Ruscism



Ruscism, rashism, or russism (Russian and Ukrainian: Рашизм), a portmanteau of "Russia/Russian" (Russian: Россия (Rossiya), pronounced "ra-SEE-ya") and "fascism," is a neologism now commonly used  to describe the guiding state ideology of the Russian Federation under President Vladimir Putin. It first appeared in 1995 during the Russian war in Chechnya as "Russianism", but later morphed into "Rashism" as Russia invaded its neighboring states of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, spreading further in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in in 2022. In English, the spelling "ruscism" more intuitively captures the meaning, but "rashism" is also widely used.

Ethnonationalist extremism has a long history in the Russophone world, but the term "ruscism" or "rashism" underscores the de facto fascist nature of the Putin regime, especially by March 2022, despite its anti-fascist façade; it is, essentially, a quasi-fascist ideological justification for Putinism. The main tenets include Soviet-style charismatic authoritarianism, great power nostalgia, irredentism, Orthodox Christianity as a state religion, and a semi-mythical veneration of the Russian race, Russian history, and the Russian state.

The pejorative "vatnik" (ватниками; "quilted jacket") for Russian jingoists in the modern age of rashism and Putinism. A vatnik is a Russian wool coat, part of the Red Army's winter uniform – but as a pejorative term, it's derived from a 2011 Internet meme first spread by Anton Chadskiy, which references his cartoon character with its square quilted jacket appearance. Versions of the figure are usually drawn gray, red-nosed (from vodka-drinking), and with a black eye from belligerent infighting in the name of Russian nationalism.