People Who Are Living In Russia Right Now As It Invades Ukraine Share What It’s Like In 30 Posts
Interview With Author
The world is rallying to support Ukraine as it defends its home, people, and freedom against the Russian invasion. And plenty of Russians are also denouncing Vladimir Putin’s war, both at home and abroad. Some of them are sharing their open and honest thoughts on the internet.
Russian redditors opened up about what they think about the war in Ukraine in a viral thread on r/AskReddit. It’s clear from these internet users’ answers that they are horrified by what’s happening. And the vast majority of those in the thread support Ukraine. Scroll down to read their thoughts.
To date, over 6,400 Russians have been arrested since February 24 for protesting the invasion of Ukraine.
The situation, both in Ukraine and internationally, is very fluid which means that things change incredibly rapidly, literally by the hour. Some facts become outdated very quickly; others turn out not to be facts at all. Always keep this in mind and remember to double (and triple!) check anything you read online, dear Pandas.
Bored Panda spoke about how to recognize Russian propaganda and how to fight against disinformation online with Mike Sington, a former Senior Executive at NBCUniversal, who has a deep understanding of how news media and social media work. "Know that big tech is now taking active steps to minimize or eliminate Russian propaganda from all the major social media platforms. This ranges from Facebook and Instagram blocking Russian state-run media and actively stopping disinformation campaigns, to Twitter, which is removing manipulated content, and adding warning labels to Russian state-affiliated media," he shared.
Mike stressed the fact that when posting information about the war on social media, "there’s nothing more important than to get it correct."
We also got in touch with the author of the Reddit thread that started the entire discussion, u/Dull-Caterpillar3153, who shared their perspective on the war. "I’m happy the thread got the exposure that it did because it’s a topic of personal and global interest. Many of us live outside of Russia and have not a clue on how and what Russian people are thinking. Many great Russian people responded to my question and they gave interesting answers. The vast majority strongly disagreed with the conduct of Russia." Scroll down for both exclusive interviews.
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As a Russian citizen, I have never been more embarrassed of my country and its leaders. A war for nothing. Just because this old balding douchebag has gone off the rails. I hope this war will at least open the eyes of more Russians on who he really is. This motherf*cker needs to be pressured both from the outside and from the inside of the country.
We say that Russian government is to blame, not people. But its our fault too. We failed to get him out. We tried but we failed. All the protests that were happening because of stolen elections didn’t change a thing, but I hope with more people realizing there will be more and more protests with more people. This scumbag must live every second of his pathetic life being TERRIFIED of being captured and held accountable. And I want to see him be.
You tried and you failed. You are NOT to blame. You would be blameworthy if you hadn't tried at all.
Mike, from Los Angeles, suggested that if anyone sees a stand-alone post from a source that they're unfamiliar with, it's best to "proceed with caution." The same should be done with posts that haven't been verified by the social media platform.
"I would urge the people of Russia to completely ignore the national and local news that is being fed to them within their own country. For Russian citizens, they will actually get a more accurate representation of what’s happening if they turn to the large social media platforms, where people are posting from outside Russia," he said that Russians should strive to get a clearer picture of what is actually going on with the war in Ukraine.
I am Russian. Living in Moscow right now
This week is probably one of the worst that I have ever had in my life. My soul is draining when I see that face of my country (even though, I purely hate him and a lot of other Russians does, but, however, TV propaganda works great for older people and due to that there he still has supporters. And yes, his last election was 100% falsification) declares freaking war on Ukraine - nation, with which we have one of the strongest roots. F*ck war.
Also, about people not trying to act against him. Believe me - a lot of us does. However, it’s not that easy to start protest on three streets. Why? Several reasons:
1. Older generation is fully against it. So most teenagers, that would like to protest, won’t come.
2. After your protest you can probably lose everything you have. I am serious. Work, university (they can just drop you) and etc. Also you can easily go to jail. For a long time.
3. Right now it is illegal to bring a lot of people together on the streets due to pandemic. So government can without a doubt and with a huge smile just arrest you. Or hit you. Lots of times.
4. And the last and the most important one. Putin don’t gives a single f*ck about protest. He just does not care.
I am afraid of everything that happens. And totally against it. But the worst thing is (if we exclude lots of Ukrainian deaths, just because I cannot even think about it, because I just start to f*cking cry) after everything ends, Russian will be guilty for everything. Even so, most of them just want peace and war. No one cares - we are guilty. And we will carry this burden for the rest of our life...
Peace to everyone.
When it comes to posting information about the war on social media, it's vital that the information is correct. "If you’re unsure, don’t post. If you make a mistake, correct it. Double-check your information before posting with legitimate, mainstream, international news organizations. Avoid country-specific outlets," Mike said.
"If you see a post, and you’re unsure of the accuracy, don’t repost or comment. This just feeds the algorithm that could push possibly erroneous information to more people."
Shocked, angry, ashamed, but mostly f*cking terrified. I’ve been crying all morning. Putin doesn’t speak for our nation, we didn’t elect him, it was all staged. I don’t want war. I don’t know anyone who wants war. I’ve got family in Ukraine, lots of us do and it’s excruciating to read all the news.
