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Russophilia is the identification or solidarity with, appreciation of, or support for thecountry,people,language, andhistory of Russia. One who espouses Russophilia is called arussophile. Itsantonym isRussophobia.[1][2] In the 19th century, Russophilia was often linked to variants ofpan-Slavism, since theRussian Empire andautonomous Serbia were the only two Slavic sovereign states during and after theSpringtime of Nations.
In politics, the term has been used to describe political actors who support closer relations with theRussian government or support its policies. Particularly in thePost-Soviet states, Russophile politicians may also support maintaining or increasingRussification policies, such asAlexander Lukashenko.[3][4][5]
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TheArmenian Revolutionary Federation,Republican Party of Armenia, andProsperous Armenia are the main Pro-Russian political parties inArmenia.[6][7][8][9]
Belarus has close political and economic ties with Russia, both being part of theUnion State, theCollective Security Treaty Organization, theCommonwealth of Independent States, and theEurasian Economic Union, due to their shared Soviet heritage.
Following the2020–2021 Belarusian protests and theRussian invasion of Ukraine, many observers have described Belarus as a Russianpuppet state or asatellite state.[10][11][12][13][14][15]
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ThePeople's Republic of China under theleadership ofGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyXi Jinping has supported the Russian Federation closely followinginternational sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine.[16][17][18] China had close ties with the Soviet Union prior to theSino-Soviet split, owing to ideological kinship between the two communist states.[19]
Previous anti-Russian sentiment in China has greatly downgraded, due to perceived common anti-Western sentiment among Russian and Chinese nationalists.[20][21]Ethnic Russians are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.[22]
According to a 2019 survey by thePew Research Center, 71% of Russians have a favourable view of China.[23] AYouGov survey conducted in the same year found that 71% of the Chinese think Russia has a positive effect on world affairs.[24]
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, manysocial media users in China showed sympathy for Russian narratives due in part to distrust ofUS foreign policy.[25][26] According to a survey conducted by the Carter Center China Focus in April 2022, approximately 75% of respondents agreed that supporting Russia in the war in Ukraine was in China's best interest.[27] In the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, thenationalisticLittle Pink movement drew international attention for their role in contributing to the mostly pro-war, pro-Russia sentiments on the Chinese internet.[28]
TheCommunist movement inFinland during theCold War inclined towards pro-Soviet tendencies, of which theTaistoist movement was especially pro-Soviet.[29][30][clarification needed]In more recent years, Russophilic sentiment in Finland has persisted in various forms. In 2023, former Social Democrat representative Mikko Elo, together with Mauno Saari, founded the Russophilic organizationNaapuriseura (“Neighbour Society”), which promotes closer ties and cultural exchange with Russia.[31]
The modern Finnish political landscape has also seen some pro-Russian political parties. The partyPower Belongs to the People (VKK) was notable for being the only political party in Finland with a strong, openly pro-Russian platform in 2022. VKK opposed economic sanctions imposed on Russia and expressed support for theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[32][33] However, the party has since dissasociated from the connections to Russia after Ano Turtiainen was replaced by Antti Asikainen.[34][35] Nevertheless, other political entities have also since echoed pro-Russian positions to varying degrees. TheTruth Party in Finland, had also refused to condemn Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and advocates for stronger bilateral relations with Russia.[36][37] And some who have promoted pro-Russian sentiment have also been found in theFreedom Alliance party of Finland, as a formerNational Coalition member who argued that Ukraine should be Russian territory was allowed to be among the candidates of the Freedom Alliance party in the2025 Finnish municipal elections.[38] Pro-Russian viewpoints have also been advocated by the Freedom Alliance member Armando Meman, who has been seen on Russian national television.[39]
Certain individual political activists in Finland have also been prominent for their support of Russia.Johan Bäckman is widely recognized for his pro-Russian views and has actively recruited Finnish volunteers to participate in the conflict in Ukraine on Russia’s side, even for a time joining the VKK party, led byAno Turtiainen.[40][41] Similarly to Bäckman, another Finnish influencerJanus Putkonen is known for pro-Russian rhetoric, and maintains the extremely pro-Russian Finnish languageMV-media website from Russian occupiedDonbas, which is known for sharing pro-Kremlin rhetoric.[42]
Some members of theFinns Party also held pro-Russian views in the past.[43]
German philosopherFriedrich Nietzsche described Russia as "the only power that has durability in it, which can wait, which can still produce something... the antithesis of that pitiable European petty-state politics and nervousness, with which the foundation of the GermanReich has entered its crucial phase..." in his 1895 bookThe Antichrist.[44]
Many members of thefar-right political partyAlternative for Germany (AfD) have expressed pro-Russian or pro-Kremlin sentiments on various issues.[45][46] The left-populist partySahra Wagenknecht Alliance has expressed pro-Russian sentiments and opinions.[46]
A poll conducted in summer 2022 shows that Indians most frequently named Russia their most trusted partner, with 43% naming Russia as such compared to 27% who named the US.[47]
Some Indonesians have positively compared support for Russian presidentVladimir Putin in theRusso-Ukrainian War to support for former presidentSuharto in theIndonesian invasion of East Timor.[48] Russophiles are also found among thepolitical left, who support Russia due to inaugural Indonesian presidentSukarno's closeness to the Soviet Union. Pro-Russian sentiment is especially strong among members of the governingIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, led by Sukarno's daughterMegawati Sukarnoputri, who publicly criticized Ukraine and presidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy.[49]
Traditionally, relations betweenRomania and Russia were shaped by the political system applied in both countries. Relations were cordial prior to the 19th century, and Russia helped Romaniaachieving its independence from the Ottoman Empire, the royal families of both countries later being allied. Relations developed after theSecond World War, when Romania fell under the communist umbrella led by theSoviet Union, becoming asatellite state of the USSR. However, afterCeaușescu's rise to power in 1965, relations became strained; Romania became the first country to free itself fully from the Soviet Union, and relations were mostly only cordial, as Ceaușescu promotedits own view of communism rather, inspired by the Chinese and North Korean systems, than the Soviet vision.
