The chat urges Russian soldiers not to bomb Ukrainians, calling for “peace and love” between the two countries, and has even published a long anti-war poem.
It was not difficult to notice: in the bubbles of social networks, as well as in the speeches of people in the flesh, the Covid conspiratorialist quickly jumped on Putin’s bandwagon. Suddenly, those who saw in the vaccine an obscure plan of domination and profit, began to speak of Nazis in Ukraine, of genocide in Donbas and of missiles ready to blow up the Kremlin. The followers of QAnon, great supporters of the former US President Donald Trump, immediately showed themselves to be among the most active in sowing conspiracies. QAnon, for the uninitiated, is a conspiracy theory born in the bowels of the American internet and then spread all over the world, with thousands of “followers” even in Italy. At the heart of the theory, as bizarre as it is dangerous, is the idea that American institutions, the so-called “deep state”, are controlled by an evil elite of Satan-worshiping pedophiles, whose members would be journalists, politicians, military , Hollywood actors and moguls; all, coincidentally, of a progressive line-up. The conspiracy then wants the man of providence Donald Trump to fight against this “filthy cabal”. And to report the epic clash there would be the anonymous Q, imagined as a senior government official with access to “highly confidential” information. However, the US president is not alone in the battle; according to QAnon, Trump has allies scattered all over the globe. And one of these would be Russian President Putin, a staunch defender of tradition against infamous globalism.
And after all, among the international followers of Q, on Telegram thousands also in Italy, the first reaction to Putin’s war was positive. Q supporters all over the world were quick to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine; they said Putin was working side by side with Trump to expose the plans of the globalists. the Kremlin, Telegram reads, would simply have reacted to the misdeeds of the American Deep State, in particular that of having financed biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine to be used against Russia – and potentially against all humanity.
So all according to plan in the conspiratorial universe. Instead, the unexpected came up in Russia. There, too, QAnon has spread successfully. Thousands of followers as of 2020. The big spark was the pandemic and its tangle of conspiracies; JFK’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who is an avid anti vax, is doing very well. Yet, with the first bombings on poor Ukrainians, the Russian QAnon began to sing out of the chorus. “Dear God, save Russia and Ukraine”, wrote the administrators of the largest Russian channel QAnon on Telegram (87 thousand followers), a few hours after the invasion began, on February 24. “Please forgive us for our sins “.
The chat went on to urge Russian soldiers not to bomb Ukrainians, calling for “peace and love” between the two countries, and even published a long anti-war poem. And the channel not only condemned the war, it warned users not to believe the invasion propaganda spread by the Kremlin-controlled media. “Important: the official source is not a guarantee of truth,” wrote the account, adding, “Do not rush to draw conclusions without having correctly verified the information several times.”
For many, this pacifist posture comes as a bit of a surprise, given that the QAnon channel in question had been blatantly pro-Kremlin in the past. But the chat administrators, like other Russians, just didn’t expect the invasion. “Nothing will happen”, wrote one of the leaders of the chat a week before the start of the war. “There will certainly be no war. Ukraine and Russia are one and the same people.”
But for others, this turnaround could be a not entirely unexpected reaction to such a strong anti-system movement. A positive short circuit that pushes you to doubt the regime media. And so QAnon, the dark hodgepodge of ultra-reactionary paranoia, joins democracy activists in Russia. Poor Putin, he didn’t get one right.
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