NEWS RELEASE
THIRD AGE BARRIE
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Dr. Larry Black will demonstrate how the Kremlin has persuaded the Russian population to support its war in Ukraine, and describe the active pro-war and anti-war movements in Russia, with comment on their effectiveness, Tuesday, April 11, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Grace United Church.
When Putin launched his “special military operation” on Feb. 24, 2022, he and his Ministry of Defence assumed that it would last but a few weeks and would quickly force a regime change in Kyiv. He insisted that he was defending Russia against further NATO expansion towards Russia’s borders, protecting ethnic Russian-Ukrainians against cultural oppression and ‘de-Nazifying’ Ukraine. He claimed also that he would take no territory from Ukraine.
The “operation” came as much of a surprise to the Russian public as it did to Ukrainians.
We all now know what happened next. Ukraine fought back and has suffered more than a year of military and civilian deaths, with up to 20 per cent of its territory annexed. The ‘operation’ became a war of attrition, and its ugliest features have been displayed regularly in the Ukrainian and Western media.
A clear majority of Russians still trust Putin and support the war effort. There is, nonetheless, an undercurrent of protest and shame. These two cross-currents and their efficacy are what this talk will be all about.
Our speaker is Dr. J.L. (Larry) Black, a longtime researcher on Russia, professor emeritus and distinguished research professor (Carleton). At Carleton, he was director of the Institute for Soviet and East European Studies. Dr. Black has been a research fellow for NATO, an instructor for CSIS and has published over 50 books on Russia, the USSR, and Canadian-Russian relations — most recently, Eternal Putin? Confronting Navalny, the Pandemic, Sanctions, and War with Ukraine (2023).
For more information and to register, go to www.thirdagebarrie.ca.
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