In a flood of publications trying to realize modern Russia, Ian Garner’s book “To Putin. The dark image of fascist youth movements in Russia, published in Poland by Przewita Publishing House, stands out with a position which is as crucial as frightening. The Canadian historian and investigator of Russian propaganda does not focus on the present Kremlin, its oligarchs or behind-the-clock games. Instead, he directs his analytical gaze towards the future – the “Z” generation, which is consciously, methodically and on a mass scale formed on a militaristic, quasi-fascist fashion. Garner's study is simply a reading uncomfortable, pessimistic and absolutely crucial, exposing a large-scale social engineering project. Its overriding goal is to make a fresh Russian: an infinitely loyal, ideologically shaped, aggressive and ready to die for his homeland.
Garner's main thesis is simple and freezing blood in the veins: Putin's government is not just an authoritarian kleptocracy, but a strategy with a powerful and increasingly coherent ideological background that invests in its most enduring heritage—the minds of children and youth. The author with the precision of an analyst, but besides with the passion of a reporter, describes how the state “comes to action as early as childhood, militarizing all aspect of youth”. This process begins in kindergartens, where small ones in military uniforms march on appeals and proceed in schools through lessons "Talking about what's important" or falsified past textbooks that depict invasion of Ukraine as an act of historical justice. Young Russians are systematically immersed in a communicative of a besieged fortress, a sacred war against the decadent West and the historical mission of the Russian people.
The most tangible and sinister example of this process is Junarmia (Young Army), a state paramilitary organization that already has millions of young people. Garner, utilizing specific, individual stories, specified as a moving image of a teenage Maria from an intelligent household that “changes into a child-soldier” in front of him, shows the tremendous force of attracting these movements. They offer not only learning to operate a firearm and a drill, but above all what is lacking in post-Soviet reality: a sense of belonging, a clear goal and national pride in a planet that seems empty and chaotic beyond state ideology. It is in these organizations that patriotism is aligned with militarism, and critical reasoning is replaced by unconditional obedience.
What peculiarly distinguishes Garner's analysis from another publications is simply a thorough examination of the digital dimension of this indoctrination. The author shows how the Kremlin masterfully uses fresh technologies – TikToka, Telegram, social media and state influencers – to build a hermetic information bubble. Young Russians are not simply passive victims of propaganda; they frequently deliberately reject Western sources of information, profoundly convinced of their lie, becoming active contributors and guardians of ideological purity. It is in this digital space, in the flood of memes, short videos and aggressive comments, that the systematic dehumanization of Ukrainians, called "bovine", "nasists" and "inhumans", takes place. This is simply a intellectual preparation for accepting or even committing war crimes, which the author emphatically illustrates.
The ideological binder of this full strategy is, as Garner describes it, absurd, but treated fatally seriously, an eclectic cluster of Orthodox, russian and imperial symbols. This toxic mixture, referred to as “ruscism”, promotes the cult of strength, brutal masculinity and deep intolerance towards anything foreign. The war is portrayed in it as a spiritually purifying process to bring about a new, stronger and morally pure Russia.
The painting Garner paints is so coherent and frightening. Unfortunately, the book itself is much little coherent. The main flaw that can make reading hard is its somewhat academic style. The author, being a historian, sometimes falls into the speech of sociological analysis, which slows down the pace of communicative and can tire the reader of the waiting pure reportage. There is another problem – the structure of the book is rather chaotic. The division into chapters seems a small intuitive, and the author frequently jumps between general analysis and case studies, which impairs the fluidity of the argument. This frequently makes you feel that you have already read the passages. The stories of individual young people, though shocking in themselves, begin to merge into 1 repetitive communicative of radicalization. The strategy is fundamentally similar: a lost individual finds a mark in a state ideology, undergoes brainwashing and becomes a cog in a hatred machine. Although this illustrates the scale of the phenomenon, it gradually weakens the impact of individual testimonies. The shortest, and possibly most crucial part of the book, is the ending in which the author tries to answer the question of how to halt the spread of this ideology – unfortunately, it leaves the reader with more questions than answers.
Despite these flaws, “To Putin” is simply a painful book, but 1 that is simply worth reading. Her final message is unambiguous and grim: even if Vladimir Putin disappears from the political scene tomorrow, his work will last him. Hatred, militarism and imperial pride, vaccinated in the hearts and minds of millions of young people, will stay a ticking bomb for decades. Ian Garner didn't compose another book on Putin. He wrote a shocking informing about the generation that will come after him – a generation that, as the author suggests, may prove to be "far worse." This is an important, though profoundly worrying voice in the discussion of the future not only of Russia, but besides of our full region.
