Spain becomes an unexpected benchmark for Ukraine’s destruction. If Zelensky referred to Gernika before Congress, it was inevitable that the Russians would respond with another national division. This was precisely what happened the next day when Putin’s puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, rebelled against sanctions against the oligarchs, pointing out that Europe was acting like the “Spanish Inquisition”. Given the growing population of dictators, viewers have already caught on to their tendency to attribute one’s flaws to their enemies. They act this way, not with an accusatory excuse, but to flaunt their behavior and threaten to solidify it.
Although lazy commentators stop at the Orwellian year 1984, today’s Russia is more closely associated with the Tridentine inquisitors. The religious background of the war in Ukraine, spurred by Putin’s deep conversion, is often forgotten, despite his immersion in the Orthodox faith and his baptism in the whirlpool of one of his mega yachts. He not only correctly selected the brutal operation of the Holy Inquisition, but also adapted it to linguistic subtleties, such as the substitution of the word “war” for “special military operation” or “liberation of Ukraine”. These changes were enthusiastically embraced by the population, not just because of the risk of imprisonment of three to fifteen years.
The invocation of the Inquisition by Putin and his puppets has precedents as distinguished as the figure of the Chief Inquisitor in the Brothers Karamazov. In Dostoevsky’s novel, the abbot takes on the task of rejecting Jesus Christ by appealing to order rather than freedom, which is an excellent depiction of the geopolitical landscape. Between the Holy Office in force in the Vatican and the bombing of Gernica, it is clear that the black legend remains one of Spain’s most profitable exports. The mention of the Inquisition in a post by Medvedev on Telegram suggests that the institution leaves traces, not just on the corpses of those tortured and executed.