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[Paid trolls in Moscow and/or St. Petersburg]

This isn’t a big forum, and a shell of what it was a decade ago, when it was neck and neck with the National Review website. IMHO, no one’s getting paid here.

What we have is a melange of ethnic and religious interests. The Indians support Russia because it’s India’s supposed all-weather friend, whatever that means. Then there’s the white nationalist*, pan-Slavic and pan-Orthodox types, who think Russia, with Putin at its head, will champion their cause and lead it from strength to strength.

Finally, there are the smart alecky types like Tucker Carlson, who think merely being different is a sign of high intelligence and deep sophistication. While it’s not as facile as dying your hair pink, aping the Mohawk do or as psychotic and permanent as cutting off your nether parts, it’s no less mistaken.

* The amusing thing is that stormfronters are conflicted. Some are thrilled that Azov is supposedly a Nazi organization. Others are unhappy that Azov is fighting white Russians (as opposed to the Tartars who are apparently well-represented in the Russian military). Then you have the members who are suspicious of Azov’s Nazi credentials, given the dismissive comments from the ADL:

https://www.adl.org/blog/why-is-putin-calling-the-ukrainian-government-a-bunch-of-nazis