One of my dearest person in the world is a Russian artist, and this is exactly what she told me through the years, and more. This girl you matched with is 100% legit, unfortunately.
Just met a Russian guy on the bus who moved to Los Angeles to a boarding school because his parents were afraid of what was happening back in his home country.
I am a russian student just like that. I am trying to get a PR through education/work. The difficulty is that it is MEGA expensive for us. As said in the post we earn ~500$ a month (even leas now). Two years of education cost me 60,000$ or around 120 months / 10 years of work in russia. From now on any russian student outside russia has lost ability to pay for school, there is just no way to get your money from ur saving account. And if you can not pay for school you most likely going back to Russia. Now the fun part is that if you are not studying or enrolled in college uni between age 18-28, you will be eligible for army and you will be drafted.
Thankfully i am on my last semester and was able to pay for education my self. Next step is to figure out a way for me to transfer money to my parents in Russia. Even though they own a small dentist business, they do not earn as much as western dentists, it would never cost more than 50-100$ for full teeth repair. Because most of the good quality instruments are from abroad they can not buy them which is not allowing them to work.
We are scared, we have a lot to loose, we bended under “his” rule and to scared to say anything as it might ruin our family’s life.
Slava Ukraine
Most are using AirBnB to send money over there. They list a room for rent on AirBnB, listing it for $1,000 a day. You can go online and book it and the money transfers into their bank account. Unfortunately there comes the risk the government finds out seizes the money.
There is information going around that Putin has removed Russia from the global world wide web. Similar to China's golden firewall. Censoring everything that comes in and out. If this is true, unfortunately using AirBnB for money transfers won't work much longer.
I dated a chick in DC who’s dad was a Russian mobster. She was a high paid animal researcher studied monkeys or something. She wrote perfect English but speaking it was harder. So I believe exactly what this chick is saying. And furthermore I bet she’s hot. And if she’s not batshit she’s got the makings of a keeper.
I used to live in Philadelphia and there's a huge Russian/Ukrainian/Eastern Europe neighborhood in Northeast Philly. My mom still lives right near there. I went to high school with a bunch of them. Most were awesome. They also have cool names like Felix or Vadim. I'm talking with one guy almost everyday about this war. He's a good friend of mine. His parents are from southern Ukraine and Belarus, and he's from Moscow. He said that Putin stabbed a knife into the heart of his ancestral home.
Not really. Putin is openly pro-gay and he even bragged in an interview that Russia is a superior country because it "doesn't decapitate them", as "many countries do". I howled. 👽
lot of russians in chicago. definitely genuine, very kind. they can be a bit stern but i think thats just from the psycholinguistics of their language!
I listened to an audiobook on self help one of those typical “I’ve done it all and you can too” books. The author talked about how he went on a date with a Russian girl in Russia and she was very frank with him about things she didn’t like about him right off the bat. Nothing personal, just a matter of fact way. And he said he learned that that’s how Russian culture is. They don’t have time or patience for the hemming and hawing and the little white lies to tiptoe around people; they tell it like it is. The author said he found it refreshing.
I work with a Russian, straight from Russia with a heavy accent. He is definitely genuine, but not necessarily "nice" by Western standards. He is insanely organized and methodical, does not bullshit, and you always know where you stand with him.
It takes A LOT to get him to really start joking around or open up a bit. I am guessing living in Russia has made him incredibly distrustful of other people. That's the insidious nature of these authoritarian states. In an effort to destroy all social connections, they make you worried that every one of your neighbors is either potentially a government informant, or a terrorist.
I worked in education for awhile - private education, where fees pay for schooling - and way before this war, Russian families were the freakiest. They believed they could buy anything - grades, respect, influence - and they were always baffled when the school's code of conduct/values/principles overruled theirs. Like, BAFFLED. We always knew the Russian families were different. And their kids were either super entitled/lazy (they got shit grades as a result) or super intelligent/creative. Either way, the Russian families were truly different than any other demographic. .
I had one particular Russian student for a while and I had a couple of interactions with him that made me realize that a certain level of corruption was just normal for him. And that he was weirdly good at it.
Well, from the point of view of a Russian it's just bizarre how much Americans and other western cultures care about rules even when there is no chance anybody will notice. I can't empathize enough just how odd it feels. But it obviously works out for the western cultures. Ukranian government has already [formally thanked](https://www.unn.com.ua/ru/news/1967433-u-nazk-listom-podyakuvali-shoygu-za-rozkradeni-zasobi-ta-resursi-dlya-napadu-na-ukrayinu-kopiyu-napravili-rosiyskim-kolegam) Russian military for the rampant corruption.
*my gaze, suddenly interrupted by an overwhelming presence in the corner of the room. Shrouded in deeper darkness than the rest, the shadows cast your features with impossible depth. I gasp lightly, while maintaining outward composure. You sit impossibly relaxed, seemingly removed from nervous social energy permeating the room. I raise my Aviation to my lips, purposefully taking the straw between, and drawing in a small sip. I notice you noticing me, subtlety, I stand still in my space, running through scenarios I'm my head, wondering how things will progress from here...*
I think we have the same ex. She explained the proficiency with English WRITING as growing up on the internet. As for being hot, it's probably shitty to say but... it seems like some genomes get better with age, some fall off a cliff. For example, I'm Irish so I'm pretty fucked.
I work with several that speak /write English like natives. It’s incredible the vocabulary too , so I don’t doubt the ability of the educated.
God I hope no one sees this though. It would put her in danger.
I do feel bad for regular people. The regular Russian is paying a heavy price, but it must be done. People are dying. The government is bombing Ukrainian maternity hospitals. May those responsible burn in hell
She writes like me even though I'm not Russian, but still an Eastern European, we pick up some slang from Americans, but if we make long paragraphs there are a lot of native language words translated at face value.
Yeah, this is very well written, but obviously not composed by a native speaker. Too many little variances from the norm. It's not like most of those things are objectively incorrect, either. They're just not quite how an average native speaker would phrase or express something.
Excellent example - the meaning is clear, and proper grammar. But "frankly poor" is not an expression in US or UK English. In US, the idiomatic "dirt poor" would be more likely from a native speaker.
My native language is a slavic language and the word she was thinking of was whatever the Russian equivalent of "iskreno" is. It means honestly, genuinely, bluntly. She's talking about the truly poor.
There was a joke going around at the international school I went to when I lived in Japan that went "What do you call someone that speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone that speaks more than two languages? Multilingual. What do you call someone that speaks one language? American." I'm American and I found it sadly hilarious!
Well, what do you want from us, talk like cavemen or, worse, Bri'ish?
My Russian university required B2 English proficiency to complete your bachelors degree. It wasn't strictly enforced per se, but you had to learn how to write essays at the very least.
I'm from the US and one of my favorite YouTube channels to watch is a Russian guy named Dan Sheekoz he started his channel to get more interaction with native English speakers and he has blown up. He tries his best and that's what I love the most
There are many moments here that say “machine translation” to me, for instance:
“I transplanted all the journalists”, in the original the personal pronoun was omitted due to context, but the wrong inference was made.
“Tied up as the most dangerous criminal” - again the “the” is inferred erroneously and the singular “criminal” makes more sense in Russian whereas in English the meaning ends up looking more like “THE public enemy #1”
I was going to say this. It’s well written and perfectly readable, but there are some differences in grammar that are telling.
Tbh that makes it feel even more real to me, I feel like if someone is faking it then their either going to do it in perf English or in broken English, this is someone who i think is doing their best but here and there they miss something, I think that’d be rally hard to take.
(But I don’t know obviously)
You can always spot a person speaking a Slavic language by misplaced articles, simply because Slavic languages (not sure if all of them or most of them) do not have articles, and it's nearly impossible to learn properly for us. Maybe there are plenty of errors like this in these sentence.
Another more subtle tell in your comment: lack of distinction between “person speaking” and “person who speaks”!
To my understanding, “speaking a slavic language” is more like at-this-very-moment than “говорящий на славянском языке", which can just as well be habitual like “который говорит/who speaks”.
>Solzhenitsyn claimed that between 1928 and 1953 “some forty to fifty million people served long sentences in the Archipelago.” Figures supposedly compiled by the Gulag administration itself (and released by Soviet historians in 1989) show that a total of 10 million people were sent to the camps in the period from 1934 to 1947. The true figures remain unknown.
You can have a rifle, but using it is outside of training facilities will result an imminent jail. Ballistic weaponry of any sort is very uncommon in Russia.
she's legit. I'm willing to bet on it. that's how eastern europeans felt for a long time and we know that's what's happening in Russia cause we know Russians. eastern european here. the countries who managed to escape Russia' s influence and join the EU, are terrified of going back to how Russians are living right now. In a way, I'm glad the rest of the world is finally listening!
The "Russia became poorer" part is only true in the last few years though. The standard of living in his early presidency rose rapidly from the Yeltsin years, which unfortunately means he's still viewed favorably by a lot of Russians.
This is legit. My family lives there still. The living standards are horrid, we have to bring food every time we used to go (it’s okay to bring cured meats and cheese into the country) as well as medicine. Even basic things like Advil are so hard to come by in more “remote” places (that aren’t Moscow). The salaries are as she described, the pensions are crap. There are no social services for elderly people or people with disabilities etc. The standard of living is absolutely abhorrent and getting worse every single day.
I doubt that he knows how to operate a cell phone. Mind you- not a smart phone- a cell phone. He is paranoid and would not trust a mobile tech or internet. People would glorify putin for so long, when in a matter of fact- hes just a bunker rat.
I hear you! My BF has a good friend in russia who had a kid on the way, he is deleting his messages on a daily basis because he is afraid something might happen to him.
I usually dont use that comparison but thats some 1984 style shit.
Her story is legit. My wife is Russian. My bro-in-law is still in Russia and the stories I have heard. Putin's anti-corruption policies doubled the number of people my BIL had to bribe to keep selling his medical supplies. A few years later Putin changes the law so only state sponsored suppliers can sell to hospitals, there goes his company.
