Встанем! Let Us Rise! On the eve of May 9th

I first heard the popular Russian song “Встанем” (“Let Us Rise”) by the young, charismatic singer-songwriter Shaman completely by accident on YouTube, perhaps a year or two ago. It radiated an incredible energy that made it impossible for me to stop replaying it over and over again. It felt as though I were listening to an old revolutionary partisan song. Although I struggled to fully understand the lyrics, the powerful performance, stage production, and voice, together with images of the audience literally standing as if for a national anthem—with solemn faces and tears falling on their own—gave me chills.

Recently, I immediately recognized its sounds again at the musical concert in the Philharmonic Hall marking Victory Day, organized by the Embassy of the Russian Federation. I turned around, and in the packed chamber hall, I noticed the same scene; presumably, those of Russian origin reacted in an identical way. My curiosity now intensified, so the moment I returned home, I began searching for more information both about the song and its author. It became entirely clear to me: this is more than a popular song.

I found out that the song had been written around the New Year and first performed on February 23, 2022, just one day before the start of the Special Military Operation. Was this intentional “signaling”? Perhaps. Most likely. But even if so, it touched the collective nerve of a historical moment (otherwise it would not have had such a lightning-fast and powerful impact). Today on YouTube, you can find performances of it by various performers, from group renditions to children’s choirs, all incredibly moving in their seriousness. You cannot miss the impression that this is a conversation about the past—with those who are gone—but also a conversation about the present. This is a musical expression of the collective feeling that the West, through NATO expansion and the militarization of Ukraine, brought Russia to the wall. The musical signal says: now and in the future, we must know how to “rise” in defense of our sovereignty.

The simplest, but also the most superficial interpretation would be to say that this is a cultural/artistic product serving a political/military purpose. Yet no propaganda trick could have had such a strong and rapid effect had there not existed a real context in which the words and music were instinctively recognized. The song spread like “fire” throughout the entire Russian public regardless of attitudes toward Putin or the war in Ukraine. In fact, the lyrics refer to the Great Patriotic War, to the 27 million victims the USSR gave for victory over German Nazism, and to reverence for sacrifice for the homeland. The stage production accompanying public performances is often enriched with the faces or names of those fallen 81 years ago; statistics say that every sixth citizen of present-day Russia lost a close family member in the Great War. This is not forgotten, even on the personal level; or at the very least, on the personal level.

In our own (Macedonian) terms, this is Russia’s “Zavetna” song. It short, it says: We rose when necessary, we gave sacrifices whose “eternal memory” beats in our hearts, we thank them for freedom, but if needed, we shall rise again. The song functions on the level of WWII memory, the greatest sacrifice of a people, as a moral compass and as a prerequisite for defense. It demonstrates that memory is not passive. The song is not filled with empty metaphors; it evokes the Russian concept of the “Immortal Regiment,” in which the dead march with the living. When it says “pravda za nami,” it means “truth is on our side” (in Russian cultural and Orthodox tradition, “pravda” means both “truth” and “justice”). Furthermore, the song conveys: we do not seek war, but if necessary, we know why we fight (for existential defense). The lyrics “we shall rise / and stand closer to them (the fallen)” suggest that the sacrifice of ancestors must not be in vain. Unlike imperial marches, “Vstanem” is introspective, almost prayer-like. It does not celebrate power, but responsibility toward those who gave their lives in the fight against evil.

This is not poetic or verbal analysis, but real-political analysis transformed into verse: NATO’s expansion, and especially its movement to within 300 kilometers of Moscow, represented an existential threat. Of course, had British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (and now his successors) not sabotaged the March 2022 peace negotiations, this horror would not have been happening. President Putin addressed Western leaders as early as 2007 at the Munich Conference; those shortsighted, empty-headed leaders openly and triumphantly mocked him. Later, in their familiar style, they falsified “peace agreements” in Minsk, even though the war had effectively been ongoing since 2014.

This may sound exaggerated, since Putin’s Russia is not a leftist terrain or model. Still, anyone who openly and critically observes the unbearable arrogance and hegemony of Washington and Brussels may also experience this song as an “anti-imperialist cry.” Just like the Iranian resistance. A defense of the right to live, the right to a different path, the right not to be trampled while being “preached democracy.” And the right to memory. (Marshal Zhukov was so right when he said that the West would never forgive the Soviets for defeating fascism, for the fact that they entered Berlin.) A Russian proverb says: “When you remember, you live. When you forget, you die twice.” And “Vstanem” is precisely that: a remedy against forgetting. But also a warning: do not test us!

