
WITHOUT HISTORICAL TRUTH, EUROPE LOSE ITSELF
Scherbakova, who has dedicated her life to remembering the victims of Stalinism, warns of the danger of a new era of lies: “Today it is much more difficult to tell the truth than before. People prefer to believe in heroic myths, rather than face the dark pages of history. This is very dangerous, because this terrain feeds the right-wing populism that manages to influence millions of people. We must learn from the past, from Mussolini in Italy, Hitler in Germany, Stalin and Putin in Russia, otherwise the consequences will be tragic.”
(Le Monde)