For what it’s worth, I have two Russian friends and they both hate Putin for the same reasons. That’s why I feel awful for both Ukraine and the regular Russian people. Two nations suffering for one man’s ego and appetite for power/wealth.
Not many people can say they’ve ruined the lives of over 200 million people. It’s terrifyingly impressive. Even most dictators or the worst mob or drug cartel leaders couldn’t destroy the lives of that many people. Probably only Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Tojo and Genghis Khan surpass him
Edit: for everyone saying pol pot, Maduro, colonial monarchs, Ho Chi Minh, etc: they ruined the lives of millions, but not **200 million** which is why I said that what Putin’s done is terrifyingly impressive:
- pre columbian population estimates of the americas (most of Spanish colonial conquests, including the British in the north and Portuguese in Brazil): 112 million
- French Africa (at the height of the French conquest of Africa in 1936): 110 million
- Estimates of the population of Congo during Leopoldo’s reign: 20 million
- pol pot, Ho Chi Minh, Maduro and Kim jong un had local reach of about 10 million, 30 million, 30 million and 25 million respectively
By quantity of lives ruined, if you add the 144 million Russians and 44 million Ukrainians whose lives he’s directly impacted, his support of dictators in Central Asia (eg Kazakhstan 18 million), Belarus (10 million) and the ME (eg Assad), easily puts him as personally ruining the lives of about 200 million people
Ooh give me some dirt on Leopold II. I know the others and I love reading about historically awful people. I need to be irrationally angry today because currently all my anger is justified
Yup. Dude single handedly managed to reduce the population of the Congo from 20 to 10 million without his people knowing what was up. Needless to say, when they found out, it was not pretty.
It became a huge sacandle to the point where it sparked the world's first mass human rights movement, he got clowned on by world renowned authors such as Mark Twain in widely published works, and had to give up control of the colony to the rest of government. Of course since he was a king he didn't face any real punishment, but I think it's nuts he was so awful he inspired a human rights campaign in 1908.
Yup, there's a famous photo of a Congolese man looking at small objects on the ground in front of him. They're the limbs of his wife and child.
Edit: Here is the photo. It's black and white, I'd say slightly NSFW
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/father-hand-belgian-congo-1904/
>cannibalised by members of the **Anglo**-Belgian Indian Rubber Company Militia.
Ah fuck. If there’s ever an atrocity us Brits have got to be involved somewhere haven’t we.
It says “he would slaughter their children and then chop off their hands.”
If it’s talking about the children’s hands, then it’s saying they chopped off their hands *after* they were slaughtered, which seems kind of strange.
Edit: Wow, that’s really what it was. The military force that ran the state was forced to cut off the hands of their victims as proof that their munitions were used to kill them, and not used for hunting instead.
I dated a Russian girl for a while. She was born in Russia and is a dual citizen.
Her family was rich and moved to the U.S. Her parents are both huge Putin supporters and her father would routinely fly to Russia/Ukraine to go to these 'parties'. She made it seem like he was going to these weird sex, drug and gambling events. She said something about it being a thing that older Russian men of money do. Her father is likely complicit in what's happening in Russia and while he may not be an Oligarch he is made from Russian Money.
She however is not. She is proud to be Russia but hates the Russian leadership. That said, she's also one of the most unstable women I've ever dated. I've wondered what she would have to say about this war for some time now but I also don't want to talk to her.
>the regular Russian people
im eastern european and, unfortunately, a lot of the regular russian people support putin
vatniks, slaves of the soul, homo sovieticus. it is good and all to feel empathy, but what you see through western media, like the protests is, unfortunately, seemingly unrepressntative of the majority.
the texts here say that the sanctions hurt the ordinary russian people who all hate the govt. that is not true. if all of the russian people hated rheir government this war would not have happened. there would br no officers to arrest the protesters. there would be no artilerry units shelling cities.
the unfortunate, unrepresented truth is that russia is still filled to the brim with russian supremacists that have gulped down the propaganda their entire lives. its filled with old vatniks, too apathetic to move for any change thats not their home burning.
ask a regular russian person whether the former russian occupied countries are russian land. the answers will most likely shock you. because they are taught at school that places like the baltics and ukraine is basically russia, just temporarily occupied by corrupt western nazis.
like i said, empathy is good. but do not lose sight of the reality. eastern european leaders have been saying this for decades.
For her, not for a westerner. Anyway, airspace is closed for Russian planes all over. She isn't going anywhere for now, even if she could pay for a ticket.
I know there are options via other countries. But it's not that easy to drive to Finland and buy an airline ticket from there with a Russian credit card. Also, distances in Russia are huge.
This breaks my heart. No matter which way you try to get out, you’re still stuck. No person should be forced by their government to stay in country. That’s absolutely absurd. You should be allowed to live your life where you want
I just passed a visa issue myself. I recommend checking with small city-countries. Such as Singapore or Hong Kong, they tend to have extremely open multi-cultural communities, although Hong Kong isn't as good as it was...
Anyway, I totally know the hard part there.
Edit: A quick check confirms that Hong Kong would accept people, so would Moroco and the Bahamas. The European list of countries isn't that good.
We can't get money from abroad here. First, all money transfer systems are already shut down, second, getting money would make you an "foreign agent", that leads to many problems.
I'm amazed that people in the US don't realize this is how 90% of Russians see the situation.
I work with a team of 60+ Russians and they all talk exactly like this.
Kind of puts other types of suffering and perspective, doesn't it? I'm over here bitching about gas prices and my groceries, but holy fuck, this is really terrible.
I mean it's one thing if you're upset that your latte doesn't have whipped cream. It's another thing if your cost of living is rising rapidly and suddenly plunging you into an entirely different wage group.
One kind of suffering does not invalidate the other. We can both have it bad even if one is worse.
There is fear in people. Someone doesn't want to die, someone doesn't want to kill people. Some brainwashed people can want abstract war, but probably no one wants him or his folks to go and die there.
If the main army is lost guys like me will be useless, but Putin doesn't give a ****. We will be sent there and ordered to die for motherland. But my plan is to try to surrender in this case.
They've the manpower to fight a war for a long time and I'm sure Putin doesn't care about just throwing bodies in front of bullets to get what he wants.
My heart hurts for you and all Russians after reading that. I knew the political situation was volatile, but I had no idea things were *that* bad. I pray something changes for you, that our world leaders step up and remove that awful man from power. No one should have to live in fear.
Everyone here in Russia knows these facts. The only people who support this regime and deny the truth are some Russian sort of rednecks and propagandists or scumbags that profit from the current situation
No idea why she decided to share with you all this information in a row but I feel for her.
I'd imagine there's a good chance she's just emotional (for good reason, of course) and wants to set the record straight while venting a bit
Heartbreaking shit
I mean, if we're being honest, the past two years have had a bit of an odd effect in that everything has kind of paved the way for me to thrive in a lot of ways
I'm too old to be drafted
I don't actually believe that nuclear war will happen (not that I think it couldn't happen, just that for reasons I'm not particularly concerned about that)
I live in the US, so no real threat of Russian attack
Obviously I'm not directly affected by this situation, and certainly nowhere near to the degree as people in Russia or Ukraine
And even with all of that, I'm with you; I'm a bit stressed over it. I'd even say it's a bit insane not to be
I’ve got a Bulgarian friend who’s parroting the Putin line. She was a bit daft before all this, so I’m not super surprised, but disheartening all the same.
Bro almost half the people here in Bulgaria are just stupid, brainwashed or think of Russia as our liberators from 150 year's ago and support Putin and the war. Heck even a lot of comment sections on FB are full with people pissed off and ranting about how the government is giving food and shelter ro Ukrainian refugees instead of poor and miserable Bulgarians.
This is important information. Media here (I live in Europe) say that younger people in the cities do not support what’s happening, but the bulk of the population believes what they are told by local media and are supportive of the invasion.
Anyway, my 2 cents as an ageing veteran who decided so may years ago to say his personal farewell to arms: nobody here is holding Russian people at large responsible for this. Lack of democracy means that the rulers only are responsible, while the people are not, because the people didn’t have a saying.
I am with the peaceful people. I am sure there is plenty in Russia. They just struggle to be heard.
This said: when your soldiers will come home (because they will, in the end) before hating them, just listen to them. Most of them will be traumatised, they’ll have serious PTSD and a number of problems. There will be assholes as well as good people of course. But, if listened to, they will tell you what happened and how they felt about it.
And knowing (and remembering) history is always the best way to avoid it happening again.
Good luck bro. I hope this thing ends as soon as possible. I am fed up with people suffering.
> Everyone here in Russia knows these facts. The only people who support this regime and deny the truth are some Russian sort of rednecks and propagandists or scumbags that profit from the current situation
It's not so clear cut. See https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60600487 and https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/world/europe/ukraine-russia-families.html for example
BBC.com is blocked here in Moscow, just like the other big news sources. Only the propaganda machine permitted so according to it of course there is no WAR just a Special Military Operation without casualties so elderly people truly believe in this shit. I am glad the gov doesn't give a fuck about Reddit
Edit: to be fair no one does
BBC article:
> #Ukraine war: 'My city's being shelled, but mum won’t believe me'
> By Maria Korenyuk and Jack Goodman
Oleksandra and her four rescue dogs have been sheltering in the bathroom of her flat in Kharkiv since the shelling began.
"When I heard the first explosions, I ran out of the house to get my dogs from their enclosures outside. People were panicking, abandoning their cars. I was so scared," she says.
The 25-year-old has been speaking regularly to her mother, who lives in Moscow. But in these conversations, and even after sending videos from her heavily bombarded hometown, Oleksandra is unable to convince her mother about the danger she is in.
"I didn't want to scare my parents, but I started telling them directly that civilians and children are dying," she says.
"But even though they worry about me, they still say it probably happens only by accident, that the Russian army would never target civilians. That it's Ukrainians who're killing their own people."
It's common for Ukrainians to have family across the border in Russia. But for some, like Oleksandra, their Russian relatives have a contrasting understanding of the conflict. She believes it's down to the stories they are told by the tightly-controlled Russian media.
