Jan Piekło made the assessment in an interview with Polish state news agency PAP on Friday.
Friday, November 4, marked Russia’s National Unity Day, when the country commemorates the expulsion of Polish forces from the Kremlin in 1612.
At the time, Russia’s Volunteer Army led by the merchant Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky defeated the Polish troops in the Battle for Moscow, according to the PAP news agency.
'Part of propaganda war'
Piekło said in the interview that the Russian public “attaches huge importance to this occasion and it is observed in a propagandist way.”
He added that the aim of Russia's National Unity Day was to “show that the country was very successful in the past and to point the finger at ‘those Poles’ who sought to harm Russia and were driven out from the Kremlin.”
Piekło described Russia’s National Unity Day as “part of the propaganda war as well as a psychological tactic, designed to motivate the Russians to fight for their homeland, which is allegedly threatened by the West, NATO and Poland.”
According to Piekło, “today's alliance between Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” represents “a source of considerable irritation for Russia” as it “symbolically recreates Poland’s powerful status from the past.”
Piekło also said that Russian propaganda “is targeted mainly at Poland, whose border with Ukraine is key for the supply of both weapons and humanitarian aid” to Kyiv.
'They don’t want to die for Putin’s imperial project'
However, although Russia is a "heavily indoctrinated country," ordinary Russians do not want to die for Putin’s imperial ambitions, Piekło told PAP.
He said: “If the Russian people accepted everything that is served up by the propaganda, they wouldn’t be fleeing in such numbers to Kazakhstan or Georgia. They don’t want to die for Putin’s imperial project and the propaganda rhetoric emanating from the Kremlin.”
According to Piekło, despite the efforts of Russian television, Putin “is not really able to inspire the masses.”
The ex-ambassador added: “On the contrary, there is growing scepticism, which hasn’t yet been reflected in mass protests, but it poses a big problem since the Russians don’t want to fight, even though they are being forced to do so and are accused of defection if they flee.”
Established by Putin in December 2004, Russia’s National Unity Day celebrates the expulsion of Polish forces from the Kremlin in 1612. Russia’s victory in the 1612 Battle for Moscow is regarded as marking the end of a profound political crisis that hit the country in 1598 and is known as the Time of Troubles, the PAP news agency reported.
Friday was day 254 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
pm/gs
Source: PAP, wnp.pl, gazetaprawna.pl