"What is not said — but clearly understood — is how this fits neatly into the identity politics of Russian President Vladimir Putin," WaPo reports.
The West may view Putin largely as a strategic and military adversary. Yet inside Russia, much of his support grows from the idea of Russia as the caretaker for a white, Christian and old-style order — rejecting “so-called tolerance, genderless and infertile,” in Putin’s own words in 2013....
There is Russia’s declining population and fresh ambitions to protect fellow Christians. Add to that the unease among some white South African farmers as the country debates possible land redistribution to redress racial imbalances during apartheid.... South Africa's land expropriation debate and the myth of "white genocide" have been a rallying cry for white nationalists around the world for years....
“I want them to know that Russia can be their mother country, too,” said [Victor] Poluboyarenko, who assists the human rights ombudsman in the agricultural heartland of Stavropol....
“We understand that our government must listen to the majority of the people,” said Johannes du Toit.... “But we don’t want our children to suffer from the roll of the dice.”....
“In Russia I enjoyed the freedom of just driving about, anywhere you want to go, between fields and into forests,” said 60-year-old Jan Geldenhuys....