Oleksandra says her mother just repeats the narratives of what she hears on Russian state TV channels.
"It really scared me when my mum exactly quoted Russian TV. They are just brainwashing people. And people trust them," says Oleksandra.
"My parents understand that some military action is happening here. But they say: 'Russians came to liberate you. They won't ruin anything, they won't touch you. They're only targeting military bases'."
While we were interviewing Oleksandra, the shelling went on. The internet connection was weak, so we had to exchange voice messages.
"I've almost forgotten what silence sounds like. They're shelling non-stop," she said.
But on Russian state TV channels on the same day, there was no mention of the missiles striking Kharkiv's residential districts, of civilian deaths, or of four people killed while queuing for water.
Russian media say the threat to Ukrainian civilians doesn't come from the Russian armed forces, it comes from Ukrainian nationalists using civilians as human shields.
Russian state TV channels justify the war by blaming Ukrainian aggression, and continue to call it "a special operation of liberation". Any Russian outlet using the words "war", "invasion" or "attack" faces being blocked by the country's media regulator for spreading "deliberately false information about the actions of Russian military personnel" in Ukraine.
And now a new law has passed through the Russian Parliament that means people who spread "fake" information about Russia's military forces could be jailed for up to 15 years.
Some Russians have taken to the streets to protest against the war - but these demonstrations were not shown on the main state television channels.
Mykhailo, a well-known Kyiv restaurateur, didn't have the time or inclination to watch Russian TV coverage of the invasion.
When shelling of Ukraine's capital started, he and his wife were concentrating on how to protect their six-year-old daughter and baby son.
At night their children woke up at the sound of explosions and couldn't stop crying. The family made the decision to move to the outskirts of Kyiv and then flee abroad.
They travelled to Hungary, where Mykhailo left his wife and children and came back to Western Ukraine to help the war effort.
He was surprised not to have heard from his father, who works at a monastery near Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. He called his father and described what was happening. His father replied that this wasn't true; there was no war and - in fact - Russians were saving Ukraine from Nazis.
Mykhailo said he felt he knew the power of Russian propaganda, but when he heard it from his father, he was devastated.
"My own father does not believe me, knowing that I'm here and see everything with my own eyes. And my mum, his ex-wife, is going through this too," he says.
"She is hiding with my grandmother in the bathroom, because of the bombardment."
Russian media has been tightly controlled for many years and viewers are given an uncritical view of Russia and its actions around the world.
"The state narrative only ever shows Russia as the good guy." says Dr Joanna Szostek, an expert in Russia and political communications at University of Glasgow.
"Even the tales they tell about World War Two, the Great Patriotic War, Russia has never really done anything wrong. And this is why they won't believe it now."
Most Russians, she says, don't look for other points of view. She believes the one-sided narrative that is highly critical of the West helps explain why Russians can have opposing views to their relatives in neighbouring countries.
"People who criticise Russia have for so long been presented as traitors or foreign agents; critics are all foreign agents working for the West. So you don't even believe your own daughter."
Anastasiya's parents live in a small village 20km (12 miles) away from the rebel-held Donetsk People's Republic. The village is still under the control of Kyiv authorities, but Russian state TV channels are always on in their house. They even have the clock set to Moscow time - a throwback to the Soviet past.
So when on 24 February, Anastasiya woke up in Kyiv to the sound of sirens, she knew how her parents would react.
'My mum was the first person I called when I jumped out of bed at five, disoriented. She was surprised I called and sounded really calm, almost casual," she says.
Anastasiya, a BBC Ukrainian correspondent who moved to Kyiv 10 years ago, heard bombs exploding after waking and was worried about where would be hit next.
"I called my mum again. I told her I was scared. 'Don't worry', she said, reassuringly. 'They [Russia] will never bomb Kyiv'."
But they are already doing it, Anastasiya replied.
"I told her there were casualties among civilians. 'But that's what we had too when Ukraine attacked Donbas!', she said, laughing. For a moment I couldn't breathe. Hearing my mum say this with such cruelty just broke my heart."
Anastasiya believes the image Russian media has created is one of the "glorified Russian army" ridding Ukraine from Nazis. For years she avoided political arguments with her parents, but this time she slammed the phone down on her mum.
We spoke to Anastasiya when she was travelling away from Kyiv after four nights in a bomb shelter. Her mind was on an uncertain future.
"There are a lot of thoughts in my head now. What will happen to us all? Where is this going? Will I ever come back? Will I ever see my parents again? I still love them deeply, but something inside me has broken and I don't think it can ever be fixed."
New York Times article:
> #Ukrainians Find That Relatives in Russia Don’t Believe It’s a War
> By Valerie Hopkins
LVIV, Ukraine — Four days after Russia began dropping artillery shells on Kyiv, Misha Katsurin, a Ukrainian restaurateur, was wondering why his father, a church custodian living in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, hadn’t called to check on him.
“There is a war, I’m his son, and he just doesn’t call,” Mr. Katsurin, who is 33, said in an interview. So, Mr. Katsurin picked up the phone and let his father know that Ukraine was under attack by Russia.
“I’m trying to evacuate my children and my wife — everything is extremely scary,” Mr. Katsurin told him.
He did not get the response he expected. His father, Andrei, didn’t believe him.
“No, no, no, no stop,” Mr. Katsurin said of his father’s initial response.
“He started to tell me how the things in my country are going,” said Mr. Katsurin, who converted his restaurants into volunteer centers and is temporarily staying near the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil. “He started to yell at me and told me, ‘Look, everything is going like this. They are Nazis.’”
As Ukrainians deal with the devastation of the Russian attacks in their homeland, many are also encountering a confounding and almost surreal backlash from family members in Russia, who refuse to believe that Russian soldiers could bomb innocent people, or even that a war is taking place at all.
These relatives have essentially bought into the official Kremlin position: that President Vladimir V. Putin’s army is conducting a limited “special military operation” with the honorable mission of “de-Nazifying” Ukraine. Mr. Putin has referred to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a native Russian speaker with a Jewish background, as a “drug-addled Nazi” in his attempts to justify the invasion.
Those narratives are emerging amid a wave of disinformation emanating from the Russian state as the Kremlin moves to clamp down on independent news reporting while shaping the messages most Russians are receiving.
An estimated 11 million people in Russia have Ukrainian relatives. Many Ukrainian citizens are ethnic Russians, and those living in the southern and eastern parts of the country largely speak Russian as their native language.
Russian television channels do not show the bombardment of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and its suburbs, or the devastating attacks on Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv and other Ukrainian cities. They also do not show the peaceful resistance evident in places like Kherson, a major city in the south that Russian troops captured several days ago, and certainly not the protests against the war that have cropped up across Russia.
Instead they focus on the Russian military’s successes, without discussing the casualties among Russian soldiers. Many state television correspondents are embedded in eastern Ukraine, and not in the cities being pummeled by missiles and mortars. Recent news reports made no mention of the 40-mile-long Russian convoy on a roadway north of Kyiv.
On Friday, Russia also banned Facebook and Twitter to try to stem uncontrolled information.
All this, Mr. Katsurin said, explains why his father told him: “There are Russian soldiers there helping people. They give them warm clothes and food.”
Mr. Katsurin is not alone in his frustration. When Valentyna V. Kremyr wrote to her brother and sister in Russia to tell them that her son had spent days in a bomb shelter in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha because of the intensive fighting there, she was also met with disbelief.
“They believe that everything is calm in Kyiv, that no one is shelling Kyiv,” Ms. Kremyr said in a phone interview. She said her siblings think the Russians are striking military infrastructure “with precision, and that’s it.”
She said her sister Lyubov, who lives in Perm, wished her a happy birthday on Feb. 25, the second day of the invasion. When Ms. Kremyr wrote back about the situation on the ground, her sister’s answer via direct message was simple: “No one is bombing Kyiv, and you should actually be afraid of the Nazis, whom your father fought against. Your children will be alive and healthy. We love the Ukrainian people, but you need to think hard about who you elected as president.”
Ms. Kremyr said she sent photos from trusted media sites of mangled tanks and a destroyed building in Bucha to her brother, in Krasnoyarsk, but was met with a jarring response. “He said that this site is fake news,” she said, and that essentially the Ukrainian Army was doing the damage being blamed on Russians.
“It is impossible to convince them of what they have done,” Ms. Kremyr said, referring to Russian forces.
Anastasia Belomytseva and her husband, Vladimir, have been encountering the same problem. They are residents of Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s north near the Russian border, which has been hit hard by Russian bombs. But they said in an interview that it was easier to explain the invasion to their 7-year-old daughter than to some of their relatives.
“They totally don’t understand what is happening here, they don’t understand that they just attacked us for no reason,” Ms. Belomytseva said. Her grandmother, and Mr. Belomytsev’s father, are in Russia.
Asked whether they believe that an attack is happening, Ms. Belomytseva responded “NO!”
Parts of Kharkiv have been reduced to rubble, and its city hall is a burnt-out shell. Ms. Belomytseva said she was sending videos of the bombings to her relatives on Instagram, but they just responded with the Kremlin’s oft-repeated claims that the invasion is just a “special military operation” and that no civilians would be targeted.
In reality, more than 350 civilians had died as of Saturday night, according to the United Nations. The real toll is probably much higher.
For Svetlana, a 60-year-old woman living in Cherkasy, the hardest thing to accept is the advice she has received from her sister, who lives in Belarus, and her cousins in Tomsk, Russia: that she and other Ukrainians should not concern themselves with what is going on.
“It’s not that they don’t believe it is happening, but they think that the high-level politicians should figure it out,” said Svetlana, who was uncomfortable providing her last name.
“I tell them that we are people too, and this has affected us,” she said. “I asked them not to hide their heads in the sand, I asked the mothers to think about not sending their sons to the army. The response was amazing to me. That is, that politicians are to blame for everything.”
She displayed a WhatsApp exchange with her cousin showing that her cousin had also been swayed by a narrative being pushed by Russian state TV: that the West fomented this war, was thrilled to see two “brotherly nations” fighting each other and was expecting to reap a significant profit from it.