I am writing this text on the eve of the great celebration of Victory Day. Although it is difficult to predict what may happen if Zelensky’s threats materialize and what the Kremlin’s response would be, it is already clear that the atmosphere is becoming increasingly grim and less ceremonial. Experts are already speaking of growing dissatisfaction and internal pressure. More precisely, criticism of the leader whom some call a “coward,” or worse (as Gilbert Doctorow says), is rising. The battlefield (which is enormous) remains under Russian control, but some circles are losing patience and demanding a more decisive response to provocations, even humiliations, that Moscow is experiencing from Ukrainian forces (their elite warship was sunk long ago, nuclear facilities have been targeted, Moscow and the Kremlin are frequently threatened by drones, assassinations, destruction of oil facilities, civilian casualties, etc.). Putin still appears calm, and even maintains some influence over Trump in an effort to preserve some balance in the explosive situation with Iran, which could prove far more dangerous to world peace than the Ukrainian crisis.

But the very fact that even symbolic Victory Day parades are already under threat and will be defended even at the cost of attacking Kyiv indicates that things are not proceeding as Russia would wish. One need not be a hardliner or “hawk” to ask: how is it possible for Tel Aviv to commit genocide (for over 1000 days), for Washington to destroy Tehran together with its state leadership (not to mention Yemen and Venezuela), while Putin does not dare even touch Maidan? Why has Russia not applied its full military power if it has already gone to war? Is this indecisiveness, flawed military or political assessment from the outset, lack of strategic perspective, military weakness, or something else? These are common-sense questions.

Before even beginning to answer, one must repeat those facts that numerous top experts (starting with Jeffrey Sachs and John Mearsheimer) have been reiterating for years: the war did not begin in February 2022, but eight years earlier. The world ignored horrific crimes committed by Ukrainian forces against their own Russian-origin population; it ignores Gaza today as well. What mattered more was establishing a proto-fascist regime in Kyiv, one that was neither pro-EU nor pro-Western in essence, but served a role in the imperial scheme of the Master of Chaos. The tragedy of the Ukrainian people began with the enormous influx of money into the NGO sector, the color revolution, and Victoria Nuland’s sandwiches. They were sacrificed in advance, expendable lives for the West’s global imperial goals. Even more so now… one need only look at the endless cemeteries filled with Ukrainian flags, young people who gave their lives for foreign imperial goals. Similar graves exist throughout Russia, though we do not see them.

Geopolitically, it became clear that Moscow would have to respond; indeed, that was precisely the goal! To provoke the previously cooperative and friendly Putin in order to create a pretext for NATO’s and the US’s open global march. And here they are now, two brotherly Slavic peoples locked in a nightmarish clash from which there is no escape. Two peoples who together defeated the Germans 81 years ago. There is certainly a way out, but the West does not want it. In short, Russia is not fighting Ukraine; it is fighting NATO! Zelensky is no military strategist or hero; what a fool has become a “hero”!! He is a mercenary of the Western military lobby. Hence, I must admit an absence of full empathy with the Ukrainian people, whom I see as pawns, much like my Macedonian people (whom I pity as well). The only difference is that we are too small, do not border Russia, and are far more obedient. We would never rise against the West, no matter what sacrifice it demanded.

Perhaps the Russians should and could have acted differently (even before 2022), but their forecast remains essentially correct. The world is witnessing the resurrection of fascism and militarism. This is evident from the revival of Japanese imperialist and militarist spirit in the Far East, to the open military cry of the German Reich and Chancellor, to deranged Europe (which no longer knows its own values, but certainly knows how to produce propaganda and receptions where “our people” melt with happiness before some European ambassador). There are a few bright spots, such as Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez, Ireland, and Slovenia. Even Meloni in Italy is beginning to realize that fascism may be “sexy” for political victory, but not for marching toward a new European or world war. Trump is the new Hitler. That is the only new variable: the US as a new actor in the new axis of fascism.

I hum quietly to myself: VSTANEM, let us rise, with hope that the message will arrive and that more and more peoples will understand that danger is already at our doorstep. Iran, I believe, just as Cuba, has its own song. China as well.

But do we have ours?