We try to organise protests but it’s hard since this f*cking usurper got most of our protestants to rot in jail. But we try. It is scary to go cause all the protests end the same way with no results. But I feel that it [is] important to go and at least try to make a change.
We want peace. There’s literally no reason to start a war EVER. This is not my president, he is a killer and he must be held accountable for his crimes.
Meanwhile, the author of the emotional thread, u/Dull-Caterpillar3153, shared with Bored Panda how they feel about Russia invading Ukraine. "I personally think the situation is utterly horrible. This isn’t something that has been forced. They have chosen to go this way. They have chosen to take innocent lives. Sadly, many of the people in higher positions don’t care for human life in the way most of us do," the redditor said.
"Sadly, it appears that there is not much the Russian people can do. As many of the Russian people in the thread informed me, they have practically no say at all on the situation. Sanctions will have a strong economic impact on the country, however, more protesting could be effective," they said.
Russian here. This b*stard Putin is simply out of his mind! He is a mad man. I am terrified of what’s happening right now.
My heart goes out to the Russian people. I can't imagine how it must feel being so publicly hated and blamed for a conflict that you don't support. I only hope for the sake of both the Russians and the Ukrainians, that this comes to an end soon.
I'm looking how people I didn't even vote for are destroying my future.
My wife live in Kiev and I was planning to relocate to her in next couple of weeks. Now I don't even know if I'll see her ever again and I'm f**king scared.
My wife was in tears this morning (we live in St Petersburg, I am Australian) saying "what else can we do?! We were beaten in the streets for protesting Putin years ago! People are still in jail for it. Political opponents are shot. We can't get rid of him, he does as he pleases."
All I see in Russia is brainwashed old folks who knew nothing of the world, and young people who are helpless and don't know what else to do. Rest are just held hostage by the Russian government. In the end it's just one man's belief and control through state media. Even of Russia comes to war with the world, The only people suffering are the people who are already embarrassed and suffering one way or the other. All the economic sanctions affects the elite and normal people. Putin would still have his gold plate for supper. Just another Germany in the making. Attacking free-will of nations just because he could.
"It’s important to note that protesting should be done in a way that does not endanger Russian civilians. A safe and strong method to voice their massive worries about the situation could help the people in power see how out-of-touch they actually are. Some of these people seem totally robotic, however, even if the message gets through to just a few of them, then the protests will have been a success for the people of Russia," the redditor told Bored Panda.
Despite many Russians taking part in anti-war demonstrations, there’s barely any hint of them or the crackdowns against protesters in the local media. Instead, Russians inside the country are bombarded with the Kremlin’s anti-Ukrainian propaganda. Moscow is pulling out all the stops to try and find excuses for the war. Some, unfortunately, wholeheartedly believe the propaganda. Others, however, see the truth of the unprovoked invasion and side with Ukraine.
“The Kremlin has all but crushed Russia's independent media, and is gagging what's left of them. Ten publications got a letter late last week from the country's communications watchdog warning them not to use the words ‘invasion,’ ‘attack’ and ‘declaration of war’ under threat of having access to their publications ‘restricted,’” writes CNN.
I live 80 km away from Kharkov. This morning windows were shaking, jets flying, some bombs hit our own houses (absolute disgrace from our army, incompetent f**kwads). A big part of my savings for getting a better job and moving countries is turning into toilet paper before my eyes, undoing years of my work.
F**k this s**t sideways. This powerlessness to change anything for the better is getting the best of me today, I'm tired of this deranged warlord claiming that I "support" him.
Today I heard that putin was threatening the Mediterranean countries that they will send the Russian tourists in turkey and destroy our tourism! And I'm wondering.... how the hell are the Russians supposed to go for holidays without money? And who wants to go on a holiday right now anyway
To all the Russians speaking up against Putin, I hope you all remain safe and strong
I am morally destroyed. I cannot work, I am shaking. I do not know what to do. I have nowhere to run from this, I have no means to stop this. I fear for my mother, for my friends, for their children. Our future is irreparably broken.
The economic sanctions imposed by the West are having a direct and noticeable effect on Russia. The BBC notes that ordinary Russians are also seeing the disruptions caused by the international community isolating the Kremlin.
“Ordinary Russians face seeing their savings wiped out. Their lives are already being disrupted. The sanctions against some Russian banks include cutting them off from Visa and Mastercard, and consequently Apple Pay and Google Pay,” the BBC says.
In response to the new sanctions, Russia doubled its interest rate to 20% on Monday, as the rouble reached new lows. Meanwhile, the country’s stock market is still closed.
CNN points out that the West removed some Russian banks from SWIFT. What’s more, two of Russia’s largest banks—Sberbank and VTB—have been cut off from direct access to the US dollar. Around $1 trillion worth of Russian assets have been frozen by sanctions.
Yesterday I saw a Russian in the Russia reddit say; "why should Russia allow it self to be surrounded by enemies"
My response was; how about the option of making less enemies?
I was banned within 30 min.