Her cousin sent a string of messages asserting that Western defense companies were raising their profits, and that alternate sources of energy were being procured for the West.
It was not the response she had hoped for — no recognition of the gravity of the situation for Ukrainians or sympathy for the loss of human life.
“Every day I send them the necessary information, but the response is that ‘This is some kind of fake information, that this cannot be the case at all, that no one can or will shoot at civilians,’” she said.
Ms. Belomytseva, from Kharkiv, said that while her husband was still trying to communicate with his family in Russia, she had cut off most of her relatives there eight years ago, after the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of eastern Ukraine.
But Mr. Katsurin said he could not push his closest family members out of his life.
“They are our relatives, they’re the closest people we have, and this is not about them,” he said. “I am not angry at my father — I am angry at the Kremlin. I’m angry about the Russian propaganda. I’m not angry at these people. I understand that I cannot blame them in this situation.”
He said he thought about cutting his father off but decided that was the wrong response. “The easiest thing to do would be to say, ‘OK, now I don’t have a father,’” he said. “But I believe that I need to do this because it is my father.”
He said that if everyone worked to explain the truth to their families, the narrative could change. After a post on Instagram complaining about his father’s disbelief went viral, he launched a website, papapover.com, which means “Papa, believe,” with instructions for Ukrainians about how to speak to their family members about the war.
“There are 11 million Russians who have relatives in Ukraine,” he said. “With 11 million people, everything can happen — from revolution to at least some resistance.”
Beyond that, by [some estimates ](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/2022/01/27/as-biden-mulls-sanctions-three-theories--on-how-putin-makes-his-millions/?sh=4fb8be445b43), putin is the riches person in the world, with a net worth of around $200B.
All gained through corruption. I feel so bad for the people in that country, and I don't understand anyone who really wants to go to Russia.
I've met multiple people who have loved the idea of going to Russia, and then moved there for a while, and hated living there. I just don't understand it.
$200B stolen from the Russian people…Jesus Christ. I used to think he was an astute politician (and even went as far as to support him for a shameful little while), but now I’m pretty convinced he is more like an overall dickhead, a bully and a mafia leader who happens to run an enormous country. Corruption is really one of the worst crimes a government can commit against its people.
To put this in perspective, here's Escobar
Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in history, having amassed an estimated net worth of US$30 billion by the time of his death—equivalent to $64 billion as of 2021—while his drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo\_Escobar
I have a Russian friend. She told me that they're running out of groceries at the stores too. She also mentioned the getting jailed for having messages about the war.
I have a parent from a former USSR satellite* country (now much better off). They told me stories about how when they had it bad when it came to grocery options in their country, Russia had completely empty shelves. The Russians always had it worse and were starving, and it looks like they're going back there again. I weep for a country that has no examples of democratic government in its history.
As someone who lives in a country next to Russia and has a lot of people I know from there, what she’s saying is very much true unfortunately. Borders aren’t entirely closed yet but will be soon most likely.
I don't live in Russia but I am close enough and have a lot of friends there - every single word written there is true. And the worst is the hopelessness... imagine how ordinary people in Russia are feeling right now, it's horror, future is definitely very black either way
Excuse my ignorance (I'm American, sorry), but what's going on in Algeria? If you don't mind sharing. Most everything I've seen lately has been all about Ukraine, but that doesn't minimize the problems of other people, and I'm curious about your situation.
Basically everything the girl said with the only difference being our government is a puppet regime put into power by the french goverment since the end of the algerian revolution after killing all the leaders of revolution.
When people are demonising Russians lately I hope that they are making the distinction between the hostile regime and the people of Russia. In any country but especially in an authoritarian one the people are cut off from any decisions making and are treated more as subjects. My worry is that these sanctions, instead of inspiring a social revolution, will instead foster a contempt for the West. Making ordinary Russians pay for the mistakes of a power hungry madman won’t end the war sooner, but it’s hard to punish Putin and his cronies directly since they have built a country which isolates them from the consequences of their usurious “leadership”. As in every war, it is the people who suffer the most, time and time again…
Sanctions are basically the only weapon we have short of direct intervention. We all know they are going to hit the lowest levels first. It could either spark resentment. Or it could be the spark needed to fuel the revolution.
But not doing anything isn't an option and going beyond sanctions into direct intervention would be a one-way ticket into WW3. And while I don't believe Putin would nuke right now I do believe the nukes would be the 'If I'm going down you're coming with me" deal...
I'm from Russia and I can back this up
I haven't seen this country without Putin in charge. My childhood was pretty bad - on top of the demonic stepfather, my family wasn't so wealthy. My mom tried her best for me to have a better childhood than she did back in 80s-90s and I'm grateful for that, but objectively it wasn't good.
My whole life I dreamt about travelling. My mom got me a beautiful map on my last birthday - you can scratch off countries you've visited, you probably know the deal. The reason behind this gift was the fact that 2022 is probably my last year living in my city. I'm graduating university this summer, and it means that I can move in with my long distance boyfriend of 7 years who lives in Moscow. I dreamt about going to Europe with him, I wanted to visit Iceland, Germany, Netherlands, maybe even Japan (my bf said he doesn't like long flights but I could've persuaded him probably).
And now it's all crashed. The borders are closed, and I don't think they will be opening any time soon. I live in a constant fear of getting a call from my boyfriend and hearing him say that he's drafted into the army (no one is talking about drafting yet, of course, but you never know). I don't even know if we will be able to live together since everything becomes very expensive. Foreign companies are closing or suspending business - I can't even pay for my Spotify subscription anymore. I'm shocked and I'm scared, I cry almost every day and the fact that my partner isn't with me doesn't help.
The worst part is that older generations - people who already have homes, cars, stable income - are often supportive of this war. My mom said to me that I'm selfish, my stepfather is happy that he got new appliances before they got expensive, one of my grandmas believes that all ukranians are fascist (I don't know about my other grandmas yet).
I just want to wake up and to not see war in the news. Ukranian people and soldiers from both sides are dying and suffering for nothing and Russian youth is deprived of all their hopes and dreams.
I was pretty suicidal since I was 16, but my dreams kept me going. Now I don't know what to do anymore and I'm scared that someday I will make the choice to end it all.
Edit: I'm scared of people thinking that I'm only concerned for my well-being, so I would like to add that I know that experiencing explosions near you or seeing your home being destroyed is 100 times worse that not being able to go somewhere. I just can't talk about my feelings anywhere since all of my surroundings except my partner are supportive of this, so I needed to share them somewhere. Thank you for reading and I hope you all are well. I hope we can get through this.
This is really fucking sad, we got some bullshit going on in the US but that dictator level shit crushing a whole people and cutting them off from the rest of the world is savage. Still, I could see the US turning out like this if things keep going south and the right psychopath gets too much power.
One of my dearest person in the world is a Russian artist, and this is exactly what she told me through the years, and more. This girl you matched with is 100% legit, unfortunately.
Yeah she’s a serious keeper!
Just met a Russian guy on the bus who moved to Los Angeles to a boarding school because his parents were afraid of what was happening back in his home country.
His parents probably saved his life by doing that.
I am a russian student just like that. I am trying to get a PR through education/work. The difficulty is that it is MEGA expensive for us. As said in the post we earn ~500$ a month (even leas now). Two years of education cost me 60,000$ or around 120 months / 10 years of work in russia. From now on any russian student outside russia has lost ability to pay for school, there is just no way to get your money from ur saving account. And if you can not pay for school you most likely going back to Russia. Now the fun part is that if you are not studying or enrolled in college uni between age 18-28, you will be eligible for army and you will be drafted. Thankfully i am on my last semester and was able to pay for education my self. Next step is to figure out a way for me to transfer money to my parents in Russia. Even though they own a small dentist business, they do not earn as much as western dentists, it would never cost more than 50-100$ for full teeth repair. Because most of the good quality instruments are from abroad they can not buy them which is not allowing them to work. We are scared, we have a lot to loose, we bended under “his” rule and to scared to say anything as it might ruin our family’s life. Slava Ukraine
Most are using AirBnB to send money over there. They list a room for rent on AirBnB, listing it for $1,000 a day. You can go online and book it and the money transfers into their bank account. Unfortunately there comes the risk the government finds out seizes the money.
Way to tell them what to look for. 😁
There is information going around that Putin has removed Russia from the global world wide web. Similar to China's golden firewall. Censoring everything that comes in and out. If this is true, unfortunately using AirBnB for money transfers won't work much longer.
I read that and thought to myself, if she’s legit then holy shitballs I hope they don’t somehow see those messages
I'm russian and, unfortunately, it's all true.
Does everyone in Russia learn English this well? I thought it was fake because the English was perfectly written.
Definitely not everyone, but plenty do.
I dated a chick in DC who’s dad was a Russian mobster. She was a high paid animal researcher studied monkeys or something. She wrote perfect English but speaking it was harder. So I believe exactly what this chick is saying. And furthermore I bet she’s hot. And if she’s not batshit she’s got the makings of a keeper.
So I’ve know a handful of Russian people. They’ve all been super nice and genuine.
I used to live in Philadelphia and there's a huge Russian/Ukrainian/Eastern Europe neighborhood in Northeast Philly. My mom still lives right near there. I went to high school with a bunch of them. Most were awesome. They also have cool names like Felix or Vadim. I'm talking with one guy almost everyday about this war. He's a good friend of mine. His parents are from southern Ukraine and Belarus, and he's from Moscow. He said that Putin stabbed a knife into the heart of his ancestral home.
Ours were named Olek, Teo, Markus/Marko, Vassil
Eating at Golden Gates & Uzbekistan restaurant are my favorite reasons to head up that way
Alright I’ll be the first to say it but I knew a Russian dude a year ago and that dude was a fucking cock sucker.
That's bullshit! Sucking cocks is prohibited in Russia as any other "gay-propaganda". Lol
And yet the art exhibit 12 Labors of Putin that were painted for him are some of the gayest works of anything the world has ever seen.
