Who is to blame for the war on Ukraine? Russia, obviously. But which Russia? Many Western and domestic liberal critics of Vladimir Putin’s regime agree that support for the war comes overwhelmingly from “vatniki” or “vata,” who might be described as Russia’s modern-day lumpenproletariat.

The original vatniki were the ubiquitous padded jackets worn by laborers, prisoners, and students all over the Soviet Union (“vatnik” comes from “vata,” or cotton wool). In recent years the term has become shorthand for a particular kind of person: over-fifty, often rural, almost certainly retired or a “byudgetnik” (employed by the state, whether as a teacher, nurse, or low-level official), and nostalgic for the stability and order of the Soviet system.

Caricatured by the liberal intelligentsia as propaganda-addled zombies, the vatniki have become the key scapegoats for the government’s imperial adventure in Ukraine. News articles on foreign sites like Radio Liberty or domestic liberal outlets such as Meduza are often accompanied by comments disparaging working-class Russians.