Time to read: 5 minutes(s)

There's a federal language for encouraging people to fight in the war. "We don't abandon our own," "For our people," "Join your own," and so on. The main tone here is a call to a kind of "real life and work," which is how the war is supposed to be perceived. But in Yakutia, local propagandists have spontaneously developed their own language, which differs from the federal intonations. Its leitmotif is a quiet lullaby and the idea that "A trench is an extension of your village home, which isn't so different from it." This language deserves to be recorded precisely and in detail.

Let's start right away with one of the most characteristic quotes. We will give it here fullyto make everything clear - "After speaking with the Yakut soldiers, we were pleasantly surprised by how carefully they'd constructed their dugouts and trenches. It was immediately obvious they'd been accustomed to farm work and hunting since childhood. Sometimes, while on duty, they hunt pheasants and hares in various ways. They repair vehicles and tanks. Fellow soldiers even jokingly say, 'If we have a Yakut in our company, we'll be fine.' Essentially, the message is, 'Life in the trenches is an extension of your familiar village life, just as cozy and familiar, only more comfortable and better.'"

A key part of Yakut village life is the visits of local pop stars to village cultural centers. Local propaganda is actively filming footage of identical concerts being held for residents of the republic at the front, but this time against the backdrop of destroyed buildings. Infernal spectacle.

All of this is spiced with a sense of tenderness for the war itself. A significant part in shaping the mood of this communication is The Yakut WhatsApp phenomenon, that is, the feeling of a digital village in the numerous WhatsApp groups where the majority of the population of Yakutia hangs out.

That is why Yakut war correspondents are constantly crush "To build a sense of village community. To stay connected to this community, take part in the war!"—propagandists suggest to their audiences.

An important genre in Yakut propaganda is interviews with war veterans. Here's a standard example exampleHere, war is positioned as a virtual holiday event, a trip to which can easily fit into a short vacation from work in a beautiful office.

The story's protagonist is Nikolai Potapov, a favorite of Yakut propaganda. Depending on the context, he is presented as a doctor, the founder of two startups (one of which bears the telling name "Vedroid"), or a military volunteer.

Pay attention to his video postcard Directly from the war. The style is typical of video greetings from the Wagner PMC, but softened and more gentle. Just one "IT guys, hello everyone!"

Unpacking His field first aid kit is designed in the best traditions of gadget unboxing videos on YouTube. It's easy to believe we're dealing with some kind of cool toy here, the use of which doesn't involve bloodshed or pain.

A happy man talks about the war as if he's just returned from Disneyland. The propaganda message, in brief, is: "If you don't have time to participate in the war, it's unworthy and unmanly. You'll be looked at askance on the street after victory, so go ahead and participate. It'll literally only take five minutes." A particularly monstrous thing is that local propaganda actively exploits memory.Yakut snipers in WWII" hinting that participation in the current war is a continuation of a glorious tradition.

Another favorite technique of local propaganda is to constantly highlight that people go to war as volunteers people of age.

Respect for the elderly is an important part of Yakut village culture. There's a well-established narrative here—immediately after interviews with older volunteers, there's a passive-aggressive reference to "the cowardly young generation that fled the country at a crucial moment."  

There is also a more official genre. For example, in October 2022, Sakhamedia, the main state media holding of Yakutia, запустил The "Editorial Board" project, whose nominal goal was "journalists discussing key events," averages 300 views per episode. Key The episodes are as soothing as possible—a typical topic is "Why are Yakutians volunteering for the Northern Military District?" At the beginning of the episode, Sakhamedia CEO Viktor Kolesov, seemingly surprised, says that Yakutia has a huge number of volunteers and that it's crucial to quickly study them and get to know them. In other words, the message "The war isn't here, it's somewhere far away, and we didn't even notice it" is taken to its extreme.

The next detail looks like a pure joke, but it is not a joke. In the report “Trench Truth” at some point interview gives A man with a blurred face, yet he names the specific region of the republic where he lives and his real name. The population density in Yakutia is so low that finding out all this man's personal information using a search would only take 15 minutes. No one even considered the physical danger of deanonymizing this man, including the editors and filmmakers of this story.

But both Yakut and federal propaganda have one thing in common: they both studiously forget the past. Until recently, the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, was a completely pro-Western politician—he had breakfast with Donald Trump, drove to Ancient Olympia and was constantly traveling abroad to EU countries.

For which he received the mocking nickname "Tourist" among the people. Today, he diligently is being photographed in camouflage uniform, is with weapons at shooting ranges and "I don't give a damn"on US sanctions. An absolutely magical metamorphosis.