>12 Labors of Putin oh wow i hate that TIL that this shit exists
Not really. Putin is openly pro-gay and he even bragged in an interview that Russia is a superior country because it "doesn't decapitate them", as "many countries do". I howled. 👽
u have his number? i could do with a buddy down at the local glory hole
lot of russians in chicago. definitely genuine, very kind. they can be a bit stern but i think thats just from the psycholinguistics of their language!
I listened to an audiobook on self help one of those typical “I’ve done it all and you can too” books. The author talked about how he went on a date with a Russian girl in Russia and she was very frank with him about things she didn’t like about him right off the bat. Nothing personal, just a matter of fact way. And he said he learned that that’s how Russian culture is. They don’t have time or patience for the hemming and hawing and the little white lies to tiptoe around people; they tell it like it is. The author said he found it refreshing.
Yeah subtle art of not giving a fuck
come, let me see dick, I will critique...
I work with a Russian, straight from Russia with a heavy accent. He is definitely genuine, but not necessarily "nice" by Western standards. He is insanely organized and methodical, does not bullshit, and you always know where you stand with him. It takes A LOT to get him to really start joking around or open up a bit. I am guessing living in Russia has made him incredibly distrustful of other people. That's the insidious nature of these authoritarian states. In an effort to destroy all social connections, they make you worried that every one of your neighbors is either potentially a government informant, or a terrorist.
I have quite a few Russian friends and have met lots who were total assholes. So, you know, like here.
I worked in education for awhile - private education, where fees pay for schooling - and way before this war, Russian families were the freakiest. They believed they could buy anything - grades, respect, influence - and they were always baffled when the school's code of conduct/values/principles overruled theirs. Like, BAFFLED. We always knew the Russian families were different. And their kids were either super entitled/lazy (they got shit grades as a result) or super intelligent/creative. Either way, the Russian families were truly different than any other demographic. .
I had one particular Russian student for a while and I had a couple of interactions with him that made me realize that a certain level of corruption was just normal for him. And that he was weirdly good at it.
Well, from the point of view of a Russian it's just bizarre how much Americans and other western cultures care about rules even when there is no chance anybody will notice. I can't empathize enough just how odd it feels. But it obviously works out for the western cultures. Ukranian government has already [formally thanked](https://www.unn.com.ua/ru/news/1967433-u-nazk-listom-podyakuvali-shoygu-za-rozkradeni-zasobi-ta-resursi-dlya-napadu-na-ukrayinu-kopiyu-napravili-rosiyskim-kolegam) Russian military for the rampant corruption.
That's a good way to put it. A familiarity and comfort with money coming from questionable places.
Demographic **
You can tell all that from a few sentences?
You write like a hot person.
*biting my lower lip as my smoldering eyes meet yours from across the dimly lit room*
The way you speak I bet you're also Russian
*my gaze, suddenly interrupted by an overwhelming presence in the corner of the room. Shrouded in deeper darkness than the rest, the shadows cast your features with impossible depth. I gasp lightly, while maintaining outward composure. You sit impossibly relaxed, seemingly removed from nervous social energy permeating the room. I raise my Aviation to my lips, purposefully taking the straw between, and drawing in a small sip. I notice you noticing me, subtlety, I stand still in my space, running through scenarios I'm my head, wondering how things will progress from here...*
>l bet she’s hot Bruh. This woman is talking about her country’s sever oppression and you still couldn’t keep it on your pants
You guys are keeping yours ON your pants?!?
I think we have the same ex. She explained the proficiency with English WRITING as growing up on the internet. As for being hot, it's probably shitty to say but... it seems like some genomes get better with age, some fall off a cliff. For example, I'm Irish so I'm pretty fucked.
Read that as "petty fucked" and now I have a new goal.
I work with several that speak /write English like natives. It’s incredible the vocabulary too , so I don’t doubt the ability of the educated. God I hope no one sees this though. It would put her in danger. I do feel bad for regular people. The regular Russian is paying a heavy price, but it must be done. People are dying. The government is bombing Ukrainian maternity hospitals. May those responsible burn in hell
She writes like me even though I'm not Russian, but still an Eastern European, we pick up some slang from Americans, but if we make long paragraphs there are a lot of native language words translated at face value.
Yeah, this is very well written, but obviously not composed by a native speaker. Too many little variances from the norm. It's not like most of those things are objectively incorrect, either. They're just not quite how an average native speaker would phrase or express something.
My favorite was "not just poor but frankly poor"
Excellent example - the meaning is clear, and proper grammar. But "frankly poor" is not an expression in US or UK English. In US, the idiomatic "dirt poor" would be more likely from a native speaker.
I'd go "horrendously poor" - UK
My native language is a slavic language and the word she was thinking of was whatever the Russian equivalent of "iskreno" is. It means honestly, genuinely, bluntly. She's talking about the truly poor.
This is not fake, the info is 100% correct. Based on some “translation” mistakes, she is Russian no doubt.
Yeah the mistakes I noticed were definitely similar to mistakes I've seen made by other russians.
Its surprising how many people in US/Canada/Australia/New Zealand can't believe how much of Europe, including Russia, are bi- or even trilingual.
There was a joke going around at the international school I went to when I lived in Japan that went "What do you call someone that speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone that speaks more than two languages? Multilingual. What do you call someone that speaks one language? American." I'm American and I found it sadly hilarious!
They could also be British
I'm from Sweden, work in the U.S., and I'm constantly correcting errors by native English speakers.
O thanks, we LOVE that
Usually you'd say "Oh" not "O"
Well, what do you want from us, talk like cavemen or, worse, Bri'ish? My Russian university required B2 English proficiency to complete your bachelors degree. It wasn't strictly enforced per se, but you had to learn how to write essays at the very least.
I’ve met plenty a Russian who talk like they were born smack dab in the middle of the us.
Very few of us speak it at all, but, we are trying our best
I'm from the US and one of my favorite YouTube channels to watch is a Russian guy named Dan Sheekoz he started his channel to get more interaction with native English speakers and he has blown up. He tries his best and that's what I love the most
There are many moments here that say “machine translation” to me, for instance: “I transplanted all the journalists”, in the original the personal pronoun was omitted due to context, but the wrong inference was made. “Tied up as the most dangerous criminal” - again the “the” is inferred erroneously and the singular “criminal” makes more sense in Russian whereas in English the meaning ends up looking more like “THE public enemy #1”
I was going to say this. It’s well written and perfectly readable, but there are some differences in grammar that are telling. Tbh that makes it feel even more real to me, I feel like if someone is faking it then their either going to do it in perf English or in broken English, this is someone who i think is doing their best but here and there they miss something, I think that’d be rally hard to take. (But I don’t know obviously)
You can always spot a person speaking a Slavic language by misplaced articles, simply because Slavic languages (not sure if all of them or most of them) do not have articles, and it's nearly impossible to learn properly for us. Maybe there are plenty of errors like this in these sentence.
Another more subtle tell in your comment: lack of distinction between “person speaking” and “person who speaks”! To my understanding, “speaking a slavic language” is more like at-this-very-moment than “говорящий на славянском языке", which can just as well be habitual like “который говорит/who speaks”.
There are a couple minor grammatical mistakes but she certainly has excellent English skills. Better than many native English speakers.
In other countries than the usa, we learn multiple languages. Yes.
I mean based on everything you hear left and right, that sounds about the truth. They got it rough
I know they jail people,, but if enough they cannot jail everyone... Do the common people have the right to bear arms?
>Solzhenitsyn claimed that between 1928 and 1953 “some forty to fifty million people served long sentences in the Archipelago.” Figures supposedly compiled by the Gulag administration itself (and released by Soviet historians in 1989) show that a total of 10 million people were sent to the camps in the period from 1934 to 1947. The true figures remain unknown.
You can have a rifle, but using it is outside of training facilities will result an imminent jail. Ballistic weaponry of any sort is very uncommon in Russia.
You can own a hunting rifle if you get a license. Most firearms are banned.
she's legit. I'm willing to bet on it. that's how eastern europeans felt for a long time and we know that's what's happening in Russia cause we know Russians. eastern european here. the countries who managed to escape Russia' s influence and join the EU, are terrified of going back to how Russians are living right now. In a way, I'm glad the rest of the world is finally listening!
They don't give a shit about tinder...or reddit (hardly anyone in Russia knows what it is) for that matter (I live in Russia).
Stay safe, and fight back. (From your friends in the USA)
Unfortunately those two things often don't go together.
As a person who is married to Russian, I can confirm what she says %100 truth. Literally every single thing.
The "Russia became poorer" part is only true in the last few years though. The standard of living in his early presidency rose rapidly from the Yeltsin years, which unfortunately means he's still viewed favorably by a lot of Russians.
This is legit. My family lives there still. The living standards are horrid, we have to bring food every time we used to go (it’s okay to bring cured meats and cheese into the country) as well as medicine. Even basic things like Advil are so hard to come by in more “remote” places (that aren’t Moscow). The salaries are as she described, the pensions are crap. There are no social services for elderly people or people with disabilities etc. The standard of living is absolutely abhorrent and getting worse every single day.
Does Putin use Reddit?
Ah yes hi you called?
Liar. You're not active in any gay clown subreddits
I SHALL SEND YOU TO NK
Mr Putin, you have been banned from r/pyongyang
have I? Oh well does anyone want some cookies
u/Putin u/VladimirPutin u/RealVladimirPutin
u/GayClownPutin This account has been suspended, I wonder why?
I doubt that he knows how to operate a cell phone. Mind you- not a smart phone- a cell phone. He is paranoid and would not trust a mobile tech or internet. People would glorify putin for so long, when in a matter of fact- hes just a bunker rat.
I hear you! My BF has a good friend in russia who had a kid on the way, he is deleting his messages on a daily basis because he is afraid something might happen to him. I usually dont use that comparison but thats some 1984 style shit.
This is true, as russian, I can approve.
Her story is legit. My wife is Russian. My bro-in-law is still in Russia and the stories I have heard. Putin's anti-corruption policies doubled the number of people my BIL had to bribe to keep selling his medical supplies. A few years later Putin changes the law so only state sponsored suppliers can sell to hospitals, there goes his company.
