What if the west isn't the villain they told you it was?
We’ve spent years accepting accusations about racism, intolerance, and slavery without challenging the bigger historical reality:
The societies most condemned today are also the ones that led the world in ending slavery, expanding rights, and building the most tolerant nations on earth.
That’s the conversation nobody wants to have.
𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 stories by AP on Henry Nowak
𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 stories by PBS on Henry Nowak
𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 stories by NYT on Henry Nowak
𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 stories by NPR on Henry Nowak
𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 stories by WSJ on Henry Nowak
𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 stories by CNN on Henry Nowak
𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 stories by WaPo on Henry Nowak
𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 stories by Reuters on Henry Nowak
𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 stories by MSNBC on Henry Nowak
Imagine paying £10,000 a year to send your children to Oxford University and this is their lecturer.
Not even joking.
This is an actual lecturer at Oxford University in "Modern England".
Rapes:
2000:
🇬🇧 England & Wales: 8,593
🇩🇪 Germany: 8,133
🇫🇷 France: 7,500
🇵🇱 Poland: 2,399
2023:
🇬🇧 England & Wales: 68,109
🇩🇪 Germany: 39,029
🇫🇷 France: 42,400
🇵🇱 Poland: 1,127
No ismalists - no problem.
Be Like Poland! 🇵🇱
Sirens are sounding. Families are running to shelters. But another crisis is happening quietly — empty kitchens across Israel.
Help feed the hidden victims of this war.
👉 https://t.co/XvDNJJF9AW
#Israel#BreakingNews#Iran#StandWithIsrael#PrayForIsrael
Holy sh*t.
Stop what you’re doing. Give yourself 3
minutes. Listen to this.
Marco Rubio 2015.
He called it.
He called it word for word, like a play-by-play.
Here’s how Lebanon went from being a prosperous Christian country to a country ruled by Muslims.
“As Christians, we opened our doors to Muslims and welcomed them into our country.
We wanted to be inclusive and even integrated them into the government.”
Thank you, 🇺🇦 President @ZelenskyyUA, for your solidarity with the people of Belarus.
Thank you for speaking directly to Belarusians today in Vilnius, at the commemoration of the 1863–1864 Uprising that united Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians in a shared fight for freedom.
And thank you for these words: “You are a European people… You cannot be erased. None of us can be erased.”
You spoke an important truth: the Belarusian uprising should have won in 2020 — and Europe would be safer today if it had.
But the chance to free our country will come again. History moves toward freedom — and, as you said, we will be together in a united, free, peaceful, and strong Europe.
Thank you for honoring Belarusian volunteers fighting for Ukraine’s freedom — because this is our common fight.
Belarusians stand with Ukraine. For your freedom and ours.
Russian culture, sports, science/education, and the church often operate in Europe as tools of hybrid warfare. These are actions in ostensibly peaceful areas - culture, sports, education, religion - that are formally legal. However, they pose a real threat, normalizing the aggressor and helping Russia regain its status and legitimacy.
We hear the same arguments over and over: "culture and art are outside politics," "sport must remain neutral," "sanctions don’t work," "traditional values," "historical truth," and so on.
But it is crucial to understand: anything institutional - a major symphony orchestra, a university, a theater, a sports team - is state-funded and promotes the policies and narratives of the state. In Russia’s case, that means Russian state ideology and propaganda.
A constant frontline in the struggle against Russian cultural influence is Italy. The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino theater in Florence initially scheduled the ballet Pas de deux for toes and fingers for January 20-21, 2026, featuring Svetlana Zakharova and Vadim Repin, but canceled it after a public outcry. A similar situation occurred earlier with the cancellation of Valery Gergiev’s concert in Naples. Both Zakharova and Gergiev are well-known favorites of Vladimir Putin. Their performances are not merely cultural events - they function as reputation laundering for the Russian regime.
These cases are not isolated. Russians rarely accept a "no." Zakharova still has other European plans (including Rome). This means Russia continues to search for stages where such appearances remain possible.
In sports, Russia has made tangible progress over the past year through the concept of "neutral athletes." In April 2025, European Aquatics allowed junior athletes from Russia and Belarus to return to competitions (with the exception of water polo). This was a clear institutional step away from full isolation. A similar trend is visible in winter sports.
The most striking case occurred in judo. On November 27, 2025, the Executive Committee of the International Judo Federation (IJF) voted to restore Russian athletes’ participation under the national flag, with anthem and symbols, starting with the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam (November 28-30, 2025).
In hybrid warfare logic, this is a success not because "sport is more important than war," but because sport provides Russia with a legal and prestigious showcase: "we are being welcomed back," "the world is tired," "sanctions are falling apart." These narratives are then easily transferred into politics.
In the academic sphere, the case of Russia's HSE University (Higher School of Economics) is telling. An official EU document (EUR-Lex) explicitly states that HSE rector Nikita Anisimov publicly supported Russia’s aggression in 2022 and that the university announced funding for the education of participants in the so-called "special military operation" and their families.
This matters for Europe because universities and expert communities enjoy high levels of trust. When institutions that support war continue to participate in international formats - conferences, "dialogues," partnerships - it creates a blurring effect: as if the war were merely a "difference of opinion," rather than a crime of aggression. Here too, Russia has achieved partial success. Despite sanctions and exposure, some formats in Europe continue to function. For example, the Gorchakov Fund (whose board is chaired by Sergey Lavrov) was a partner of Balkan Dialogue-2025 and Potsdam Meetings in 2025.
Church provides something culture and sport cannot: moral justification and stable communities of believers. In several countries, this has become a matter of national security. Public concerns have been raised about Russian Orthodox Church facilities in Northern Europe, while the Baltic states have taken steps to limit ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. In Sweden, questions were raised about the Russian Orthodox Church in Västerås due to its proximity to an airport and suspicions of espionage and hybrid activities.
In conclusion, these four areas are convenient for Russia precisely because they appear "innocent." Yet in the logic of hybrid warfare, they function as an infrastructure of influence - helping Russia regain presence and legitimacy while fueling division, fatigue, and distrust within Europe.
Video: "Red Giselle" ballet by Boris Eifman at the Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow), premiered October 8-10, 2025.