It's also a lie. Ukraine was not the enemy. Ukraine just wants to exist in peace. Putin wants to grab back all that was the USSR. He doesn't want to only rule over what he was 'handed' but look like some great military achiever taking back old glory. He will lie to his people to achieve it and care not about the harm he causes them. This Russian on Reddit believes him, many do not. Lying coward hiding in his lair.
Keep in mind that Russian People who are using Reddit hate Putin, because we can speak English we can see different side of the world, if you will open our Russian social networks you will see the joy of the people because for them Putin is destroying ukrainian nazi, keep in mind they were brainwashed for 20 years to believe in everything they see on TV.
I cannot help but wonder how does the Russian media cover invasion, what information do they give to the Russian nation to make them belive the war is doing good to anyone. And what do supporters, common people, think about the war in the situation when their savings are worthless
Pain. Our president is a psycho.
He is totally bonkers. In America we have an ex wannabe dictator who is also completely bonkers
It’s amazing we as a society haven’t evolved passed this level of control to kill each other for these governments
Only when the Russian soldiers turn on their leaders and kill them instead of the Ukrainian people will this war end
I'm in an outright panic, shock, outrage, disgust, terror and horror over Putin and his clique starting an outright war. I don't believe in hell, but for him, his cronies and everyone responsible for starting this war (and all other wars, but this one especially) - hell sounds like an excellent place for them to stay for the rest of forever.
No one could believe the war would start until it happened - it made no sense not just from humane side of things, but from politico-economical side as well. Putin is now officially off his rocker, criminally insane, and anyone supporting him should be considered an accomplice in his crimes against humanity.
And as someone, who is both a male Russian citizen of conscriptionable age and was born in Ukraine and still has close relatives there - it's twice as terrifying (and it is indescribably terrifying already).
F**k the war! F**k Putin! F**k imperialism! Хуй войне!
One of my friends from Russia says that he feels the shame that non-nazi germans felt in 1939.
The difference today is that we get to see and hear the Russian people, learn their views, in a way we did not in 1939. We know that many do not support this war and can feel for them too. I worked with a German lady in the 80s, she was in her 60s at the time and she remembered that time well. She said they were told such rubbish about the French - they were told they ate babies. They even believed they didn't wear normal socks (weird I know but this was her story, not mine) because they were not shaped like German people. Never underestimate the power of propaganda.
I’m f**king horrified. I can’t believe this is really happening. I have already packed an emergency kit, withdrew all our dollars (not much) and rubles (worth next to nothing at the moment). There are lots of bots spamming that Ukraine gets what it deserves, but it’s not f**king true. Many celebrities have already called for the politicians to stop the war, the young are already getting arrested for anti-war protests as of right now.
I have donated to some of my Ukrainian friends to help them escape and I can only hope that they will be as safe as possible. I also have downloaded maps of most of our neighbouring regions and was kind of making a plan to seek refuge in Latvia or Estonia, but apparently we will not be welcome there, and we are trapped in a country governed by an elderly man who we couldn’t really believe was THAT mad right until today.
As long as you speak against the war and make it clear you are not with Putin on this, Baltic people understand that this is not the fault of the people, but of the government. But of course, we are cautious about the Russians these days due to possible sabotage from the inside of our countries. Our government - state and municipality - said and everyone agrees that there must be no acts of discrimination against Russians. Again, this is about the government - we understand this.
As someone who lives in Russia and grew up in Ukraine, I’m shocked, terrified and crushed. A couple days ago we couldn’t imagine something like this but now, when it’s more than real, it seems like the worst is yet to come. I’m deeply embarrassed and upset of how it turned out. The actions our government took will throw us back to the nineties politically and economically, but that’s not the most important part. People will die, thousands of families will suffer and our relationships with Ukraine will go through something they won’t recover from.
Stay strong, fellow Ukrainians. For whom it may concern, we’re sorry.
I really f**king hate what is happening right now. I hate that Putin made us all his accomplices. We want no part in these crimes. Times are tough in Russia as it is, and he has to make it worse for us all by murdering our neighbors and getting our soldiers killed.
I love my country, its people, its wildlife/nature, but I can't stand thinking about living my whole life here while this government abandons its people to live in hopeless poverty while also committing such atrocities against other countries.
Putin is hell-bent on reuniting the old Soviet Union and taking his people back into abject poverty. The rouble will be worthless but the shops won't have any food to sell anyway. The man is a first class fucktard and somebody must stop him. But who? Zelenskyy hopefully, but is Ukraine strong enough on their own? I hope so. I feel for the Russian people almost as much as I feel for the Ukrainians. Go UKRAINE!
There are no valid reasons in this age for war. No reason other than greed and power.
We are sorry for that. 90% don’t want a war. What’s happening now is a tragedy.
We didn’t elected our officials and now they give their own opinion as the opinion of the people. We understand how much problems we will get because of VVP. Especially economic. We had the highest inflation ever since 1990s. After todays actions our life will be worse, people are poorer and the whole world will be against us.
We thought that there won’t be any real invasion or military conflict. But today the seal is broken. We know that VVPs plane left Moscow about 11:00 pm. We don’t know what will happen next. Just want u, especially Ukraines, to know that we r sorry for your losses. We DONT WANT WAR. nobody want it.
