Russian False Religious Accusations of Ukrainians

Abstract

Abstract The text provides a summary of several months of research on Russian false religious accusations against Ukrainians (Satanists, Satan) and actions (de-Satanization, Holy war, Jihad). Only the essential elements required for the conceptual analysis of the insufficiency of existing explications will be presented. The extensive evidence supporting the existence, falseness, and characteristics of the accusations will be supplied where necessary for the analysis. The analysis requires certain preliminary clarifications, namely: the evidence of the existence, falseness, and other attributes of the Russian accusations (section 1), the description and analysis of the most plausible explanations regarding the motives behind the accusations (section 2), and an argument highlighting the insufficiency of these explanations, which includes logical, factual, clinical, and interpretative objections (section 3). The underlying reason for the insufficiency of explanations can be attributed to various possibilities, some of which include the peculiarity of the phenomenon itself, particularly within the context of Russia, as well as the absence of applicable models for seemingly similar contemporary and historical phenomena such as a lack of democratic practices (section 3.2).