The elites have their backs to the wall: the special operation requires patriotic reforms now, immediately, but whether they will be implemented 'from above' or become a necessity due to the imminent collapse of the old system, it is impossible to say. After all, the 'wild 1990s' have not yet disappeared completely.
The need for change is sometimes very much felt by the population. In the late 1980s, the communists of the USSR prevented any absolutely necessary change. The liberals took advantage of this and presented the case as follows: we are the change. That is, capitalism, the West, the market, the destruction and looting of the Soviet legacy (again, take it away and divide it, but only among 'our own'). On the whole, society accepted this version, agreeing that change is theirs and that if we want change, we must go in that direction.
At the same time, there was theoretically another plan for change, a conservative-revolutionary (patriotic and Eurasian) plan. But it was not visible behind the mass of communists, who blocked any ideological initiative. As a result, the patriotic project was buried in the shadow of the CPSU, which by then had gone completely mad, and the country fell into the 'wild 90s'.
Now the situation is exactly the opposite. The fact that the country needs change - even radical change! - everyone feels it and once again the authorities fiercely prevent it, but now it is patriotism - right or left - that is the vector of change.
Today it’s we, consistent patriots (and not by order), opponents of capitalism and the West, anti-liberals, for empire and social justice, who are the agents of change. Without corruption and without servility. This is what society is waiting for today, because liberalism no longer inspires anyone, only its complete elimination can inspire. The end of capitalism and cultural genocide through the 'demons' of the pop scene. The end of the rule of the greedy, immoral and uncultured elite that was established in the 1990s.
People are waiting for a 'new Stalin', a great leader of a great power. Society is in tune with greatness and justice. The special operation has only increased these expectations to the extreme and victory itself depends on their realisation.
It must be understood, however, that the elite will not give up so easily, for they have much to lose and much to fear. Consistent patriotic reformers will inevitably demand everything from them. For the collapse of the USSR, for unjust enrichment in the 1990s and 2000s, for liberalism, for an endless series of betrayals, for collaboration with the West, for the destruction of the economy. They will be questioned for the lies and systematic mockery of the people.
But this elite is in the position of the communists of the late 1980s, it is historically doomed. It can postpone its end, but it cannot prevent it. The people are waiting for a change, and this time it is as serious as in the late 1980s. Only now the change must be very different, if not the exact opposite. We need a new country, a country of victory.
As far as the special operation is concerned, to really draw the Ukrainian people to the side of Russia, and all of Ukraine (both eastern and western), it is necessary to change Russia itself. There is no need to hide behind the USSR, and the Russian Federation was generally created under conditions unnatural to Russian history. We must found a completely new Russia, a new and eternal Russia, true and profound.
Ukraine can become an integral and organic part of it, and Ukrainians must understand that we are inviting them to create this new great power. So do the Belarusians, Kazakhs, Armenians, Azeris, Georgians and all those who were and will be with us. If you have left the Soviet Union, come back to the new empire we will build together. There is no other way.
Translation by Lorenzo Maria Pacini