Politicians From Russia

"Aggressive marketing of war affects people and they start thinking that war is acceptable. Governments and their propaganda supporters are fully responsible for the militaristic rhetoric on state-owned television channels."

"We are journalists, and our mission is clear – to distinguish between facts and fiction."

"Journalism in Russia is going through a dark valley. Over a hundred journalists, media outlets, human rights defenders and NGOs have recently been branded as “foreign agents”. In Russia, this means “enemies of the people.” Many of our colleagues have lost their jobs. Some have to leave the country. Some are deprived of the opportunity to live a normal life for an unknown period of time. Maybe forever."

"Ukraine is falling apart anyway. Poland should take the western part, Hungary should take the Carpathian Mountains, Romania should take Bukovina and Bessarabia. We'll take the whole of Novorossiya. Ukraine has no future."

"It's better if the West sees us as the enemy and imposes restrictions on us everywhere. Sanctions, sanctions and more sanctions. Then we'll rise up and develop more quickly."

"The policy of my party is to make Russia stronger and to restore to it some of its original territories. The West wants Russia to remain as it is now, that is why they have launched these canards. They want to cut my political base by confusing my supporters. The fact is, more than what I can do in Russia, they are worried by the influence I could have in their internal politics. But I want them to realise that if they persist in their policy of weakening Russia, and continue to support the drunken traitors who run our government, everything will end in agony and anarchy. It won't be good for Russia. It could be much worse for the West."

"When the post-Soviet experiment in electoral democracy and market economics turned out disastrously for Russia after 1991, movements like Pamyat (“memory”) revived this rich Slavophile tradition, now updated by open praise for the Nazi experiment. The most successful of a number of antiliberal, anti-Western, anti-Semitic parties in Russia was Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s badly misnamed Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), founded at the end of 1989, with a program of national revival and unification under strong authority combined with wild-eyed proposals for the reconquest of Russia’s lost territories (including Alaska). Zhirinovsky came in third in the Russian presidential election of June 1991, with more than 6 million votes, and his LDP became the largest party in Russia in parliamentary elections of December 1993, with nearly 23 percent of the total vote. Zhirinovsky’s star faded thereafter, partly because of erratic behavior and bizarre statements (plus the revelation that his father was Jewish), bt mainly because President Boris Yeltsin held the reins and ignored parliament. For the moment Russia limped along as a quasi-democracy under Yeltsin and his handpicked successor, the former KGB agent Vladimir Putin. If the Russian president were to lose credibility, however, some extreme Right leader more competent than Zhirinovsky would be a much more plausible otucome than any kind of return to Marxist collectivism."

"Founder and longtime leader of one of the country’s oldest political parties, he did a lot for the establishing and development of Russian parliamentarism and domestic legislation, and sincerely strove to contribute to solving the most important national problems. And always, in any audience, in the most heated discussions, he defended the patriotic position, the interests of Russia."

"When Leninism committed suicide, essentially nothing took its place. Except "transition" and "reform." In 1983, one perceptive scholar, surveying the ostensible hollowing of Communist ideology, had predicted that Russian nationalism "could become the ruling ideology of the state." A decade later, warnings about nationalism became highly fashionable. But such prophecies went unfulfilled. To be sure, Boris Yeltsin sought to rally liberal nationalists with his campaign for Russia's rebirth, which, however, turned out to be more collapse. Hardline nationalists drifted toward the re-established, aging Communist Party, whose cynical leader, Gennady Zyuganov, had conveniently been away "on vacation" when the president bombed the parliament in October 1993, and returned to fill the void in the "opposition." A chauvinistic grouping, led by the media clown Vladimir Zhirinovsky, also garnered a limited protest vote, for a time, while a handful of avowedly fascist associations, some affiliated with the reconstituted Communists, engaged in sporadic acts of violence, most of which went unpunished. But the pundits, mesmerized by the rhetoric and confusing the existence of chaos with the possible onset of powerful dictatorship, were wrong: the much-feared red-brown (Communist-fascist) coalition failed to materialize."

"Unlike the left, we do not trot out any far-fetched or unachievable promises. Our program is straightforward and clear – there should not be any homeless, unemployed or hungry. This is the minimal goal, while the maximum goal is to make a major leap forward."

"At 04:00 on 22 February you'll feel [our new policy]. I'd like 2022 to be peaceful. But I love the truth, for 70 years I've said the truth. It won't be peaceful. It will be a year when Russia once again becomes great."

"Zhirinovsky is an evil caricature of a Russian patriot. It's as if someone wanted to use this figure to show Russian patriotism to the world as a repulsive monster. Apart from the financial support he received, the reason Zhirinovsky had so much success in the elections is that by that time all the democratic parties, groups and leaders had completely abandoned Russia's national interests. They remained indifferent to the cruel poverty and hopelessness which has afflicted the majority of the population as a result of Yegor Gaidar's technocratic reform--after so many years of communism, yet another heartless experiment performed on the unfortunate people of Russia."

