itt: a bunch of people spoiled by the fortune of not meeting enough actual Russians. They are overwhelmingly supportive of the war as it is fully aligned with the nation’s imperialistic identity, one that existed long before Putin was even born. Russia has amazing, brilliant, heroic opposition activists which are a slim minority, I’ve been told less than 1%. The rest are mostly like this woman (or worse)
You speak as if you believe Russia has freedom of press and right to openly protest. The fact is that the Russian state controls most of the public discourse, and any opposition is crushed. And you would place the blame on the victims of this regime?
EDIT: You seem like the type to believe Putin fairly won the election with 88% of the vote.
There are issues that Russia has right now, and then there is a national identity that they have had for decades and centuries. You seem to not be educated about the latter part. The misinformation is effective and bloodshed in Ukraine is supported because the content and aim resonates with the population. Putin did not have to convince anyone there that Ukrainians (and other neighbor countries) don’t have the right to exist as an independent nation. Even the most popular opposition leader Navalnyi had some horrifying imperialistic quotes, he fully supported the war in Georgia, the thing he was opposing to was corruption, not occupation. And knowing these important details is crucial for understanding just how much of the responsibility for the war falls on the nation and not just Putin.
Putin did not have to convince anyone there that Ukrainians (and other neighbor countries) don’t have the right to exist as an independent nation.
This is absolutely not true. Many Russians have relatives in the countries which were formerly part of the Soviet Union. There have been many protests within Russia against the war, which were usually met with violent suppression. Many in opposition of the war fled if they were able to.
But I guess Russians just really want to fight against their foreign relatives, simply because they themselves are Russian.
there is a national identity that they have had for decades and centuries
Yeah, there was this one guy who was in power for like 24 years who was a part of the intelligence community before he became a politician. Before he came to power, the entire world wanted the nation gone (and still do). Crazy how having every western government hate you could be used to create a national identity.
for understanding just how much of the responsibility for the war falls on the nation and not just Putin.
If the Russian people are responsible, I guess we should start bombing Russian cities then. That sounds reasonable.
I have dozens of Russian friends too, they explained all these things to me, especially since after the war many had to cut off almost everyone starting from family (I mean most of them had already cut off parents or at least a father since they typically beat the shit out of children) to classmates to other acquaintance. They were raised in Russia (those raised in western countries have a totally different background and are less severely impacted culturally) and were adults before Putin had absolute power. They say he just built on top of the identity of violence and imperialism. The Russian philosophers and political scientists they read and watch explain this. Are they bigots too?
People are individuals who are more than the country and government they are from. If you believe that 99% of a country is the same, you are a bigot.
