The Russian government starts promoting the war in Ukraine through poetry. In May 2023, Russians received a mass distribution through the “Gosuslugi” portal (“State Services”)* about releasing a free collection of patriotic war poems. We have read these poems and the reviews about them. Here’s what we saw

Political poems about the war in Ukraine have outraged Russians

By Anzhelika Minaeva

The Russian government starts promoting the war in Ukraine through poetry. In May 2023, Russians received a mass distribution through the "Gosuslugi" portal ("State Services")* about releasing a free collection of patriotic war poems. We have read these poems and the reviews about them. Here's what we saw

The poetry collection “Poetry of Russian Summer” was published on May 15, 2023. In the 150 pages, 25 authors have published their poems, glorifying the war in Ukraine as heroic and almost a national liberation struggle.

"The events of the Russian Spring have stirred many passionate hearts, prompting people to turn to their historical and cultural roots again, becoming a turning point in a new era. This book includes poems and epics by people who have been creating a new Russian frontline poetry since 2014. Their voices are permeated with the pain and bitterness of losses, yet filled with unwavering hope, courage, and an unshakable belief in the triumph of truth and the victory of good over evil"

- describes in the book.

Here are a few excerpts from the poems included in the collection:

The poems feature positive heroes – ordinary Russians who die on the front lines, defending the Russian language, culture, and Russia’s “special path.” There are also negative characters – the “collective West” striving to destroy Russia and those Russians who refuse to fight, “sitting it out” in restaurants and criticizing the government. The poems depict scenarios where Kyiv returns to Russia, the deaths of civilians and children, and the destruction of cities. However, the authors attribute all these crimes to the “Ukrainian regime.”

The poems in the collection are infused with enthusiasm for war and “victorious marches,” fighting for the “right cause” in the name of the memory of “our grandfathers” who fought against Nazism in 1941-1945.

Under the online version of the poetry collection, readers have left 225 comments. Some of them address the poor quality of the poems themselves. In their critique, readers didn’t hold back in their expressions.

Here are a few of them:

“This collection, overall, lacks anything that could be called poetry.” Alexey

“What nonsense is written here? Half of the poems don’t even rhyme. I can only imagine how they discuss this in schools as 21st-century poetry.” Elena

“These are poems of questionable quality with dubious content. They raise many questions and are heavily politically biased.” Konstantin

“The poems are bad. Very bad. Those who call this ‘modern classic’ clearly don’t understand classic or contemporary poetry.” Anna

“It’s terrible from every angle: artistic, moral, ethical! Such things should not be published! I am boiling with indignation! Disgusting literature! I don’t recommend it to anyone! Peace to all!” Anonymous

“Poorly done and talentless, don’t waste your time. It has nothing to do with good poetry.” Anonymous

The other part of the comments pertains to politics. Here, readers have expressed nearly unanimous opinions: war kills people, destroys the economy, and annihilates the country’s future, making glorifying war crimes in poetry unacceptable.

Here’s what readers are writing:

If the West wanted to destroy Russia, they wouldn't invest in it, open their companies and stores here, sell medicine, or establish student scholarships. I have only seen friendliness and a desire to help from the West. And I have never experienced any negativity from Ukrainians in life or at work. We are needed in Russia as cheap labor or cannon fodder now. People are losing their jobs, can't afford necessary medication, live half their lives on mortgages and loans, and are also without husbands and fathers. All reasonable people see and understand this, and your task seems to distract people from it. In your pitiful, aggressive, and malicious comments, I see more anger and negativity than I have ever seen from the West in my entire life. And that's a FACT.

- Anonymous

By attacking another country, you are not defending your own. And comparing cities to land is not liberation. Period. No discussions, just twisted propaganda from the box. Hitler also acted in the name of 'defense,' and now those in power are repeating it.

- Anonymous

Our ears are tired of your works about the 'invasion of the collective West.' The West did not deploy troops on Russian territory. It is the actions of the Russian government that are leading to the disintegration of Russia. If they didn't want its collapse, they would strengthen the borders, preserve the army, and bolster the economy. Many factors leading to the collapse of the USSR were primarily economic.

- Anonymous

Russia is not just an abstract idea; it is PEOPLE who are dying right now. More people have died in the past eight years than since February 24, 2022. And what will happen next? Suppose you can reason logically and have enough foresight. In that case, you will understand that the country is being torn apart not by someone's words but by very specific actions of the authorities who didn't care about us or our well-being.

- Anonymous

Thus, readers’ reaction to the Z-patriotic** poems was negative. This fact contradicts the official statistics of the Russian government, which claim that most Russians support the war. The attempt to integrate a heroic version of the war in Ukraine into Russian culture appears artificial and does not take hold for two reasons. Firstly, cultural traditions grow from the people. When authorities try to implant politically charged values into the culture artificially, it doesn’t work.

Officials may instruct authors to write war propaganda poems and finance a beautifully published book, but they cannot influence Russian culture. Secondly, Russians may comply with officials and adapt to circumstances but will not feel the imposed war through poems. Culture is an intimate sphere that comes from the soul, not from officials’ offices.

In the current Russia, where the Russian government punishes any oppositional word with fines or imprisonment, culture reflects the true attitude of the people towards the war in Ukraine. Readers’ comments see horror and pain, not enthusiasm or bloodlust. The rejection of the Z-patriotic war poems by Russians testifies to this.

*The “Gosuslugi” portal is an online platform of the Russian government for providing government services to the population. For example, here, you can order a passport replacement, make an appointment at a hospital, enroll a child in a kindergarten, request a certificate of no criminal record, and so on.

**Z-patriots are Russians who support the war in Ukraine.