A saw videos from telegram. It’s frightening. Nobody wish u troubles and deaths because of ambitions of our president.
All I know from social media is that Ukraine army doesn’t react to Russian military. The are not counterattacking them. We know that civilians get injured, some of them are dead, we saw how our army destroyed civil house. That terrible. Shame to all who are participating and promoting this conflict.
I am ready to go to the metro or bunker. My documents are ready. I am afraid too, because western world should answer.
Wish u luck and health. We are humans for the first, not citizens.
In Russia WE WANT PEACE. NOT WAR Possibly, today is gonna be a protest. But it won’t end good. We are afraid to participate in it and it won’t lead to changes.
We are hostages too
im not russian but some of the attacks are dangerously close to borders of other countries, mine included. im kinda scared and depressed at the same time, i can only expect influx of ukrainian immigrants. and i very much hope that f**kface putin gets assasinated
I don't think he is worthy of death. He is worthy of torture for the rest of his miserable existence.
I'm Russian university student, living in Kazan. Currently residing in university's dorms.
Today, while I was on lectures, someone hanged posters on balconies, so they could face the streets, with writing such as "Stop the war!" and "Putin get out of the Ukraine!". When I came, there was the whole f**king police squad, looking through camera footage to find those people. From what I've heard, those guys will get expelled, if not sued for extremism. For a goddamn posters.
So yeah, suppression of public disapproval is no joke.
I've talked only to a certain demographic of people, a.k.a. university students, but there's almost universal disapproval of the invasion. There was one exception, but the girl who approved has family in the government and nobody likes her. At all. So she doesn't count.
As for the general atmosphere, everyone is on edge. I'm really anxious. My roommates are too. One of them says they'll go to the protest, if there will be any. Other roommate is depressed, eating candy, thinking worst case scenarios. None of them believes Russia will come out a winner out of this war.
The unpopular girl should Imagine getting invaded to understand the horrors.
My brother is doing his military service. 20 year old kids with no military experience who have no other choice but sleep in the forest and wait for commands. Families are told that they won't get any news for at least a week, maybe even for a month. F**k Putin.
I remember a line from an 80s song; 'Do the Russians love their children too?'. I think it was intended as a critique of the propaganda that we were all expected to believe about the old Soviet Union and how unkind the people were portrayed to be. Since that era, we have met Russian people, worked with them, shared a beer with them and understand that they are just like us and share our dreams. Of course the Russians love their children and it must be heartbreaking for them to see their young sons and daughters sent off to a war that no-one wants and if Ukraine falls, the economic sanctions will cripple Russia. I have sympathy for the Russian people but not nearly as much as I feel for Ukraine. Go UKRAINE.
You know all those hypothetical questions we always ask — if we could go back in time, make sure to kill Hitler before he starts s**t?
Well….wish someone would’ve taken one for the team.
I f**king hate our government and patriots. They had low salary because of 2014, now they have no future and still screaming that Putin is greatest dictator and Ukrainians are just nazis and we going to save russians from them...
I'm 19 and my future is ruined because of these bastards, i don't know how to stop this, all i know is i must run from this country while planes still flying (But sadly, every civilized country won't accept me).
I remember times when i wanted to visit Kyiv, Ivano-Frankhovsk and other places and countries. Now i understand that this is end for us, world isn't gonna forgive Russia for these crimes, i hope invasion will be fast and without innocent casualties (cause if it won't be fast, casualties will be catastrophic on both sides), Ukrainian people always where like brothers for me. I visited Odessa two times, very kind and lovely people here, now my country going to burn it all... I'm sorry, i hope I won't get caught by army and i don't want to come to Kyiv with a rifle in my hands.
F**k Putin. That's what.
I teach English Language. This quarter I have a young husband and wife in my class. In last week’s writing assignment I asked everyone to write about a time they had to move. They have been here since September 2021.
The husband wrote that they moved to the US because of the tensions between Ukraine and Russia. He said his religion forbids killing and if he stayed, he’d be forced to fight. He misses his mother.
His wife wrote the same.
Deeply shocked and terrified, I don’t know a single real person who supports it, every person I’ve spoken with is in a pure state of horror. Until the last moment we couldn’t believe that this would actually happen and they would do this and we are horrified as we have no idea what will happen next to both countries. It’s already hard to live with the realization that your country is a world enemy and it makes it even harder considering that we are talking about Ukraine and Ukrainians as we never wanted to fight with them and still don’t want to.
In fact, throughout its history, Russia has been an aggressor state. To believe that he has conquered one-sixth of the planet's surface only as a result of defense wars, could only a man completely devoid of any knowledge of history, or who has completely lost his ability to think, after a dose of Kremlin propaganda.
Note: this post originally had 58 images. It’s been shortened to the top 28 images based on user votes.
Russia's people fell prey to the same problem many others have in others nations, such as the US/UK (Trump/Farage-to-BoJo). That information "bubble" becomes an echo chamber, and repetition leads to belief in the most absurd or horrible things. Unfortunately, my temper gets the best of me, and I don't try to be calm and educating. For anyone who thinks I harsh on Russia? My opinion of Trump fans is even lower than it is of Putin's. Trump fans had more options, more chances, to see *otherwise*, and tuned in to the Dumb anyway.