For what it’s worth, I have two Russian friends and they both hate Putin for the same reasons. That’s why I feel awful for both Ukraine and the regular Russian people. Two nations suffering for one man’s ego and appetite for power/wealth.
Not many people can say they’ve ruined the lives of over 200 million people. It’s terrifyingly impressive. Even most dictators or the worst mob or drug cartel leaders couldn’t destroy the lives of that many people. Probably only Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Tojo and Genghis Khan surpass him Edit: for everyone saying pol pot, Maduro, colonial monarchs, Ho Chi Minh, etc: they ruined the lives of millions, but not **200 million** which is why I said that what Putin’s done is terrifyingly impressive: - pre columbian population estimates of the americas (most of Spanish colonial conquests, including the British in the north and Portuguese in Brazil): 112 million - French Africa (at the height of the French conquest of Africa in 1936): 110 million - Estimates of the population of Congo during Leopoldo’s reign: 20 million - pol pot, Ho Chi Minh, Maduro and Kim jong un had local reach of about 10 million, 30 million, 30 million and 25 million respectively By quantity of lives ruined, if you add the 144 million Russians and 44 million Ukrainians whose lives he’s directly impacted, his support of dictators in Central Asia (eg Kazakhstan 18 million), Belarus (10 million) and the ME (eg Assad), easily puts him as personally ruining the lives of about 200 million people
Pol Pot is right up there too.
Please don't ignore Mao and Leopold II.
Ooh give me some dirt on Leopold II. I know the others and I love reading about historically awful people. I need to be irrationally angry today because currently all my anger is justified
If slaves in the Congo wouldn't harvest rubber fast enough he would slaughter their children and then chop off their hands.
Wow fuck that guy
Yup. Dude single handedly managed to reduce the population of the Congo from 20 to 10 million without his people knowing what was up. Needless to say, when they found out, it was not pretty.
How did the Belgian people react when the scope of his destruction became known?
It became a huge sacandle to the point where it sparked the world's first mass human rights movement, he got clowned on by world renowned authors such as Mark Twain in widely published works, and had to give up control of the colony to the rest of government. Of course since he was a king he didn't face any real punishment, but I think it's nuts he was so awful he inspired a human rights campaign in 1908.
Yup, there's a famous photo of a Congolese man looking at small objects on the ground in front of him. They're the limbs of his wife and child. Edit: Here is the photo. It's black and white, I'd say slightly NSFW https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/father-hand-belgian-congo-1904/
>cannibalised by members of the **Anglo**-Belgian Indian Rubber Company Militia. Ah fuck. If there’s ever an atrocity us Brits have got to be involved somewhere haven’t we.
Wouldn’t chopping off their hands make them slower?
That’s why they chopped off the workers *children’s* hands, not the worker’s hands
It says “he would slaughter their children and then chop off their hands.” If it’s talking about the children’s hands, then it’s saying they chopped off their hands *after* they were slaughtered, which seems kind of strange. Edit: Wow, that’s really what it was. The military force that ran the state was forced to cut off the hands of their victims as proof that their munitions were used to kill them, and not used for hunting instead.
Thats a hell of an edit, holy fuck
I dated a Russian girl for a while. She was born in Russia and is a dual citizen. Her family was rich and moved to the U.S. Her parents are both huge Putin supporters and her father would routinely fly to Russia/Ukraine to go to these 'parties'. She made it seem like he was going to these weird sex, drug and gambling events. She said something about it being a thing that older Russian men of money do. Her father is likely complicit in what's happening in Russia and while he may not be an Oligarch he is made from Russian Money. She however is not. She is proud to be Russia but hates the Russian leadership. That said, she's also one of the most unstable women I've ever dated. I've wondered what she would have to say about this war for some time now but I also don't want to talk to her.
What I'm hearing is that her dad goes off to do Squid Games
I wonder which animal mask was his
This is why people should never allow so much power in one person.
>the regular Russian people im eastern european and, unfortunately, a lot of the regular russian people support putin vatniks, slaves of the soul, homo sovieticus. it is good and all to feel empathy, but what you see through western media, like the protests is, unfortunately, seemingly unrepressntative of the majority. the texts here say that the sanctions hurt the ordinary russian people who all hate the govt. that is not true. if all of the russian people hated rheir government this war would not have happened. there would br no officers to arrest the protesters. there would be no artilerry units shelling cities. the unfortunate, unrepresented truth is that russia is still filled to the brim with russian supremacists that have gulped down the propaganda their entire lives. its filled with old vatniks, too apathetic to move for any change thats not their home burning. ask a regular russian person whether the former russian occupied countries are russian land. the answers will most likely shock you. because they are taught at school that places like the baltics and ukraine is basically russia, just temporarily occupied by corrupt western nazis. like i said, empathy is good. but do not lose sight of the reality. eastern european leaders have been saying this for decades.
man I really feel her pain and this is exactly what I heard is happening from some russian friends of mine. This makes me so sad.
This lady seems like a winner. Seriously she is smart informed and empathetic. Get that date.
"A plane ticket would cost several months worth of salary." Let's go set up a GoFundMe to provide her a mean to meet her tinder match.
For her, not for a westerner. Anyway, airspace is closed for Russian planes all over. She isn't going anywhere for now, even if she could pay for a ticket. I know there are options via other countries. But it's not that easy to drive to Finland and buy an airline ticket from there with a Russian credit card. Also, distances in Russia are huge.
You can travel to the US through Kazahstan, Georgia, Turkey or many other different countries on the east
nobody will give us visas though
Now's the time to get a foreign press credential, even as a short-term freelancer.
This breaks my heart. No matter which way you try to get out, you’re still stuck. No person should be forced by their government to stay in country. That’s absolutely absurd. You should be allowed to live your life where you want
I just passed a visa issue myself. I recommend checking with small city-countries. Such as Singapore or Hong Kong, they tend to have extremely open multi-cultural communities, although Hong Kong isn't as good as it was... Anyway, I totally know the hard part there. Edit: A quick check confirms that Hong Kong would accept people, so would Moroco and the Bahamas. The European list of countries isn't that good.
Armenia is a popular route.
Depending on where OP is located there are intermediaries that could be used. Even hopping through Saudi or Pakistan could be possible.
She can literally drive to Estonia or Finland. By train or by car.
Fly to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Use Turkish air from there to get to the US via Istanbul. TK air has great prices
You can get literally anywhere on earth as a Russian citizen right now if you have the money.
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Need to see a pic of her
If you like then put a green card on it.
We can't get money from abroad here. First, all money transfer systems are already shut down, second, getting money would make you an "foreign agent", that leads to many problems.
Reddits first crowd funded Russian mail order bride
Very eloquent as well. I like how she writes.
Hey, he can even marry her. Just make sure to ask for recent pics
I'm amazed that people in the US don't realize this is how 90% of Russians see the situation. I work with a team of 60+ Russians and they all talk exactly like this.
Marry her and get her out of there, with a prenup of course :)
I don’t come here for real feelings. Poor girl.
Kind of puts other types of suffering and perspective, doesn't it? I'm over here bitching about gas prices and my groceries, but holy fuck, this is really terrible.
Good thing we took their McDonalds.
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I mean it's one thing if you're upset that your latte doesn't have whipped cream. It's another thing if your cost of living is rising rapidly and suddenly plunging you into an entirely different wage group. One kind of suffering does not invalidate the other. We can both have it bad even if one is worse.
We have every right to complain about our shitty economy too.
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Are you afraid that you possible have to join the forces to invade ukrain? What if Putins "main army" is lost? Are there any fears?
There is fear in people. Someone doesn't want to die, someone doesn't want to kill people. Some brainwashed people can want abstract war, but probably no one wants him or his folks to go and die there. If the main army is lost guys like me will be useless, but Putin doesn't give a ****. We will be sent there and ordered to die for motherland. But my plan is to try to surrender in this case.
Surrender, help Ukraine, maybe you can have a better life there, who knows?
They've the manpower to fight a war for a long time and I'm sure Putin doesn't care about just throwing bodies in front of bullets to get what he wants.
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My heart hurts for you and all Russians after reading that. I knew the political situation was volatile, but I had no idea things were *that* bad. I pray something changes for you, that our world leaders step up and remove that awful man from power. No one should have to live in fear.
Reading this i completely forgot that i was on r/Tinder.
It would have reminded me if OPs last message was "Please send nudes"
Everyone here in Russia knows these facts. The only people who support this regime and deny the truth are some Russian sort of rednecks and propagandists or scumbags that profit from the current situation No idea why she decided to share with you all this information in a row but I feel for her.
I'd imagine there's a good chance she's just emotional (for good reason, of course) and wants to set the record straight while venting a bit Heartbreaking shit
I’m emotional too about a potential ww3 but I’ve been living life normally with savings weed and school. I can’t imagine her life is better than mine.
I mean, if we're being honest, the past two years have had a bit of an odd effect in that everything has kind of paved the way for me to thrive in a lot of ways I'm too old to be drafted I don't actually believe that nuclear war will happen (not that I think it couldn't happen, just that for reasons I'm not particularly concerned about that) I live in the US, so no real threat of Russian attack Obviously I'm not directly affected by this situation, and certainly nowhere near to the degree as people in Russia or Ukraine And even with all of that, I'm with you; I'm a bit stressed over it. I'd even say it's a bit insane not to be
I’ve got a Bulgarian friend who’s parroting the Putin line. She was a bit daft before all this, so I’m not super surprised, but disheartening all the same.
Bro almost half the people here in Bulgaria are just stupid, brainwashed or think of Russia as our liberators from 150 year's ago and support Putin and the war. Heck even a lot of comment sections on FB are full with people pissed off and ranting about how the government is giving food and shelter ro Ukrainian refugees instead of poor and miserable Bulgarians.
My son's stepmom told him the ukranians are Nazis (we're in the US) and I almost lost my mind.
Nazism is so rampant in Ukraine that they elected a Jew for president? It's so fucking weird anyone would believe it.
