Editorial: Putin and Lavrov Are Preparing the Mobilization for a Second Great Patriotic War. Patience Is Part of This Preparation.

Bruno Bertez
June 25, 2026

In a sharp analysis of Sergei Lavrov’s recent statements—particularly his June 19, 2026, article titled “Ukraine, Europe, and Global Security”—the Russian Foreign Minister clearly outlines what he now perceives as Europe’s grand strategy, or more precisely, that of its Franco-German core.

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Lavrov repeatedly references Nazism. This is no rhetorical flourish. He methodically draws a direct connection between:

• The integration of Ukrainian neo-Nazism into the structures of the Ukrainian state;
• The praise and protection it enjoys under Zelensky;
• The tolerance, or even complicity, displayed by Germany and France.

This linkage is hammered home with remarkable consistency. Its strategic purpose is to establish an equivalence: Europe has shifted into an existential war against Russia, with Ukraine serving merely as an instrument—a secondary theater, or in Lavrov’s terms, a rear base (though one might more accurately call it an advanced forward base).Lavrov highlights multiple converging indicators of an explicit European strategy. In his view, these signals point to a new doctrine:

• Germany’s accelerated rearmament and Friedrich Merz’s statements on the need to make the Bundeswehr “the most powerful army in Europe”;
• The now-dominant bellicose and overtly Russophobic propaganda in European media and official discourse;
• The increasingly blatant refusal to condemn Ukrainian Nazism, its resurgence, and its public celebrations;
• Unwavering support for a regime that rehabilitates war criminals condemned by the Nuremberg Tribunal.

In doing so, Lavrov effectively closes the chapter on the “spirit of Anchorage.” This marked the end of the purely “Ukrainian” phase of the conflict. By turning that page, Russia赋予 the war a new meaning—one that will fully legitimize it in the eyes of its domestic public opinion.

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The Strategic Pivot: Toward a New Great Patriotic WarThe term has now been uttered. The strategy pursued by Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov consists in explicitly framing the current conflict as a continuation of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.The goal is to revive the same patriotism, collective mobilization, and national pride.

The war is no longer presented as a limited “special military operation.” It has become the war of Europe against Russia.

In this narrative, contemporary Europe revives the grand project of the Reich in the 1930s–1940s: the domination of a Greater European Space under German leadership, the restoration of grandeur, dignity, and unity in the face of decline.

Russophobia here plays the role once assigned to antisemitism: it supplies the unifying scapegoat. This time, the “Jew” of the 1940s is replaced by the Slav, and yesterday’s ally becomes today’s enemy.

This historical parallel is not gratuitous. It carries considerable emotional and symbolic power, both in Russia and in the Eastern and Central European countries that suffered under Nazism.

Why This Strategy Is Particularly Astute

Equating Europe’s new strategy with the German domination project of the 1930s–1940s works because it activates deep historical resonances. It transforms a regional conflict into a civilizational confrontation.

Putin could not sustainably shift strategy without giving it a new overarching meaning. The previous narrative of a limited “special military operation” no longer sufficed to justify a prolonged war effort—much less to prepare for potential full mobilization.

By allowing the Europeans themselves to validate this new narrative through their rearmament, statements, and unwavering support for the Kiev regime, Russia has been handed the legitimacy for its future official discourse on a silver platter.

European verbal and military aggressions play directly into Moscow’s hands.

They provide the raw material for the great mobilization of this new Patriotic Combat.

The contours of an existential war are gradually taking shape.

Putin requires European aggressiveness while demonstrating patience; both form part of his deliberate construction. Little by little, the lines of this new Great Patriotic War will become clearer, richer, and more convincing. They will resonate powerfully not only in Russia but also among the publics of former victims of Nazism and in a growing segment of Europe itself.

Lavrov goes beyond mere analysis. He is laying the ideological and historical foundations for a war that Russia now presents as defensive, existential, and deeply historical.Europe, through its own choices, supplies fresh evidence for this framing every day.