Russians Face a Crisis of National Identity Amid War

A Russian contributor reflects on the deep identity crisis gripping citizens as war rages analyzed through the theory of Karl Jaspers. Beyond guilt, many question their nation’s moral path, torn between patriotism and shame. The conflict has shattered illusions, forcing painful reckoning with propaganda and reality. Some resist, others rationalize—but all grapple with what it means to be Russian. A raw exploration of collective soul-searching in dark times.

Outside Russia, sentiments appear such as: to change the Russian flag, replacing the red stripe with another blue one, and to change the name of the entire country. In marketing, such rebranding really works wonders. But for now, I don’t want to talk about such measures in relation to my native country.

Yesterday there was another rally in support of Ukraine. A warm sunny day, participants lined up along the road with Ukrainian flags and anti-war posters. Ukrainian wreaths on their heads, sunflowers in their hands. Everyone talked with each other on various topics, many came with children. The children got to know each other, ran together to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre for gingerbread and sweets. Last weekend there was harsh rhetoric regarding the actions of the Russian government. Yesterday there were no speeches. People just came to be together. So as not to be left one-on-one with heavy thoughts.

And here is what I observed.

A strongly agitated person asked my Ukrainian friend why she speaks Russian with her child. Why she doesn’t support in him the culture of the country where she was born, why she cuts off all roots. Perhaps he even said that she consciously speaks the language of the enemy. But I can only guess this from his speech. She did not translate this part of their dialogue to me.
I stood silent. I felt that if I said something in Russian, it would not be a single match igniting, but a whole matchbox exploding.

Then distant acquaintances, also from Ukraine, approached my friend. For about ten minutes we talked in Russian about the coming economic crisis in both countries, about the mood of society as a whole. Then we moved on to where each of us came from to Canada. I take off my sunglasses, look my interlocutors in the eyes and say: “Guys, I’m from Moscow.”
And here I catch in their eyes in just a couple of seconds such a change of scenery, just in a few seconds: surprise (as if I had just betrayed them), fear (as if they had just betrayed themselves), and disgust. Yes, I get confused in the multiplication table, I can hardly count Canadian coins. But what I am very good at is reading emotions, understanding what people say when they are silent.
First their eyes widened and the muscles on their foreheads smoothed (surprise). Then my interlocutors involuntarily moved their shoulders back, as if distancing themselves from a source of aggression (fear). Finally, they wrinkled their noses, and their eyes narrowed — that was disgust. Then they took on their usual facial expression, and I explained as quickly as possible my position on the invasion of my country into the territory of the country of the people standing opposite me.
Our fundamental instincts are hard to hide. They are still reflected on our faces. This is the unconscious — that which a person is unable to control in themselves. That which cannot be hidden, cannot be buried deep, because it will still come out. This is the attitude toward us, Russians, that now dominates all over the world. And we will not get rid of it for many years. And our children will not wash it off either.

I chose the right profession — destination marketing, and now I am learning how to create and remake the image of cities and regions. Because very soon we will all be remaking with our own hands the picture of an entire country and an entire people. We will not be able to wash off the shame. The feeling of guilt will stay with us for the rest of our lives. But we will have to unite to create a new image that will express the new position of the whole nation: Russia is not Putin, Russia is free, and Russians are kind. Only this will take very many years.

I want to erase this shame, but it cannot be erased. I want to cross the dictator out of history, but history can no longer be rewritten. I want to do something with this terrible feeling of guilt, but nothing can be done. The guilt complex in our consciousness will remain for a long time. The name of the entire nation will now forever carry only a negative shade.

To revive the country, to pull it out of economic and spiritual crisis, it will be important to speak and rethink what happened. It is important to name in our own words what happened, as well as to identify the reasons: how we came to this, what the prerequisites were. We are all responsible for our historical past. All, every one of us.

We all hope that the hostilities will end. And then it will be necessary to create a new image of the country, a new self-identification and to form a new collective memory — real, honest, with a feeling of guilt and the weight of the sins of our generation. And for this we will have to rethink our values and change. At the same time, as sociologists have proven, freedom of speech will become the main tool for changing the group and forming new thinking. The ability to criticize and discuss forbidden topics will contribute to creating an objective view of history.
The change of collective memory will take place in all spheres of life. A new flag, a new name of the country, a new anthem may appear. Poets will write new poems telling of the horrors of war, of the pain of those who survived it, of the guilt of those whose people began it. There will be new music, new paintings, new textbooks. A new metro card. New jokes, advertising, trends. All of this will circulate, multiplying the initial effect, so that the image is fixed in memory. Everything, absolutely everything will stand against the imposed existing stereotypes. They will have to be broken and new ones created. Not erased, not forgotten. But recognized, accepted, and carried through life.
It is unknown how long the transition period to new thinking will last. The process of accommodation may take years. But this new thinking is very important for national self-identification and for the image of the country as a whole. It is possible that many will find it hard to accept the new truth, they will avoid the truth of the past, because living with a sense of guilt, carrying the stigma “Russian means aggressor” is very hard. There may be an “identity crisis” when the population literally breaks under the weight of responsibility for the decisions made by the state and for the actions committed by Russian hands.
The philosopher Karl Jaspers restored the national self-identification of Germans after the Second World War. This was not easy, because an entire nation refused to take responsibility, claiming they were powerless to change anything. Jaspers believed that for the restoration of Germany economically and socially, it was important for the nation to see this guilt and acknowledge it. For the “recovery” of Germany, Jaspers introduced the concept of “German guilt,” which implied full recognition of the responsibility of every German for what the Nazis had done, and open conversations about what happened. No shifting of blame, no silence. Only full and unconditional recognition.
When a nation acknowledges its mistakes, the process of recovery within the country will begin. And only then can we speak of such reinforcing attributes as a new flag and a new anthem. And then we can create a new, strong image of the country and a new perception of the Russian person by other nations.
How did the nation develop after the war? The older generation continued to remain silent and did not want to accept responsibility for the mistakes of the past. People continued to look for self-justification, and so the past remained unprocessed. The younger generation insisted that the truth should not be hidden, that every German recognize their personal involvement in the rise of fascism.
In 1959, Theodor Adorno wrote the article “What Does Coming to Terms with the Past Mean?”, pointing out how important it is to see the real facts, to acknowledge mistakes, and to understand one’s personal responsibility for them.
We cannot escape responsibility for the past, because there is no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity. How many years did it take the Germans to cope with the feeling of guilt? To go through all the stages of guilt. What great work was behind this. How many years will it take us, Russians, to restore our self-identification, to change the image of the country and to change the perception of Russians by other nations?