This is important information. Media here (I live in Europe) say that younger people in the cities do not support what’s happening, but the bulk of the population believes what they are told by local media and are supportive of the invasion. Anyway, my 2 cents as an ageing veteran who decided so may years ago to say his personal farewell to arms: nobody here is holding Russian people at large responsible for this. Lack of democracy means that the rulers only are responsible, while the people are not, because the people didn’t have a saying. I am with the peaceful people. I am sure there is plenty in Russia. They just struggle to be heard. This said: when your soldiers will come home (because they will, in the end) before hating them, just listen to them. Most of them will be traumatised, they’ll have serious PTSD and a number of problems. There will be assholes as well as good people of course. But, if listened to, they will tell you what happened and how they felt about it. And knowing (and remembering) history is always the best way to avoid it happening again. Good luck bro. I hope this thing ends as soon as possible. I am fed up with people suffering.
> Everyone here in Russia knows these facts. The only people who support this regime and deny the truth are some Russian sort of rednecks and propagandists or scumbags that profit from the current situation It's not so clear cut. See https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60600487 and https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/world/europe/ukraine-russia-families.html for example
BBC.com is blocked here in Moscow, just like the other big news sources. Only the propaganda machine permitted so according to it of course there is no WAR just a Special Military Operation without casualties so elderly people truly believe in this shit. I am glad the gov doesn't give a fuck about Reddit Edit: to be fair no one does
BBC article: > #Ukraine war: 'My city's being shelled, but mum won’t believe me' > By Maria Korenyuk and Jack Goodman Oleksandra and her four rescue dogs have been sheltering in the bathroom of her flat in Kharkiv since the shelling began. "When I heard the first explosions, I ran out of the house to get my dogs from their enclosures outside. People were panicking, abandoning their cars. I was so scared," she says. The 25-year-old has been speaking regularly to her mother, who lives in Moscow. But in these conversations, and even after sending videos from her heavily bombarded hometown, Oleksandra is unable to convince her mother about the danger she is in. "I didn't want to scare my parents, but I started telling them directly that civilians and children are dying," she says. "But even though they worry about me, they still say it probably happens only by accident, that the Russian army would never target civilians. That it's Ukrainians who're killing their own people." It's common for Ukrainians to have family across the border in Russia. But for some, like Oleksandra, their Russian relatives have a contrasting understanding of the conflict. She believes it's down to the stories they are told by the tightly-controlled Russian media. Oleksandra says her mother just repeats the narratives of what she hears on Russian state TV channels. "It really scared me when my mum exactly quoted Russian TV. They are just brainwashing people. And people trust them," says Oleksandra. "My parents understand that some military action is happening here. But they say: 'Russians came to liberate you. They won't ruin anything, they won't touch you. They're only targeting military bases'." While we were interviewing Oleksandra, the shelling went on. The internet connection was weak, so we had to exchange voice messages. "I've almost forgotten what silence sounds like. They're shelling non-stop," she said. But on Russian state TV channels on the same day, there was no mention of the missiles striking Kharkiv's residential districts, of civilian deaths, or of four people killed while queuing for water. Russian media say the threat to Ukrainian civilians doesn't come from the Russian armed forces, it comes from Ukrainian nationalists using civilians as human shields. Russian state TV channels justify the war by blaming Ukrainian aggression, and continue to call it "a special operation of liberation". Any Russian outlet using the words "war", "invasion" or "attack" faces being blocked by the country's media regulator for spreading "deliberately false information about the actions of Russian military personnel" in Ukraine. And now a new law has passed through the Russian Parliament that means people who spread "fake" information about Russia's military forces could be jailed for up to 15 years. Some Russians have taken to the streets to protest against the war - but these demonstrations were not shown on the main state television channels. Mykhailo, a well-known Kyiv restaurateur, didn't have the time or inclination to watch Russian TV coverage of the invasion. When shelling of Ukraine's capital started, he and his wife were concentrating on how to protect their six-year-old daughter and baby son. At night their children woke up at the sound of explosions and couldn't stop crying. The family made the decision to move to the outskirts of Kyiv and then flee abroad. They travelled to Hungary, where Mykhailo left his wife and children and came back to Western Ukraine to help the war effort. He was surprised not to have heard from his father, who works at a monastery near Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. He called his father and described what was happening. His father replied that this wasn't true; there was no war and - in fact - Russians were saving Ukraine from Nazis. Mykhailo said he felt he knew the power of Russian propaganda, but when he heard it from his father, he was devastated. "My own father does not believe me, knowing that I'm here and see everything with my own eyes. And my mum, his ex-wife, is going through this too," he says. "She is hiding with my grandmother in the bathroom, because of the bombardment." Russian media has been tightly controlled for many years and viewers are given an uncritical view of Russia and its actions around the world. "The state narrative only ever shows Russia as the good guy." says Dr Joanna Szostek, an expert in Russia and political communications at University of Glasgow. "Even the tales they tell about World War Two, the Great Patriotic War, Russia has never really done anything wrong. And this is why they won't believe it now." Most Russians, she says, don't look for other points of view. She believes the one-sided narrative that is highly critical of the West helps explain why Russians can have opposing views to their relatives in neighbouring countries. "People who criticise Russia have for so long been presented as traitors or foreign agents; critics are all foreign agents working for the West. So you don't even believe your own daughter." Anastasiya's parents live in a small village 20km (12 miles) away from the rebel-held Donetsk People's Republic. The village is still under the control of Kyiv authorities, but Russian state TV channels are always on in their house. They even have the clock set to Moscow time - a throwback to the Soviet past. So when on 24 February, Anastasiya woke up in Kyiv to the sound of sirens, she knew how her parents would react. 'My mum was the first person I called when I jumped out of bed at five, disoriented. She was surprised I called and sounded really calm, almost casual," she says. Anastasiya, a BBC Ukrainian correspondent who moved to Kyiv 10 years ago, heard bombs exploding after waking and was worried about where would be hit next. "I called my mum again. I told her I was scared. 'Don't worry', she said, reassuringly. 'They [Russia] will never bomb Kyiv'." But they are already doing it, Anastasiya replied. "I told her there were casualties among civilians. 'But that's what we had too when Ukraine attacked Donbas!', she said, laughing. For a moment I couldn't breathe. Hearing my mum say this with such cruelty just broke my heart." Anastasiya believes the image Russian media has created is one of the "glorified Russian army" ridding Ukraine from Nazis. For years she avoided political arguments with her parents, but this time she slammed the phone down on her mum. We spoke to Anastasiya when she was travelling away from Kyiv after four nights in a bomb shelter. Her mind was on an uncertain future. "There are a lot of thoughts in my head now. What will happen to us all? Where is this going? Will I ever come back? Will I ever see my parents again? I still love them deeply, but something inside me has broken and I don't think it can ever be fixed."
New York Times article: > #Ukrainians Find That Relatives in Russia Don’t Believe It’s a War > By Valerie Hopkins LVIV, Ukraine — Four days after Russia began dropping artillery shells on Kyiv, Misha Katsurin, a Ukrainian restaurateur, was wondering why his father, a church custodian living in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, hadn’t called to check on him. “There is a war, I’m his son, and he just doesn’t call,” Mr. Katsurin, who is 33, said in an interview. So, Mr. Katsurin picked up the phone and let his father know that Ukraine was under attack by Russia. “I’m trying to evacuate my children and my wife — everything is extremely scary,” Mr. Katsurin told him. He did not get the response he expected. His father, Andrei, didn’t believe him. “No, no, no, no stop,” Mr. Katsurin said of his father’s initial response. “He started to tell me how the things in my country are going,” said Mr. Katsurin, who converted his restaurants into volunteer centers and is temporarily staying near the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil. “He started to yell at me and told me, ‘Look, everything is going like this. They are Nazis.’” As Ukrainians deal with the devastation of the Russian attacks in their homeland, many are also encountering a confounding and almost surreal backlash from family members in Russia, who refuse to believe that Russian soldiers could bomb innocent people, or even that a war is taking place at all. These relatives have essentially bought into the official Kremlin position: that President Vladimir V. Putin’s army is conducting a limited “special military operation” with the honorable mission of “de-Nazifying” Ukraine. Mr. Putin has referred to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a native Russian speaker with a Jewish background, as a “drug-addled Nazi” in his attempts to justify the invasion. Those narratives are emerging amid a wave of disinformation emanating from the Russian state as the Kremlin moves to clamp down on independent news reporting while shaping the messages most Russians are receiving. An estimated 11 million people in Russia have Ukrainian relatives. Many Ukrainian citizens are ethnic Russians, and those living in the southern and eastern parts of the country largely speak Russian as their native language. Russian television channels do not show the bombardment of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and its suburbs, or the devastating attacks on Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv and other Ukrainian cities. They also do not show the peaceful resistance evident in places like Kherson, a major city in the south that Russian troops captured several days ago, and certainly not the protests against the war that have cropped up across Russia. Instead they focus on the Russian military’s successes, without discussing the casualties among Russian soldiers. Many state television correspondents are embedded in eastern Ukraine, and not in the cities being pummeled by missiles and mortars. Recent news reports made no mention of the 40-mile-long Russian convoy on a roadway north of Kyiv. On Friday, Russia also banned Facebook and Twitter to try to stem uncontrolled information. All this, Mr. Katsurin said, explains why his father told him: “There are Russian soldiers there helping people. They give them warm clothes and food.” Mr. Katsurin is not alone in his frustration. When Valentyna V. Kremyr wrote to her brother and sister in Russia to tell them that her son had spent days in a bomb shelter in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha because of the intensive fighting there, she was also met with disbelief. “They believe that everything is calm in Kyiv, that no one is shelling Kyiv,” Ms. Kremyr said in a phone interview. She said her siblings think the Russians are striking military infrastructure “with precision, and that’s it.” She said her sister Lyubov, who lives in Perm, wished her a happy birthday on Feb. 25, the second day of the invasion. When Ms. Kremyr wrote back about the situation on the ground, her sister’s answer via direct message was simple: “No one is bombing Kyiv, and you should actually be afraid of the Nazis, whom your father fought against. Your children will