In recent days, the phrase “winter is coming” has been haunting me. That is partly because, like millions of others, I have started watching House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones, which had these ominous words as its tagline.
But there is a second reason. I recently watched a video on YouTube that aims to persuade English-speaking viewers to move to Putin’s Russia because, well, “winter is coming”. The 53-second film makes its pitch by highlighting the alleged attractions of Putin’s country. “Delicious cuisine, beautiful women, cheap gas, rich history, fertile soil, cheap electricity, ballet, cheap taxi,” a voice solemnly notes as images, including several of beautiful women, flash past.
