Greetings to all, especially Russian citizens. I hope you are having the best of times. I am from the Czech Republic and recently had a very unpleasant situation in an online group with Russians. Basically and simply it was that I perceive the whole situation differently than the Russians. The problem is that these views differ in all aspects and although I know that I know the real context and situation in Ukraine (at least I think so) the views of every Russian were the same, unfortunately equally kind. I didn't feel comfortable in the conversation. I was getting death threats or unpleasant wishes about historical events (WWII, the division of Czechoslovakia, etc.). I tried to be polite and tried to somehow explain to these people that the reality is different than they think. No wonder nobody believed me.
On the other hand, I had the great privilege of talking to Russians about another subject and the people of Russia are very nice people. I was very happy to communicate with them and I like the people of Russia. They are human beings just like you and me and they just pay extra for where they live.
I don't know if the moderators will even allow this post, although it doesn't break the rules.
I would like to know the opinions of as many Russians as possible. I think you are all great people and want peace as well. I have nothing against any Russian people.
Peace to all!

by DANDYXIK_111

8 comments

  4. The EU needs to start blocking Russian propaganda. It’s getting out of hand. They censor our content, yet we allow theirs to flood our platforms. This is digital warfare — but right now, only Russia is fighting it, and we’re just standing here as victims.

  5. I got brigaded in another sub

    Here are a few of the answers probably from disinformation bots

    “Ukraine forced our hand with their aggression ”

    “What if Russia made a treaty with Canada to put missiles on the border next to the US. Would that not be aggressive? It’s the same with Ukraine joining NATO”

  6. I am Russian, from Kursk. Thank you for your respectful attitude, although I think that the part of Russians who support the war does not deserve it. I will answer briefly:

    I think that Putin is waging a war of conquest, committing thousands of war crimes against humanity. This is a terrible war, it must end as soon as possible, because there is no point in it.

    I have never watched TV, since it is full of propaganda and hatred. I watch opposition channels on YouTube, such as Navalny, Khodorkovsky, Maxim Katz, TV Rain, etc. As for other Russians, the entire information field in Russia is filled with fake and unreliable information.

    Personally, I treat foreigners with great respect, it is difficult to speak for others. There are those who hate foreigners, there are those who do not care.

    Since I do not consume Russian propaganda, the information that is presented to me is very truthful.

    I believe that occupied Crimea will return to Ukraine along with other occupied territories when power changes in Russia, the regime falls and Russia becomes a free democratic country. Russia will pay reparations to Ukraine, although unfortunately people’s lives will never be returned. Personally, I am going to leave Russia before it becomes a free, liberal democratic country, which will inevitably happen sooner or later. Freedom for Russia! Peace for Ukraine!

  7. -the situation is awful;

    -almost no information is “presented” to me as I mostly avoid & ignore news and go about my own life;

    -Russian think different things because they are different people;

    -I am not being “presented” information for aforementioned reason. Rather I actively look for it and do research.

    Sometimes, maybe once a month, I am reading some of different news channels in TG, from different sides of the conflict, and mostly as neutral as possible. Some articles as well. When I do it I try my best to get balanced view. Fact check everything I can.

    Sometimes friends hit me up with “have you heard about this event that happened recently …?” which triggers my own investigation or triggers nothing at all.

    For context, when the war started I left Russia. Since then I haven’t returned and not really planning to.

  8. Rostov citizen here. I must thank you for your kindness and rationality, it brings me hope knowing that not everyone has lost faith in the Russian people. I’ll go through each of your points in relatively short detail, but I’m not great with vague questions, so feel free to ask me if you’d like to further expound upon something.

    1. The discussions between reasons and motivations go for ages, but the fact remains that Russia attacked first. Despite what our media leads us to believe, none of this had to happen. I don’t think anyone can argue that the country is in any way better off now than it was prior to the invasion. What little we did or would eventually gain by fighting will be grossly outweighed by economical, political, societal and humanitarian losses that we’ll spend a lifetime paying for. History has many examples of militarisation boomeranging back home – you don’t have to go far.

    2. All sorts of it, from both sides of the spectrum. There’s so many different stories, events, opinions, drama, viewpoints, explanations and excuses, that everything bleeds together and truth begins to lose its meaning. You say you know the real context and situation, but I believe the real picture is too massive to reasonably and entirely fit within the human psyche. I’m not saying that your picture is wrong, but that it’s likely incomplete. It’s so big of a puzzle that if you focus on finding and fitting the pieces of one area, you will lose another.
    “But in the current, digitised world, trivial information is accumulating every second, preserved in all its triteness.” There’s so many headlines from so many sources about so many events that have no real impact at the war’s state of affairs. “X missile hit Y”, “X politician/representative said Y”, etc. Just another reason for redditors to condemn Russia in the comments. Moreover, manually fact-checking every bit of news and info you find, scrutinising every piece of the puzzle, would shave days off of one’s free time – so they end up trusting sources that seem to be saying the right thing. But every bit of info perceived by the reader still leaves a subconscious imprint. Every report about a missile/drone strike, an operation, a massacre adds a drop of hatred to their soul – and soon enough it feels normal and acceptable, if not righteous, to condemn the other side with every chance they get. They end up being desensitised to war and losing their empathy, because all they see is a picture of a war map with our glorious liberators against their barbaric marauders.

    3. I’m pretty sure most Russians don’t have any strong opinions about the Western people. Those who do have a bone to pick with the West usually only disapprove of the Western governments.

    4. As I’ve already mentioned in my 2nd point, you can’t really be sure of what’s true anymore, so everyone makes up their own truths. Some are willing to die for them, not realising they’re actually dying for someone else’s ideas. As for historical context, this is, as you may already know, is something that’s often brought up by pro-war Russians as a justification or explanation of the conflict. Anything from how NATO was created as an opposing force against Russia and has been showing signs of aggression this whole time, to how the collective West is an ancient force that has for centuries been trying to destroy/occupy/subjugate Russia. Another example is WW2 – the Russian people were (understandably) so scarred by it that the phantom pain remains to this day, for some so severe that it blinds them with hatred – they will march anywhere to their death if the official headlines say there is Nazism there. It is beyond me how one can use decades- or even centuries-old events to justify the continued loss of human life. They will go to absurd lengths and perform the most ridiculous mental gymnastics as long as we remain the good guys.

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