Russophilia

Russophilia (literally love of Russia or Russians) is admiration and fondness of Russia (including the era of the Soviet Union and/or the Russian Empire), Russian history and Russian culture. The antonym is Russophobia. In the 19th century, Russophilia was often linked to variants of pan-Slavism, since the Russian Empire and the autonomous Serbia were the only two Slav-associated sovereign states during and after Spring of Nations.

For the 19th–early 20th century Ukrainian cultural faction in Galicia who espoused Ruthenian autonomy, see Galician Russophilia.

Flag of Russia
Saint Basil's Cathedral on the Red Square in Moscow

Russophilia in Europe

Russophilia in Serbia
Further information: Russia-Serbia relations

Russia is popular in Serbia, and many Serbs have traditionally seen Russia as a close ally due to shared Slavic heritage, culture, and Orthodox faith.[1] According to the European Council on Foreign Relations, 54% of Serbians see Russia as an ally. In comparison, 11% see the European Union as an ally, and only 6% see the United States in the same manner.[2]

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, People's Patrol, a far-right group, organized pro-Russian rallies in Belgrade, which were attended by 4,000 people.[3][4][5]

The inhabitants of the Serbian village of Adžinci renamed their village Putinovo in honor of Vladimir Putin.[6][7]

Map showing the Russian Federation in dark red with Russian-occupied territories in Europe in light red.

Russophilia in Ukraine
See also: Galician Russophilia

Following Ukrainian independence in 1991, in the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum 92% (including 55% of ethnic Russians) voted for independence from Moscow,[8] but some Ukrainians, mostly in the east and south of the country, voted to see a more Russophile attitude of the government, ranging from closer economic partnership to full national union.[9] Russia and Ukraine had especially close economic ties, and the Russophilic political party, the Party of Regions, became the largest party in the Verkhovna Rada in the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, receiving 33% of the votes. It would remain a dominant force in Ukrainian politics, until the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. Following the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, the overall attitude of Ukrainians towards Russia and Russians has become much more negative,[10] with most Ukrainians favoring NATO[11] and European Union[12] membership.

A survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in 2016 found that 67% of Ukrainians had a positive attitude to Russians, but that only 8% had a positive attitude to the Russian government.[13]

41% of Ukrainians had a "good" attitude towards Russians (42% negatively), while in general 54% of Russians had a positive attitude towards Ukraine, according to an October 2021 poll of the country's population.[14]

Russophilia in Finland

The Communist movement in Finland during the Cold War inclined towards pro-Soviet tendencies, of which the Taistoist movement was especially pro-Soviet.[15][16]

The Finnish political party "Power Belongs to the People" is unique in its strong support of Russia, being the only pro-Russian party in Finland as of 2022. It protested against sanctions to Russia and supported the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.[17][18] The Finnish political activist "Johan Bäckman" is known for pro-Russian views and has recruited Finns to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine.[19] Bäckman later joined the party "Power Belongs to the People" lead by Ano Turtiainen.[20] However, a few members of the Finns Party have had pro-Russian views.[21]

Russophilia in Germany

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche described Russia as "the only power that has durability in it, which can wait, which can still produce something...the antithesis of that pitiable European petty-state politics and nervousness, with which the foundation of the German Reich has entered its crucial phase..." in his 1895 book The Antichrist[22]

Russophilia in Asia

Russophilia in Vietnam

Favorable perceptions of Russia in Vietnam have 83% of Vietnamese people viewing Russia's influence positively in 2017.[23] This stems from the former Soviet Union support of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.[24]

Russophilia in Iran

According to a December 2018 survey by IranPoll, 63.8% of Iranians have a favorable view of Russia.[25]

Russophilia in Indonesia

Support for Russia remains high among Indonesians as they found animosity towards the West and support for Russia owing to Moscow's perceived ties with Muslims and the Islamic world. The US and its allies also invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, and perceive neglectful treatment towards Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories Palestinian territories occupied by Israeli forces.

