Progressive causes ‘like Bolshevism’, says Putin

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia. Photo: Reuters

Nataliya Vasilyeva

October 23 2021 02:30 AM

Vladimir Putin has said the anti-racism agenda in the West is dividing society as he compared cancel culture warriors to the Bolsheviks of the 1917 Russian Revolution.

The Russian president said: “The incessant emphasis on race pushes people further apart whereas the true fighters for civic rights tried to eliminate those differences.”

In a speech at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Mr Putin said liberal democracies were akin to the Bolsheviks “who were also utterly intolerant of opinions different from their own”.

He also lashed out at transgender rights, accusing the West of being “monstrous” to children “who are taught from a young age that a boy can easily become a girl and the other way round”.

He accused progressives of distorting people’s biological traits with transgender rights.

LGBT rights in Russia have been in jeopardy for nearly a decade since it adopted a bill banning “gay propaganda” among minors, which has been used as an excuse to hound activists.