Russia just dropped this rather based video of Putin dressed like Santa visiting the house of a boy being raised as a girl by two gay men. Putin replaces all the girl toys with boy toys and replaces one of the fathers with a mother.

Russia continues to release propaganda like this making it seem like their fight with the West, through the proxy war in Ukraine, is about maintaining traditional family values.

And there is certainly an argument to be made for the difference between Russia and Ukraine when it comes to LGBTQ+ issues.

Earlier this month, Russia passed a law outlawing any promotion of LGBTQ+ culture in Russia regardless of age. The law bans

"any action or the spreading of any information that is considered an attempt to promote homosexuality in public, online, or in films, books or advertising."

At about the exact same time, Ukraine passed a law outlawing LGBTQ+ "hate speech" in the media, though the Ukrainian constitution specifies that marriage is between one man and one woman.

President Zelensky says that while he supports gay marriage, changing the constitution is unlikely, especially while they are at war, which should at least placate the West.

Who knows what either side really thinks? Ukraine needs the West to keep sending it weapons to keep up the fight against Russia, and Russia wants to make the war in Ukraine seem like anything other than a land grab.

Whatever is really happening behind the scenes on either side, it's clear that the proxy war happening in Ukraine is as much a culture war as it is an armed conflict.