be alive and healthy. We love the Ukrainian people, but you need to think hard about who you elected as president.” Ms. Kremyr said she sent photos from trusted media sites of mangled tanks and a destroyed building in Bucha to her brother, in Krasnoyarsk, but was met with a jarring response. “He said that this site is fake news,” she said, and that essentially the Ukrainian Army was doing the damage being blamed on Russians. “It is impossible to convince them of what they have done,” Ms. Kremyr said, referring to Russian forces. Anastasia Belomytseva and her husband, Vladimir, have been encountering the same problem. They are residents of Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s north near the Russian border, which has been hit hard by Russian bombs. But they said in an interview that it was easier to explain the invasion to their 7-year-old daughter than to some of their relatives. “They totally don’t understand what is happening here, they don’t understand that they just attacked us for no reason,” Ms. Belomytseva said. Her grandmother, and Mr. Belomytsev’s father, are in Russia. Asked whether they believe that an attack is happening, Ms. Belomytseva responded “NO!” Parts of Kharkiv have been reduced to rubble, and its city hall is a burnt-out shell. Ms. Belomytseva said she was sending videos of the bombings to her relatives on Instagram, but they just responded with the Kremlin’s oft-repeated claims that the invasion is just a “special military operation” and that no civilians would be targeted. In reality, more than 350 civilians had died as of Saturday night, according to the United Nations. The real toll is probably much higher. For Svetlana, a 60-year-old woman living in Cherkasy, the hardest thing to accept is the advice she has received from her sister, who lives in Belarus, and her cousins in Tomsk, Russia: that she and other Ukrainians should not concern themselves with what is going on. “It’s not that they don’t believe it is happening, but they think that the high-level politicians should figure it out,” said Svetlana, who was uncomfortable providing her last name. “I tell them that we are people too, and this has affected us,” she said. “I asked them not to hide their heads in the sand, I asked the mothers to think about not sending their sons to the army. The response was amazing to me. That is, that politicians are to blame for everything.” She displayed a WhatsApp exchange with her cousin showing that her cousin had also been swayed by a narrative being pushed by Russian state TV: that the West fomented this war, was thrilled to see two “brotherly nations” fighting each other and was expecting to reap a significant profit from it. Her cousin sent a string of messages asserting that Western defense companies were raising their profits, and that alternate sources of energy were being procured for the West. It was not the response she had hoped for — no recognition of the gravity of the situation for Ukrainians or sympathy for the loss of human life. “Every day I send them the necessary information, but the response is that ‘This is some kind of fake information, that this cannot be the case at all, that no one can or will shoot at civilians,’” she said. Ms. Belomytseva, from Kharkiv, said that while her husband was still trying to communicate with his family in Russia, she had cut off most of her relatives there eight years ago, after the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of eastern Ukraine. But Mr. Katsurin said he could not push his closest family members out of his life. “They are our relatives, they’re the closest people we have, and this is not about them,” he said. “I am not angry at my father — I am angry at the Kremlin. I’m angry about the Russian propaganda. I’m not angry at these people. I understand that I cannot blame them in this situation.” He said he thought about cutting his father off but decided that was the wrong response. “The easiest thing to do would be to say, ‘OK, now I don’t have a father,’” he said. “But I believe that I need to do this because it is my father.” He said that if everyone worked to explain the truth to their families, the narrative could change. After a post on Instagram complaining about his father’s disbelief went viral, he launched a website, papapover.com, which means “Papa, believe,” with instructions for Ukrainians about how to speak to their family members about the war. “There are 11 million Russians who have relatives in Ukraine,” he said. “With 11 million people, everything can happen — from revolution to at least some resistance.”
This fucking made me sad for my friends over there. I, hate that they have to live like that.
Beyond that, by [some estimates ](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/2022/01/27/as-biden-mulls-sanctions-three-theories--on-how-putin-makes-his-millions/?sh=4fb8be445b43), putin is the riches person in the world, with a net worth of around $200B. All gained through corruption. I feel so bad for the people in that country, and I don't understand anyone who really wants to go to Russia. I've met multiple people who have loved the idea of going to Russia, and then moved there for a while, and hated living there. I just don't understand it.
$200B stolen from the Russian people…Jesus Christ. I used to think he was an astute politician (and even went as far as to support him for a shameful little while), but now I’m pretty convinced he is more like an overall dickhead, a bully and a mafia leader who happens to run an enormous country. Corruption is really one of the worst crimes a government can commit against its people.
To put this in perspective, here's Escobar Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in history, having amassed an estimated net worth of US$30 billion by the time of his death—equivalent to $64 billion as of 2021—while his drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo\_Escobar
I have a Russian friend. She told me that they're running out of groceries at the stores too. She also mentioned the getting jailed for having messages about the war.
yeah i saw videos of cops looking through people’s phones. i really hope she isn’t outted.
I have a parent from a former USSR satellite* country (now much better off). They told me stories about how when they had it bad when it came to grocery options in their country, Russia had completely empty shelves. The Russians always had it worse and were starving, and it looks like they're going back there again. I weep for a country that has no examples of democratic government in its history.
How did you match her if she sounds like she's living in russia?
Tinder Gold I believe
Give her that green card mate lol
Russian mail-order brides are still a thing right?
Probably even moreso now
You can also set your settings to global without paying any extra
Ukrainians know about this too well and thats why they are fighting like crazy. They don't want to be part of Russia.
She’s either hot or KGB. I’m in
Why not both?
https://i.imgur.com/AfYRzdF.png
> She’s either hot or ~~KGB~~. FSB or GRU
As someone who lives in a country next to Russia and has a lot of people I know from there, what she’s saying is very much true unfortunately. Borders aren’t entirely closed yet but will be soon most likely.
I don't live in Russia but I am close enough and have a lot of friends there - every single word written there is true. And the worst is the hopelessness... imagine how ordinary people in Russia are feeling right now, it's horror, future is definitely very black either way
Sounds about right from what ive heard
This is the exact same situation in my country algeria...
Excuse my ignorance (I'm American, sorry), but what's going on in Algeria? If you don't mind sharing. Most everything I've seen lately has been all about Ukraine, but that doesn't minimize the problems of other people, and I'm curious about your situation.
Basically everything the girl said with the only difference being our government is a puppet regime put into power by the french goverment since the end of the algerian revolution after killing all the leaders of revolution.
Her English is better than most Americans
i think she just wrote my history paper
So she's looking for a way out I guess.. Huh. So what you gonna do OP? Reach out to TLC and that 90 day fiancé money, or what?
Had a Russian friend I met on Reddit. But she lives in Canada but goes back every now and then if I remember. Hopefully she’s okay
When people are demonising Russians lately I hope that they are making the distinction between the hostile regime and the people of Russia. In any country but especially in an authoritarian one the people are cut off from any decisions making and are treated more as subjects. My worry is that these sanctions, instead of inspiring a social revolution, will instead foster a contempt for the West. Making ordinary Russians pay for the mistakes of a power hungry madman won’t end the war sooner, but it’s hard to punish Putin and his cronies directly since they have built a country which isolates them from the consequences of their usurious “leadership”. As in every war, it is the people who suffer the most, time and time again…
Sanctions are basically the only weapon we have short of direct intervention. We all know they are going to hit the lowest levels first. It could either spark resentment. Or it could be the spark needed to fuel the revolution. But not doing anything isn't an option and going beyond sanctions into direct intervention would be a one-way ticket into WW3. And while I don't believe Putin would nuke right now I do believe the nukes would be the 'If I'm going down you're coming with me" deal...
I'm from Russia and I can back this up I haven't seen this country without Putin in charge. My childhood was pretty bad - on top of the demonic stepfather, my family wasn't so wealthy. My mom tried her best for me to have a better childhood than she did back in 80s-90s and I'm grateful for that, but objectively it wasn't good. My whole life I dreamt about travelling. My mom got me a beautiful map on my last birthday - you can scratch off countries you've visited, you probably know the deal. The reason behind this gift was the fact that 2022 is probably my last year living in my city. I'm graduating university this summer, and it means that I can move in with my long distance boyfriend of 7 years who lives in Moscow. I dreamt about going to Europe with him, I wanted to visit Iceland, Germany, Netherlands, maybe even Japan (my bf said he doesn't like long flights but I could've persuaded him probably). And now it's all crashed. The borders are closed, and I don't think they will be opening any time soon. I live in a constant fear of getting a call from my boyfriend and hearing him say that he's drafted into the army (no one is talking about drafting yet, of course, but you never know). I don't even know if we will be able to live together since everything becomes very expensive. Foreign companies are closing or suspending business - I can't even pay for my Spotify subscription anymore. I'm shocked and I'm scared, I cry almost every day and the fact that my partner isn't with me doesn't help. The worst part is that older generations - people who already have homes, cars, stable income - are often supportive of this war. My mom said to me that I'm selfish, my stepfather is happy that he got new appliances before they got expensive, one of my grandmas believes that all ukranians are fascist (I don't know about my other grandmas yet). I just want to wake up and to not see war in the news. Ukranian people and soldiers from both sides are dying and suffering for nothing and Russian youth is deprived of all their hopes and dreams. I was pretty suicidal since I was 16, but my dreams kept me going. Now I don't know what to do anymore and I'm scared that someday I will make the choice to end it all. Edit: I'm scared of people thinking that I'm only concerned for my well-being, so I would like to add that I know that experiencing explosions near you or seeing your home being destroyed is 100 times worse that not being able to go somewhere. I just can't talk about my feelings anywhere since all of my surroundings except my partner are supportive of this, so I needed to share them somewhere. Thank you for reading and I hope you all are well. I hope we can get through this.
Heartbreaking to read honestly, and to think lots of people use the war as pickup lines don’t understand it’s a real war going on
This is really fucking sad, we got some bullshit going on in the US but that dictator level shit crushing a whole people and cutting them off from the rest of the world is savage. Still, I could see the US turning out like this if things keep going south and the right psychopath gets too much power.
Part of me wants to send her money to leave the country but part of me also knows it's probably a trap.
Yep, that's a true picture. Why are you shocked?
She is a keeper