Russophilia (lit. '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.[1][2] In the 19th century, Russophilia was often linked to variants of pan-Slavism, since the Russian Empire and autonomous Serbia were the only two Slavic sovereign states during and after the Springtime of Nations.
By country
Armenia
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Republican Party of Armenia and Prosperous Armenia are the main Pro-Russian political parties in Armenia.
Belarus
Belarus has close political and economic ties with Russia, both being part of the Union State, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Eurasian Economic Union, due to their shared Soviet heritage.
Following the 2020-2021 Belarusian protests and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many observers have described Belarus as a Russian puppet state or a satellite state.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
China
The People's Republic of China under the leadership of the Communist Party has supported the Russian Federation closely following international sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine.[9][10][11] China has had close ties with the Soviet Union prior to the Sino-Soviet split, owing to ideological kinship between the two communist states.[12]
Previous anti-Russian sentiment in China has greatly downgraded, due to perceived common anti-Western sentiment among Russian and Chinese nationalists.[13][14] Ethnic Russians are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.[15]
According to a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center, 71% of Russians have a favourable view of China.[16] A YouGov survey conducted in the same year found that 71% of the Chinese think Russia has a positive effect on world affairs.[17]
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, many social media users in China showed sympathy for Russian narratives due in part to distrust of US foreign policy.[18][19] According to a survey conducted by the Carter Center China Focus in April 2022, approximately 75% of respondents agreed that supporting Russia in the war in Ukraine was in China's best interest.[20] In the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the nationalistic Little Pink movement drew international attention for their role in contributing to the mostly pro-war, pro-Russia sentiments on the Chinese internet.[21]
Finland
The Communist movement in Finland during the Cold War inclined towards pro-Soviet tendencies, of which the Taistoist movement was especially pro-Soviet.[22][23][clarification needed]
The Finnish political party Power Belongs to the People (VKK) was unique in its strong support of Russia, being the only pro-Russian party in Finland as of 2022. It protested against sanctions on Russia and supported the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.[24][25] The party has since dissasociated from the connections to Russia after Ano Turtiainen was replaced by Antti Asikainen.[26][27] The Finnish political activist Johan Bäckman is known for his pro-Russian views and he has recruited Finns to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine.[28] Bäckman later joined the VKK, led by Ano Turtiainen.[29] Some members of the Finns Party also held pro-Russian views.[30]
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[31]
Indonesia
Support for Russia remains high among Indonesians, owing to Moscow's perceived ties to Muslims and the Muslim world. Public animosity towards the West has resulted from the wars waged in Afghanistan and Iraq by the US and its allies, and their perceived neglectful treatment of the Palestinians in the territories occupied by Israel.
Some Indonesians have positively compared support for Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Russo-Ukrainian War to support for former president Suharto in the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.[32] Russophiles are also found among the political left, who support Russia due to inaugural Indonesian president Sukarno's closeness to the Soviet Union. Pro-Russian sentiment is especially strong among members of the governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, led by Sukarno's daughter Megawati Sukarnoputri, who publicly criticized Ukraine and president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[33]
Iran
According to a December 2018 survey by IranPoll, 63.8% of Iranians have a favorable view of Russia.[34]
Serbia
Russia is popular in Serbia, and many Serbs have traditionally seen Russia as a close ally due to shared Slavic heritage, culture, and the Orthodox faith.[35] 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.[36]
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.[37][38][39]
In 2017, the inhabitants of the Serbian village of Adžinci renamed their village Putinovo, in honor of Vladimir Putin.[40][41]
Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Tašmajdan park, Belgrade
Vladimir Putin at Belgrade's Red Star Stadium in March 2011
Vladimir Putin in front of Cathedral of Saint Sava
"Z" symbol in support of Russia's war against Ukraine with an inscription "Russians and Serbs brothers forever"
Ukraine
Following Ukrainian independence in 1991, in the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum 92% (including 55% of ethnic Russians) voted for independence from Moscow,[42] 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.[43] 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,[44] with most Ukrainians favoring NATO[45] and European Union membership.[46] Their views on Russia would further become even more negative following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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.[47]
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.[48]
United Kingdom
According to an interview made by the Ukrainian "Rada" TV channel, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson is a Russophile, admiring Russian language and culture, even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[49]
United States
Many members of the Republican Party in the United States express positive views on Russia. A 2017 poll highlighted that around 32% of respondents had favorable views of Russian president Vladimir Putin.[50] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, these numbers surged. A YouGov poll found nearly 62% of Republicans preferred Vladimir Putin over Joe Biden, noting that the former was a stronger leader than the latter.[51] Many notable Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, television presenter Tucker Carlson, and incumbent Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene have all expressed admiration for Russia and its leaders.[52][53]
Vietnam
Favorable perceptions of Russia in Vietnam have 83% of Vietnamese people viewing Russia's influence positively in 2017.[54] This stems from historic Soviet support of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.[55]
See also
References
- Orest Subtelny. Ukraine. A history. University of Toronto Press. 1994. ISBN 0-8020-0591-8.
External links
Media related to Russophiles at Wikimedia Commons