During World War II, the iconic American film director Frank Capra created a documentary series titled “Why We Fight.” Originally produced by the U.S. Department of War as a training film, the theatrical release was meant to convince Americans that the anti-Hitler coalition warranted their support and that the defeat of the Nazis directly served American interests.
The project was a success, though it is impossible to measure the film’s impact precisely. In the Soviet Union, another major party to the fight, the public needed no such convincing as the battle for survival was happening on their own territory.
That is not the case with Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Kremlin certainly wants to portray its “special military operation” as a patriotic endeavor. But far from chanting the WWII slogan, “Our fight is just; victory will be ours,” many Russians are wondering why they are fighting at all.