After the fall of theEastern Bloc, Romania became an ally of theUnited States, joining bothNATO and theEuropean Union, which faced criticism from Moscow. Romania's strategic position in NATO was seen undesirable by Russia. As nationalist movements grew in Romania during the early 2020's, parties such as theAlliance for the Union of Romanians orS.O.S. Romania, parties seeking closer ties with Russia, rose to power, inadvertly dragging Romania back to a potential Russian influence zone.[50]
In 2024,presidential elections in Romania were marked by accusations ofRussian involvement, after pro-Russian far-right candidateCălin Georgescu won the first round of elections through supposed corrupt means, such as falsifying his budget for the electoral campaign. Due to those accusations, the first round was canceled, and a full investigation is ongoing as of 2025.
Russia is popular inSerbia, and manySerbs have traditionally seen Russia as a close ally due to sharedSlavic heritage, culture, and theOrthodox faith.[51] According to theEuropean Council on Foreign Relations, 54% of Serbians see Russia as an ally. In comparison, 11% see theEuropean Union as an ally, and only 6% see theUnited States in the same manner.[52]
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,People's Patrol, afar-right group, organized pro-Russian rallies inBelgrade, which were attended by 4,000 people.[53][54][55]
In 2017, the inhabitants of the Serbian village of Adžinci renamed their villagePutinovo, in honor of Vladimir Putin.[56][57]
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FollowingUkrainian independence in 1991, in the1991 Ukrainian independence referendum 92% (including 55% ofethnic Russians) voted for independence fromSoviet Union,[58] but some Ukrainians, mostly in the east and south of the country, voted to see a more Russophile attitude of thegovernment, ranging from closer economic partnership to full national union.[59] Russia and Ukraine had especially close economic ties, and the Russophilicpolitical party, theParty of Regions, became the largest party in theVerkhovna Rada in the2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, receiving 33% of the votes. It would remain a dominant force in Ukrainian politics, until the 2014Revolution of Dignity. Following the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, the overall attitude of Ukrainians towards Russia and Russians has become much more negative,[60] with most Ukrainians favoringNATO[61] andEuropean Unionmembership.[62] Their views on Russia would further deteriorate following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in 2016 found that 67% of Ukrainians had a positive attitude to Russians, but that only 8% had a positive attitude to the Russian government.[63]
According to an October 2021 poll of the country's population, 41% of Ukrainians had a "good" attitude towards Russians (42% negatively), while in general 54% of Russians had a positive attitude towards Ukraine.[64]
In 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the pro-Russian sentiment that formerly dominated Ukraine's south and east collapsed. According to polls conducted by theKyiv International Institute of Sociology, those with positive attitudes towards Russia plunged from 53% to 4% in the East, and from 45% to just 1% in the south.[65][66] Conversely, support forUkrainian membership in NATO skyrocketed, from 36% to 69% in the country's east, and from 48% to 81% in the south.[67] As a result, theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace announced that regardless how the war ends, pro-Russian parties and sentiments in Ukraine are "firmly in the past".[68]
Besides politics, there is also increasing support for the removal of symbols ofRussian culture in Ukraine, including monuments[69] and streets[70] named after notable Russians,[71] along with limitingRussian literature andmusic.[72] Massivedecommunization campaigns coupled with intensivederussification have been carried out since 2014, most notably the toppling of several statues ofVladimir Lenin (termed Leninfall) and renaming of many places withSoviet-associated names.[73] Since the invasion, Ukrainian citiesdemolished monuments to Russian writerAlexander Pushkin across the country,[74] and there are also hundreds ofrenamed placenames due to their affiliation with Russia.[75]
According to an interview made by the Ukrainian"Rada" TV channel, formerPrime Minister of the United KingdomBoris Johnson is a Russophile, admiring Russian language and culture, even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[76] Leader ofReform UK and currentMP forClactonNigel Farage has made multiple comments praising Russian president Vladimir Putin[77][78] and pushing pro-Russian sentiments and occasionallymisinformation[79] since the Russo-Ukrainian War since 2014, even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[80][81]
Many members of theRepublican Party in theUnited States express positive views on Russia. A 2017 poll highlighted that around 32% of respondents had favorable views of Russian presidentVladimir Putin.[82] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, these numbers surged. AYouGov poll found nearly 62% of Republicans preferredVladimir Putin overJoe Biden, noting that the former was a stronger leader than the latter.[83] Many notable Republicans and conservatives, including PresidentDonald Trump, politicial commentator and live streamerNick Fuentes, social media influencerJackson Hinkle, television presenterTucker Carlson, and incumbent Georgia RepresentativeMarjorie Taylor Greene have all expressed admiration for Russia and its leaders.[84][85]
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Favorable perceptions of Russia inVietnam have 83% of Vietnamese people viewing Russia's influence positively in 2017.[86] This stems from historicSoviet support forNorth Vietnam and theViet Cong during theVietnam War. As well as support for Vietnam since 1975 by both the Soviet Union and Russia.[87]
Media related toRussophiles at Wikimedia Commons