Even this movement that compare Indonesian to support Vladimir Putin to fight against Ukraine to supporting Suharto for fight against East Timor during invasion in 1975.[26] Besides, there are also plenty of left-wing figures in Indonesia who supports Vladimir Putin due to admiration of late Sukarno's past closeness with the Soviet Union. These figures mostly come from governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle led by Sukarno's daughter Megawati Sukarnoputri who openly criticized Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[27]

Russophilia in the Americas

Russophilia in the United States

According to the Marly Rusoff Literary Agency, American author Robert Alexander wrote: "I love Russians for their dramatic, emotional nature. They're not afraid to love, not afraid to get hurt, not afraid to exaggerate or act impulsively."[28]

See also

References
  1. "Зашто је Путин толико популаран у Србији? – Центар за развој међународне сарадње". crms.org.rs. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  2. "Pandemic trends: Serbia looks east, Ukraine looks west". ecfr.eu. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  3. Filipovic, Branko (5 March 2022). "Pro-Russia Serbs march in Belgrade as country treads ever finer line between East and West". Reuters. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  4. "Thousands of pro-Russia Serbs march in Belgrade". BBC News. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  5. Komarčević, Dušan (14 December 2022). "Pod maskama u Beogradu 'brane' Kosovo". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  6. "Serbian village renamed for Putin would welcome Trump, too". NBC News. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  7. Коцић, Данило. "Путиново, село с 12 душа". Politika Online. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  8. The Return: Russia's Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev by Daniel Treisman, Free Press, 2012, ISBN 1416560726 (page 178)
  9. Rapawy, Stephen (1997). Ethnic Reidentification in Ukraine (page 17) (PDF). Washington, D.C.: United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  10. How Ukraine views Russia and the West, Brookings Institution (18 October 2017)
  11. "Pledging reforms by 2020, Ukraine seeks route into NATO". Reuters. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  12. Simmons, Katie; Stokes, Bruce; Poushter, Jacob (10 June 2015). "3. Ukrainian Public Opinion: Dissatisfied with Current Conditions, Looking for an End to the Crisis". Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  13. "CHANGES IN THE ATTITUDE OF THE POPULATION OF UKRAINE TOWARD RUSSIA AND OF THE POPULATION OF RUSSIAN TOWARD UKRAINE". www.kiis.com.ua/. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  14. "Украинцы хуже относятся к РФ, чем россияне в Украине – опрос". www.kiis.com.ua/ (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  15. ""Eteenpäin O.W. Kuusisen viitoittamaa tietä" – Taistolaiset" (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  16. "Tämä kolahti: Lauri Hokkasen teos on silmiä avaava tilitys siitä, mihin totuudelta silmät sulkeva opillisuus voi johtaa". www.kirkkojakaupunki.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  17. Hiiro, Jukka (25 August 2022). "Seuran kysely: VKK:n kannattajat erottuvat kaikissa Venäjä-kysymyksissä – Venäjä-vastaisimpia ovat Rkp:n ja kokoomuksen kannattajat". Seura.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  18. "VKK:n rivit rakoilevat: Ano Turtiaisen Venäjä-puheet, autoritaarinen johtajuus ja uskonnolliset kannanotot ajavat pois puolueesta". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 11 April 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  19. "Itä-Ukrainassa Venäjän puolesta taistelleet suomalaiset kehuskelevat kokemuksillaan – muualla Euroopassa vierastaistelijoita on tuomittu rikoksista". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 23 November 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  20. "VKK-puolue yrittää saada dosentti Johan Bäckmanin eduskuntaan". demokraatti.fi (in Finnish). 28 February 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  21. "Osa perussuomalaisista myötäilee suoraan Venäjän kantoja". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  22. "Nietzsche, Putin and the spirit of Russia". 27 August 2022.
  23. "Vietnam views of Russia". 16 August 2017.
  24. "Anti-Western and hyper macho, Putin's appeal in Southeast Asia". Al Jazeera. 18 November 2022. Archived from the original on 19 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  25. "State of Iran Survey Series". IranPoll. 8 February 2019.
  26. "Dinilai Mirip dengan Soeharto jadi Alasan Warganet Kagumi Putin dan Dukung Invasi Rusia ke Ukraina" [Judging Similar to Suharto is the Reason Netizens Admire Putin and Support Russia's Invasion of Ukraine]. Tribun Kaltim (in Indonesian). 19 March 2022.
  27. "Megawati Singgung Perang Ukraina-Rusia saat Resmikan KRI Bung Karno".
  28. "Book Group Guide – Rusoff Agency". Rusoffagency.com. Retrieved 17 October 2018.

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