Ukraine, after the Kremlin's unleashing of the war, has become not only a systemic problem for Russia, but also a personal problem for President Vladimir Putin, in fact, thanks to Moscow's efforts over the past decade, it has become an element, and key, of Russia's identity.

This in an interview with "Apostrophe" said the Russian political scientist Lilia Shevtsova.

"Ukraine has also become the main stimulus of Russian military patriotism and a key means of maintaining the self-confidence of the Russian authorities. The Ukrainian factor was melted into a component of the current Russian identity and mythology. Now hostility to the West, suspicion of the surrounding world and its own opposition, interpretation of the Great Patriotic War - all this begins to be refracted through the factor of Ukraine, "she explains..

According to the political scientist, how now Russia to jump out of this Ukrainian trap is incomprehensible even for the Kremlin itself.

"If in 2016 Moscow tried to remove the Ukrainian" distortion ", including in propaganda, today we see that Ukraine has again returned to the screens of Russian television. Apparently, during the pre-election period, there was no new enemy in power, and Ukraine is once again becoming a mobilizing factor. Last year more than 60% of Russians wanted good-neighborly relations with Ukraine, but now half of Russians, according to the Levada Center, again consider Ukraine the most hostile country. This is the power of television: you include propaganda - and a week later the zombie population changes the point of view, "Shevtsova said..

As a conclusion, the political scientist concludes that this turn suggests that in the foreseeable future Ukraine will most likely remain the source of military patriotism for Russian society.

"It is true, to what extent will the Russians allow themselves to lose their heads? After all, new movements have already begun in the society ... Of course, Russia will have to leave this wild state for a long time," Shevtsova said..

Earlier, the military expert explained when the Kremlin would end the war against Ukraine.

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