Not sure that’s the reason but there is a Russian version of lord of the rings where sauron is the good guy fighting for the rights and freedoms of the working class orcs against the fashist rule if the elves and Gandalf.
There is also a light novel about Putin (or maybe Stalin?) being teleported to middle earth with a few guns/tanks and helps sauron win.
Not sure that’s the reason but there is a Russian version of lord of the rings where sauron is the good guy fighting for the rights and freedoms of the working class orcs against the fashist rule if the elves and Gandalf.
There is also a light novel about Putin (or maybe Stalin?) being teleported to middle earth with a few guns/tanks and helps sauron win.
So yeah Russian propaganda sympathises with orcs
I think it’s not the reason and propaganda sympathising is just them trying to remove negative connotations