Just wondering when all the gun toting to Walmart idiots are heading over to the Ukraine to help preserve democracy. They want to play soldier so much; this is their big chance to do it. We should also send that kid who murdered those protesters in Wisconsin. He wanted to go play army and kill people. Yes, I know his name but chose not to say it. The NRA should be organizing a huge transport of its people to go fight right now. Wonder why they aren't.
We were lucky to get rid of Trump when we did. Can you imagine what evil s**t he would have been up to right now?
He may have been voted out but there is a very real possibility of him being elected again in 2024 and that's scary.
Load More Replies... Regular Russian people are starting to be harassed online because of the actions of their dictator. We need to intervene when we see these things happen. Right now regular everyday Russians don’t like what is happening in Ukraine and I truly believe they will be pivotal in bringing it to an end. Antagonizing them will just make them think putin’s contempt for western values is justified. We need them on our side instead.
I know several examples when Russian bloggers (even those who have openly expressed disgust with this war, one has a instagram page about her rescued monkey and the other is a travel agent) have gotten death threats online from the same people who watched and liked their posts a week ago. What that shows is that we not only need to be afraid of own government but of the rest of the world. Isn't there enough fear and hatred already?
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It's devastating. Makes you feel hollow and brittle on the inside. What Putin did was so wrong and outrageous that it left many of us in shock, struggling to believe this is all actually happening. The sheer degree of hate speech in social media is alarmingly high. On some pro-Kremlin websites like RT you get banned for expressing your criticism. Any criticism if fact. And no one knows how far it'll go and when (or if) it will end. Even so, I cannot start to imagine how much harder everything must be for the Ukrainians. I'm sorry guys, I so wish we could stop him before this mess...
This war is the "swan song" of the boomer generation, those who do not understand the 21st century. There should be a law everywhere, that everyone passing 65 years must be expelled from decision-making positions. No exception.
@Viktor Feurer : It is not so much a problem of age as a problem of failing democracy. Putin has been preparing his plan for more than twenty years, doing everything to gradually erode the democratic mechanisms with the (at least partial) agreement of the population, because the fall of the USSR plunged the country into a very difficult period and at the time, a strong man was needed to put the country back on track. In a functioning democracy, the risks are limited precisely because of the counter-powers. Even if the risks are not totally eliminated, we have seen the demonstration of this with Trump, who could potentially have become a kind of American dictator.
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Putin is a dictator. When he was first elected the law said he could only rule for 8 years. But he changed this as soon as he came into power, now we can do nothing but wait for him to die.
This whole situation makes me feel sick with sadness and worry - I can't even fathom how much worse it is for those right in the midst of it all. I have two Russian friends who I message every day and I wrote to them asking about how everything was, if they are okay despite the ruble collapsing. Both of them replied that money is not important, peace is.
My love, hope, and respect goes also to everyone who's like these Redditers. In the US we've seen countless people accept ridiculous propoganda against masks and the vaccine. People have plenty of access to reputable and proven information. But they accept the lies. So it must be incredibly hard for Russians to believe their own leader is doing these horrifying things to Ukrainian sisters and brothers? We who know about this are struggling to wrap our minds around these horrors.
I hope specially all the younger Russians will understand they are f****d, and their future is ruined. The only way to get one again is get rid of Putin and his gang of morons. Revolution, I would suggest, no matter what. The rest of the world will support you, remember that.
The first comment in that thread says that a couple days ago they couldn't have imagined this happening.. When in reality Russia started invading 8 years ago . This isn't actually new news. Canada has sort of an alliance with Ukraine, we've been helping them establish and maintain their independence for over 30 years now, and since this started has been in Ukraine for the last 7 years helping train them to fight back. This has been ongoing for a while now. And on that note, Russians have had 7 years to do something about it and haven't yet. I assume they are essentially powerless towards this, overgrowing a dictatorship would take nothing short of an internal war. Don't hold your breath for them to stop it themselves
Not meant as a dig, I feel for the Russian citizens and their powerlessness towards all this. (Edit for my first comment: I meant Russia's had 8 years to react)
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It won't be long until Putin shuts down Russian access to the outside world and we won't know what the Russian people think about anything. They're going to become the North Koreans of the western world. I feel sorry for the. Their only course is to overthrow the government and Putin is too powerful and deadly. What a mess.
only way to end this is when the russian people would take arm and fight the power in place. you can't send anoter country to do that. that would lead the ww3 for sure. an inside job. it's the only way. when people who protest would start to fight the police maybe it would lead to something. it's the germany in the 30's all over again. people love hitler at first because he give prosperity to germany but after that everyone was too afraid to acted against him. and China is next... people don't learn anything from history
I just want to say that Russias military invasion was a total fail an example of this is how Russian missiles were targeting an airport now keep in mind this is a guided missile state of the art it missed BY A MILE THEY CANT HIT A NON MOVING MASSIVE TARGET if you want more info a defense analyst YouTube called lazerpig did a great video on it
That was the first time I've seen people in Russia praise corruption in the army. Looks like the money for data collection was stolen and preparation job was done neglectfully.
