So indeed it's all about finding a reason to feel superior compared to "the crowd", since there seems to be a lack of other reasons to be proud of yourself.

pbs.twimg.com/media/FOAy1j...

And?

Any chance you remember this man, commanding at some point one of the largest armies in Russia? pbs.twimg.com/media/FzaAew...

This photo used to sometimes pop up in pro-Russian military channels, the best I heard was "so what? He's GRU special forces, they're all like that".