"There is no such thing as Russian fascism. You won't find a single Russian who considers Russians to be a superior race and who advocate expulsion of aliens."

"The LDPR doesn’t act against the country, we don’t say: something’s wrong with this country. We say: Our country has problems."

"Democrats in Russia have three paths open to them: the grave, emigration or prison."

"There is no ideal system just as there are no ideal persons, ideal families or ideal cities, we have to get away from ideals."

"It is necessary to ensure the accelerated development of roads. We have a vast territory and the possibility to move people and goods quickly across it is a guarantee for the economy’s success. Trains should move at a speed of 400km/h similar to what has long been in place in China and Japan."

"Vladimir Zhirinovsky, sincerely, in his own way, in special, unique ways, tirelessly fought for the authority of Russia."

"Are you getting bored doing interviews? That's work. It's the most responsible, representative and solemn work there is — like sport. Anyone who does not aim for the Olympic Games or championships should not be in the sports industry."

"The West will have to choose: either to come to terms with Russians, or to receive a retaliatory blow. This retaliatory blow will not be by means of war. We will resort to the same weapon: nationalism."

"We have just another chance to see that the system of government in the United States is not presidential, the country is actually a warped parliamentary republic, since Congress makes all the decisions. If so, there is a need to amend the Constitution so the Congress can elect a president. It would be cheaper and faster."

"My name Vladimir means 'rule the world'. Let us Slavs rule the world in the 20th century."

"All of humanity knows me. My name is in encyclopedias, in registers and databases. Books have been written; films recorded. I’m happy, I’m satisfied."

"All men lie to you. When they tell you that they love you, it’s a lie… All men hate you, ladies, they hate you. Because you prevent men from thriving… This is why all the crimes committed in the world are women’s fault."

"I grew up in a world where there was no warmth - not from my parents, not from my friends or teachers. I felt somehow superfluous, forever in the way, an object of criticism."

"If a Russian spokesman (e.g. Dmitri Peskov) must be cited, it must be mentioned that this specific figure has lied about every aspect of this war since it began. This is context. Readers picking up the story in the middle need to know such background."

"Before Putin launched his unprovoked and brutal war of choice against Ukraine, Peskov repeatedly denied Russia had any intentions to invade its neighbor. He falsely asserted that Russia did not pose a threat to Ukraine, that Russia had never attacked any other nation, and that Russia would be the “last country in Europe” to think about starting a war. Attempting to discredit Western media reports that exposed the Kremlin’s invasion preparations, Peskov called them “provocations,” an “unfounded fomenting of tension,” “Western hysteria,” “irresponsible fakes,” and “maniacal information insanity.” Russia’s war in Ukraine validated the media reports and undermined Peskov’s credibility."

"Peskov has been one of the key implementers of the Kremlin’s standard disinformation playbook of denial, lies, and obfuscation."

"Waging war is a completely different thing. It entails total destruction of infrastructure, complete destruction of cities. We’re not doing that."

"Ukraine was heavily militarized at the time of the start of the [special military operation]. And, as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin said yesterday, one of the tasks was the demilitarization of Ukraine. In fact, this task has been largely completed. Ukraine is using less and less of its weapons. And more and more it uses weapons systems supplied to it by Western countries."

"If a company doesn’t fulfil its obligations, then, of course, it goes in the category of naughty companies. We say goodbye to those companies. And what we do with their assets after that is our business."

"We will continue to consult with the people who live in those regions."

"You should rely only on the data published by the Ministry of Defense of Russia."

"Not at this point. No, we are not discussing that."

"The creation of a demilitarised zone around the ZNPP [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant] is not being considered."

"Russians don’t wage war. We’re trying to preserve infrastructure and human lives."

"The operation is being conducted as planned, its goals will be achieved."

"Russia does not strike at civilian infrastructure."

"We just want to control all the land we have now written into our constitution as ours."

"Our president knows where he is leading our country."

"Although elections are a requirement of democracy and Putin himself has decided to hold them, theoretically it’s possible not to hold them, Because it’s already obvious that Putin will be elected."

"The whole country supports him."

"We are in fact now living in the conditions of a perfect storm and the moment of truth, that very storm and moment of truth that will ensure and protect our interests, and make it so that your lives are better, more comfortable, more stable, and more secure."

"Our presidential election is not really democracy, it is costly bureaucracy... Mr. Putin will be re-elected next year with more than 90% of the vote."

"We will never trust the West again."

"The situation is undoubtedly serious and we would ask that many international leaders not rush with their statements, not rush with their baseless accusations, request information from different sources, and at least listen to our explanations."

"Russian Armed Forces do not work with civilian targets."

"We have significant losses of troops and it is a huge tragedy for us."

"We will win and achieve all our goals."

"There are currently no grounds for an agreement. We will continue the operation for the foreseeable future."