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I said it in another post but here as well: there can be no ending without Putin being killed. It matters not what kind of retaliations are made against him, cripple the economy, take away everything from, his rich friends, turn the world against him, do everything possible, it won't matter. Recalling your military would be seen as a weak move, and he's always been petrified of looking weak. It would be his downfall, he'd see it as am invitation for the world to walk over him. The good news is that he's started it all on his own. The rich friends of his will not want to lose everything they have gained. I'm just stunned that he has the nerve to say he's trying to free the Ukrainian people from neo-nazis when Putin has his own people arrested or worse when they speak out against him.
To add to this: I have nothing against the Russian people, most of them did not want this war, most have risked their freedoms and their lives just to say no. I have cousins in the Ukraine. I have not heard from them in a week now. Kids I once played with are either going to war, trying to escape or dead. I never imagined this could happen to any of my family members, then I remember the story of my grandparents who immigrated from war in Germany. And wonder how this could still happen now.
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I'm an American. I watched as our troops surged into Iraq. Stories on the news unfolded for the first time right before our eyes. They told of heroes conquering our greatest foes. They toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein on the day they arrived, draping for a minute an American flag over its head, then changing to an Iraqi flag when the crowd got upset. >>> what we didn't see then, what we see now, is the amount of death and destruction the war in Iraq brought. There were well over 1 million casualties in that war. >>>Today instead of imbedded reporters only showing the soldier side, we have a million civilians with camera phones. >>> Gone are the days of unknown mass casualties.
My kids say at school kids are playing cops and robbers only now it's Russia and Ukraine. Kids asking each other which side they're on. These are young kids btw. They're innocent and naive and don't grasp what's going on. Kids playing games based on real life events is normal. But it's so sad because there are a lot of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia who have settled here over the last 20 years or so. My town has a huge amount, nearly every second person. A neighbour from Ukraine had her mother staying here for a few weeks and she returned to Ukraine just days before the invasion. Now they don't know if she's ok or not. The fear is palpable. It's awful.
It’s awful for the Russian people, they’ll probably end up paying for Putin’s nonsense for generations. Unless it’s all an elaborate plot to get the world into war, lose the war and be aided by the victors, thus ensuring Russian economic stability for the next seventy years. Just a thought, it can’t be any madder than Putin’s real reasons .
I could not finish theses posts, not just because of the disgust of Putin but the very depressed way people are talking - they have a right to have theses feelings. The deep despair is causing me to feel like they are giving up! you know what I mean I don't want to say the word. Please hang on!
My prayers are with the ordinary people of Russian, with everyone in Ukraine, and the Russian soldiers who do not want to fight. And I pray that the few who are determined to believe Putin's lies realize they are lies, and come to their senses quickly, because history shows time and again that the minority bent on blindly supporting a leader and their evil desires can do great damage and destroy other people and countries.
The best case we can all hope for (all meaning basically whole world) is for Russians to go out on info the streets and do something about it. I know it's easier said than done, but who else can change Russia if not its people? Well Putin is changing it fast, but if he's let to continue...
Russians. Join the army. Get a tank. Surrender in Ukraine. Ukraine will take care of you.
It is very clear that this is one deranged man's war and his cronies who won't say no to him. We do not blame the Russian people, I hope they still get to receive the truth and we keep hearing from them too.
So far I have only really heard Russians speak out against the war, does anyone know if that is the majority? Must be hard to know given the media issues and fear surrounding speaking out. It gives me hope though, but at the end of the day, if Russia drafts its people, there isn't a lot they could do about it. They have mandatory service already as is. Just wondering how it will play out. Just thinking about Vietnam and how little Americans could do back then about the war. The hippies ended the war, but it took years and wasn't easy.
I wouldn't say it is majority. Most people are indifferent, caring only about their own well-being, an there is more pro-war people anyway. You can find them if you want, better in Russian though (they post in English and other languages, too, but they say their "voice of reason" is always banned).
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War is going on every day for equally stupid and pathetic reasons (like one dork like Putin arguing over land like it’s the Stone Age). Maybe this one will open people’s eyes that fighting over this shît is a complete waste of everyone’s time and life. But it’s happening all over and always has been. It’s just a big deal because Europe and superpowers are involved. War in Syria and Myanmar are still happening and Afghanistan is in shambles. And all of them are over shît that has no place in 2022. As long as people agree to fight and act like losers, it will continue. War in Europe will end eventually but hopefully it’s the catalyst for change worldwide.
As a Canadian I send loving thoughts to all Ukranian and Russian people,. my heart breaks thinking what you are going through. The West DOES NOT blame Russian people. I cant imagine how hard it would be to oppose the government actions but not be able to say anything. People in the West are listening, let us know how we can help,,
Russia's people fell prey to the same problem many others have in others nations, such as the US/UK (Trump/Farage-to-BoJo). That information "bubble" becomes an echo chamber, and repetition leads to belief in the most absurd or horrible things. Unfortunately, my temper gets the best of me, and I don't try to be calm and educating. For anyone who thinks I harsh on Russia? My opinion of Trump fans is even lower than it is of Putin's. Trump fans had more options, more chances, to see *otherwise*, and tuned in to the Dumb anyway.
