Russia has been accusing the world of Russophobia for years now. Some useful idiots abroad have picked up the message and actively assist the Kremlin by parroting the rhetoric.

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/871389372662259713

It is an "accusation in a mirror," defined as "when the speaker accuses the intended victim of wishing to perpetrate the kind of violence the speaker is requesting of third parties.”

Atrocity Speech Law: Foundation, Fragmentation, Fruition -- Introduction

The definition formally applies to genocide incitement. It should apply to propaganda as well. Propaganda is an integral part of psychological preparation to perpetrate atrocities. This means that Russia by accusing the world of Russophobia mirrors their Worldphobia.

And I don't mean agoraphobia. The Russians define Russophobia as hatred of everything Russian. Hence, by Worldphobia I mean hatred of the world. The Kremlin tried to create fortress Russia hating the world as they think the entire world is against them.

Vladimir Putin's Fortress Russia is crumbling

Their hatred of the world, especially the Western world, reached its apogee now with the invasion of Ukraine. They did not start hating the West for helping Ukraine. The Cold War-era hatred for the West had never died out.

It had lurked under the surface in the 1990s and Putin started to cultivate it when he took over. But their hatred for the West does not even compare with their hatred for their former colonies, aka ex-Soviet republics, stemming from the idea of their ethnic exceptionalism.

Eduard Limonov of the National Bolshevik Party at a protest in Moscow, 1990s

Western pundits call it "national exceptionalism," but remember in the Russian language nationality does not stand for what it does in English. Nationality, or rather национальность, means ethnicity. Here is a full explanation for your information: Russian Language as a Political Weapon

In a 2013 article, David Satter explains the idea of Russian exceptionalism quite well. However, he argues that it is the exceptionalism of the Russian state. The Russians view themselves as the "Third Rome," granting them "the quasi-divine status.”

The Curse of Russian "Exceptionalism" - Foreign Policy Research Institute

Putin's messianic speeches are not shocking if you've been following Russia for at least a few years. Putin is a symptom of the deeply rooted ideas of exceptionalism in the Russian psyche.

Hence, I argue that it goes far deeper - it is not that the Russians think that their state is exceptional it is that their ethnicity is exceptional. It is reflected in their ethnocentric rhetoric promoted within Russia. The poster below is a telling example.

Literally, it translates as: "I am Russian, not Russian!" Nonsense, right? Well yes, it actually says: "I am an ethnic Russian, not just a citizen of Russia!" It is not unique to modern Russia, it is a consequence of centuries of the colonial imperial policy of ethnocentrism.

That's why nationalism horrifies the Russians so much. Historically it has the connotations of "separatism" or national liberation movements. Lenin understood that. He was smart enough to realize that to preserve the Russian Empire he had to reach a compromise with the colonies.

In his 12/30/22 article on the need for autonomies, Lenin describes the Russian state of mind vividly: the colonized need to be protected from "the true ethnic Russian man, velikoross, chauvinist, and, in essence, a scoundrel and a rapist, that is the typical Russian bureaucrat.”

He adds: "There is no doubt that the insignificant number of Soviet and Sovietized workers would drown in the sea of chauvinist velikoross scum, as a fly would in milk." What is a velikoross? Velikyi russky, a great Russian.

Lenin was not a minority rights activist, but he understood that to prevent the collapse of the Russian Empire and rebirth it as the USSR, non-ethnic Russians had to be "appeased" at that critical time. I have no doubt that he later planned to strip everyone of their autonomy.