Thursday, Sept. 25, Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies hosted Nina Khrushcheva for a lecture on how state propaganda has evolved in Russia since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Her talk, "Russia 2025: Failures and Successes of Vladimir Putin's Propaganda," explained how the Kremlin has, in recent months, attempted to reframe its invasion of Ukraine as a national war through media narratives, re-Stalinization and hyper-militarization for greater public support.
Khrushcheva is a professor of international affairs at the New School and the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev. The event was co-sponsored by the REES department, the Reeves Center for International Studies, the Global Research Institute, the history department and the College of William and Mary's international relations program.
Professor of Russian Studies at the College Sasha Prokhorov explained the REES department's decision to invite her.
"She is a professor of international relations from the New School, a well-known scholar," Prokhorov said. "And I think she's critical of the current regime in Russia. She's very critical of Russian imperialist aggression against Ukraine."
Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, referred to inside the state as a "Special Military Operation," has drastically affected global communities and geopolitics over the past three years. For many students in the department, this topic resonates on a personal level.
"My parents are both ex-Soviets, immigrants from the Soviet Union," Nicholas Valyayev '27 said. "So I've been very invested in the region and also very concerned about what has been going on recently."
In her lecture, Khrushcheva traced the trajectory of the initial Russian propaganda in 2022 to the present. Since the invasion, she has visited Russia several times -- traveling to 22 cities -- and observed firsthand how wartime culture has evolved across the state.
"I wanted to understand by going there, and also want to share it with you, how does Putin propaganda work?" Khrushcheva said. "Because what you are hearing or reading in most reports is that it works tremendously well. People support the war, as they call it, the Special Military Operation, in great numbers."
Some students acknowledged Khrushcheva's position of privilege in her advocacy against the state.
"Obviously, it's important to know that she is connected to a very influential family," Valyayev said. "And so that gives her opportunities to travel in Russia and speak to people and say these things that average people would not."
Nevertheless, according to Khrushcheva, while Putin claims to have an 80% approval rating, it is likely closer to 60% or less.
The Kremlin's central problem now, she argued, stems from how it framed the war in Ukraine in the beginning. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Putin presented it as a distant issue that he would manage while the general population could continue living as they normally would.
"Since people were allowed to live normal lives, it never became a national cause," Khrushcheva said. "And so Putin is fighting the war somewhere, and normal life is somewhere else."
By not moving into a full wartime state right away, she asserts the Kremlin "shot itself in the foot," as Russians lived where war and normalcy co-existed. Now, three and a half years later, Russia is struggling to maintain momentum in the invasion effort. Putin officially made it a national cause in 2025, but most of the population is "not really interested in that."
Khrushcheva observed that Russian society has been able to keep one foot in Western culture -- i.e. "Barbenheimer," Hello Kitty meals at McDonald's, etc. -- as the government steadily turns away from Western influences.
Since 2022, representations of Stalin have become more visible in public spaces, and there has been an explosion in military propaganda. Elements of traditional culture have come back in style through weddings, songs and conservative fashion.
Restrictions on Western cultural imports have also become stricter. Since the start of this year, any language other than Cyrillic has been banned in bookstores and has been enforced by brief random check-ins by special agents. Many stores have moved their books to the second floor to evade these check-ins, and now the first floors are filled with candles and other knick-knacks to uphold an image of normalcy.
"If you're in this bookstore, you wouldn't know that there was a special military operation," Khrushcheva said. "You wouldn't know there was Putin altogether ... 'Come in and live a wonderful life in a bookstore. Hide away from Putin is in a bookstore.'"
Yet, she argues, Russians are accustomed to this kind of sneaking around state restrictions, and the people remain aware of what is happening. George Orwell's "1984" is the second most stolen book in Russia today, right after the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
Despite the campaigns, many Russians are not falling for Putin's push away from Western culture as a means of rallying support for the war. This is not without social consequences, however, as veterans of the war have tragically been treated with indifference and disdain upon returning home. In metro stations and grocery stores, Khrushcheva has watched veteran amputees beg for money and aid.
In her view, Putin has dug himself into a hole with his abrupt shift in propaganda, but that does not detract from the devastating effects his war has had on both Russian society and other communities.
Khrushcheva closed her talk on a note of optimism for the future of Russia, referencing back to her familial name and values.
"Historically, I'm optimistic," Khrushcheva said. "Historically, for every Stalin, there's a Khrushchev."