Just wondering when all the gun toting to Walmart idiots are heading over to the Ukraine to help preserve democracy. They want to play soldier so much; this is their big chance to do it. We should also send that kid who murdered those protesters in Wisconsin. He wanted to go play army and kill people. Yes, I know his name but chose not to say it. The NRA should be organizing a huge transport of its people to go fight right now. Wonder why they aren't.
We were lucky to get rid of Trump when we did. Can you imagine what evil s**t he would have been up to right now?
He may have been voted out but there is a very real possibility of him being elected again in 2024 and that's scary.
Load More Replies... Regular Russian people are starting to be harassed online because of the actions of their dictator. We need to intervene when we see these things happen. Right now regular everyday Russians don’t like what is happening in Ukraine and I truly believe they will be pivotal in bringing it to an end. Antagonizing them will just make them think putin’s contempt for western values is justified. We need them on our side instead.
I know several examples when Russian bloggers (even those who have openly expressed disgust with this war, one has a instagram page about her rescued monkey and the other is a travel agent) have gotten death threats online from the same people who watched and liked their posts a week ago. What that shows is that we not only need to be afraid of own government but of the rest of the world. Isn't there enough fear and hatred already?
Load More Replies... It's devastating. Makes you feel hollow and brittle on the inside. What Putin did was so wrong and outrageous that it left many of us in shock, struggling to believe this is all actually happening. The sheer degree of hate speech in social media is alarmingly high. On some pro-Kremlin websites like RT you get banned for expressing your criticism. Any criticism if fact. And no one knows how far it'll go and when (or if) it will end. Even so, I cannot start to imagine how much harder everything must be for the Ukrainians. I'm sorry guys, I so wish we could stop him before this mess...
This war is the "swan song" of the boomer generation, those who do not understand the 21st century. There should be a law everywhere, that everyone passing 65 years must be expelled from decision-making positions. No exception.
@Viktor Feurer : It is not so much a problem of age as a problem of failing democracy. Putin has been preparing his plan for more than twenty years, doing everything to gradually erode the democratic mechanisms with the (at least partial) agreement of the population, because the fall of the USSR plunged the country into a very difficult period and at the time, a strong man was needed to put the country back on track. In a functioning democracy, the risks are limited precisely because of the counter-powers. Even if the risks are not totally eliminated, we have seen the demonstration of this with Trump, who could potentially have become a kind of American dictator.
Load More Replies... Putin is a dictator. When he was first elected the law said he could only rule for 8 years. But he changed this as soon as he came into power, now we can do nothing but wait for him to die.
This whole situation makes me feel sick with sadness and worry - I can't even fathom how much worse it is for those right in the midst of it all. I have two Russian friends who I message every day and I wrote to them asking about how everything was, if they are okay despite the ruble collapsing. Both of them replied that money is not important, peace is.
My love, hope, and respect goes also to everyone who's like these Redditers. In the US we've seen countless people accept ridiculous propoganda against masks and the vaccine. People have plenty of access to reputable and proven information. But they accept the lies. So it must be incredibly hard for Russians to believe their own leader is doing these horrifying things to Ukrainian sisters and brothers? We who know about this are struggling to wrap our minds around these horrors.
I hope specially all the younger Russians will understand they are f****d, and their future is ruined. The only way to get one again is get rid of Putin and his gang of morons. Revolution, I would suggest, no matter what. The rest of the world will support you, remember that.
The first comment in that thread says that a couple days ago they couldn't have imagined this happening.. When in reality Russia started invading 8 years ago . This isn't actually new news. Canada has sort of an alliance with Ukraine, we've been helping them establish and maintain their independence for over 30 years now, and since this started has been in Ukraine for the last 7 years helping train them to fight back. This has been ongoing for a while now. And on that note, Russians have had 7 years to do something about it and haven't yet. I assume they are essentially powerless towards this, overgrowing a dictatorship would take nothing short of an internal war. Don't hold your breath for them to stop it themselves
Not meant as a dig, I feel for the Russian citizens and their powerlessness towards all this. (Edit for my first comment: I meant Russia's had 8 years to react)
Load More Replies... It won't be long until Putin shuts down Russian access to the outside world and we won't know what the Russian people think about anything. They're going to become the North Koreans of the western world. I feel sorry for the. Their only course is to overthrow the government and Putin is too powerful and deadly. What a mess.
only way to end this is when the russian people would take arm and fight the power in place. you can't send anoter country to do that. that would lead the ww3 for sure. an inside job. it's the only way. when people who protest would start to fight the police maybe it would lead to something. it's the germany in the 30's all over again. people love hitler at first because he give prosperity to germany but after that everyone was too afraid to acted against him. and China is next... people don't learn anything from history
I just want to say that Russias military invasion was a total fail an example of this is how Russian missiles were targeting an airport now keep in mind this is a guided missile state of the art it missed BY A MILE THEY CANT HIT A NON MOVING MASSIVE TARGET if you want more info a defense analyst YouTube called lazerpig did a great video on it
That was the first time I've seen people in Russia praise corruption in the army. Looks like the money for data collection was stolen and preparation job was done neglectfully.
Load More Replies... I said it in another post but here as well: there can be no ending without Putin being killed. It matters not what kind of retaliations are made against him, cripple the economy, take away everything from, his rich friends, turn the world against him, do everything possible, it won't matter. Recalling your military would be seen as a weak move, and he's always been petrified of looking weak. It would be his downfall, he'd see it as am invitation for the world to walk over him. The good news is that he's started it all on his own. The rich friends of his will not want to lose everything they have gained. I'm just stunned that he has the nerve to say he's trying to free the Ukrainian people from neo-nazis when Putin has his own people arrested or worse when they speak out against him.
To add to this: I have nothing against the Russian people, most of them did not want this war, most have risked their freedoms and their lives just to say no. I have cousins in the Ukraine. I have not heard from them in a week now. Kids I once played with are either going to war, trying to escape or dead. I never imagined this could happen to any of my family members, then I remember the story of my grandparents who immigrated from war in Germany. And wonder how this could still happen now.
Load More Replies... I'm an American. I watched as our troops surged into Iraq. Stories on the news unfolded for the first time right before our eyes. They told of heroes conquering our greatest foes. They toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein on the day they arrived, draping for a minute an American flag over its head, then changing to an Iraqi flag when the crowd got upset. >>> what we didn't see then, what we see now, is the amount of death and destruction the war in Iraq brought. There were well over 1 million casualties in that war. >>>Today instead of imbedded reporters only showing the soldier side, we have a million civilians with camera phones. >>> Gone are the days of unknown mass casualties.
My kids say at school kids are playing cops and robbers only now it's Russia and Ukraine. Kids asking each other which side they're on. These are young kids btw. They're innocent and naive and don't grasp what's going on. Kids playing games based on real life events is normal. But it's so sad because there are a lot of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia who have settled here over the last 20 years or so. My town has a huge amount, nearly every second person. A neighbour from Ukraine had her mother staying here for a few weeks and she returned to Ukraine just days before the invasion. Now they don't know if she's ok or not. The fear is palpable. It's awful.
It’s awful for the Russian people, they’ll probably end up paying for Putin’s nonsense for generations. Unless it’s all an elaborate plot to get the world into war, lose the war and be aided by the victors, thus ensuring Russian economic stability for the next seventy years. Just a thought, it can’t be any madder than Putin’s real reasons .
I could not finish theses posts, not just because of the disgust of Putin but the very depressed way people are talking - they have a right to have theses feelings. The deep despair is causing me to feel like they are giving up! you know what I mean I don't want to say the word. Please hang on!
My prayers are with the ordinary people of Russian, with everyone in Ukraine, and the Russian soldiers who do not want to fight. And I pray that the few who are determined to believe Putin's lies realize they are lies, and come to their senses quickly, because history shows time and again that the minority bent on blindly supporting a leader and their evil desires can do great damage and destroy other people and countries.
The best case we can all hope for (all meaning basically whole world) is for Russians to go out on info the streets and do something about it. I know it's easier said than done, but who else can change Russia if not its people? Well Putin is changing it fast, but if he's let to continue...
Russians. Join the army. Get a tank. Surrender in Ukraine. Ukraine will take care of you.
It is very clear that this is one deranged man's war and his cronies who won't say no to him. We do not blame the Russian people, I hope they still get to receive the truth and we keep hearing from them too.
So far I have only really heard Russians speak out against the war, does anyone know if that is the majority? Must be hard to know given the media issues and fear surrounding speaking out. It gives me hope though, but at the end of the day, if Russia drafts its people, there isn't a lot they could do about it. They have mandatory service already as is. Just wondering how it will play out. Just thinking about Vietnam and how little Americans could do back then about the war. The hippies ended the war, but it took years and wasn't easy.
I wouldn't say it is majority. Most people are indifferent, caring only about their own well-being, an there is more pro-war people anyway. You can find them if you want, better in Russian though (they post in English and other languages, too, but they say their "voice of reason" is always banned).
Load More Replies... War is going on every day for equally stupid and pathetic reasons (like one dork like Putin arguing over land like it’s the Stone Age). Maybe this one will open people’s eyes that fighting over this shît is a complete waste of everyone’s time and life. But it’s happening all over and always has been. It’s just a big deal because Europe and superpowers are involved. War in Syria and Myanmar are still happening and Afghanistan is in shambles. And all of them are over shît that has no place in 2022. As long as people agree to fight and act like losers, it will continue. War in Europe will end eventually but hopefully it’s the catalyst for change worldwide.
As a Canadian I send loving thoughts to all Ukranian and Russian people,. my heart breaks thinking what you are going through. The West DOES NOT blame Russian people. I cant imagine how hard it would be to oppose the government actions but not be able to say anything. People in the West are listening, let us know how we can help,,
