Do you feel sorry for the people of Russia?

[Vosem]

However I do have contempt for most of the UMC and elite of St. Petersburg and Moscow

https://twitter.com/leonidragozin/status/1498364641617092618

(For context, Yakimanka is an incredibly nice part of Moscow, one of the most elite neighborhoods in all of Russia).

While in Yerevan I ran into a woman who claimed to have been a city or regional Duma member from a suburb of St Petersburg, was half Ukrainian, and had to leave the country after she and other legislators introduced a resolution to condemn the war/impeach Putin.

Makes sense. There has been a wave of emigration from Russia since the start of the war -- numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and particularly to Georgia and Kazakhstan -- which has been heavily skewed towards people who are relatively wealthy and educated.

[LBJer]

I feel bad for many Russians but I feel like this is a very typical "I designed this poll to make you look bad if you vote against my position" poll.

A little bit like the death penalty question Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis--however you answer it you'll be criticized.

I didn't vote because I honestly thought it was a weird question.  While I'm not condemning of most Russians, obviously there's much more reason to feel sorry for the people of Ukraine than of Russia. I usually only "feel sorry" for people when they're not just undergoing or underwent a hardship, but when I feel like that hardship is unusually severe and/or personally relate to it in some way.  However, I think one can feel sorry for the Russians in the sense that Russians are dying, being maimed, and suffering psychological trauma in an unnecessary and unjustified war.  

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

However I do have contempt for most of the UMC and elite of St. Petersburg and Moscow

https://twitter.com/leonidragozin/status/1498364641617092618

(For context, Yakimanka is an incredibly nice part of Moscow, one of the most elite neighborhoods in all of Russia).

While in Yerevan I ran into a woman who claimed to have been a city or regional Duma member from a suburb of St Petersburg, was half Ukrainian, and had to leave the country after she and other legislators introduced a resolution to condemn the war/impeach Putin.

Makes sense. There has been a wave of emigration from Russia since the start of the war -- numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and particularly to Georgia and Kazakhstan -- which has been heavily skewed towards people who are relatively wealthy and educated.

This has been fairly evident in my own experience--I've met software engineers, marketing specialists, doctors, and project managers--but a city/regional politician still seemed somewhat of a novel find!

[smoltchanov]

As a person living in Russia - obviously, yes. Despite all my rant and irritation about majority still watching Russian TV, believing what paid propaganda masters saying to them, and so on.....

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Yes, of course, and I think you're probably a horrible person if you do not feel bad for Russians.

At this stage, it is very challenging to assess the popularity of Putin or the invasion of Ukraine because there are very severe consequences associated with vocally opposing either. What we can say is that there have been leaks to independent journalists at Meduza and in the immediate aftermath of the mobilization, support for the invasion plummeted to very low levels.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

The prism of understanding Russia:

                                                                             "This is bad."          "This is good."
"The Russian government is bourgeoisie"           PSOL, socialists          People scared of the KPRF
"The Russian government is anti-bourgeoisie."   Vosem, liberals          Tankies

[PSOL]

However I do have contempt for most of the UMC and elite of St. Petersburg and Moscow

https://twitter.com/leonidragozin/status/1498364641617092618

(For context, Yakimanka is an incredibly nice part of Moscow, one of the most elite neighborhoods in all of Russia).

While in Yerevan I ran into a woman who claimed to have been a city or regional Duma member from a suburb of St Petersburg, was half Ukrainian, and had to leave the country after she and other legislators introduced a resolution to condemn the war/impeach Putin.

Makes sense. There has been a wave of emigration from Russia since the start of the war -- numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and particularly to Georgia and Kazakhstan -- which has been heavily skewed towards people who are relatively wealthy and educated.

This has been fairly evident in my own experience--I've met software engineers, marketing specialists, doctors, and project managers--but a city/regional politician still seemed somewhat of a novel find!

When I say UMC and elite, I don’t mean these occupations which are salaried or experience déclasséd movement due to regulatory capture—I mean the oligarch babies and the peripheral managers

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

However I do have contempt for most of the UMC and elite of St. Petersburg and Moscow

https://twitter.com/leonidragozin/status/1498364641617092618

(For context, Yakimanka is an incredibly nice part of Moscow, one of the most elite neighborhoods in all of Russia).

While in Yerevan I ran into a woman who claimed to have been a city or regional Duma member from a suburb of St Petersburg, was half Ukrainian, and had to leave the country after she and other legislators introduced a resolution to condemn the war/impeach Putin.

Makes sense. There has been a wave of emigration from Russia since the start of the war -- numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and particularly to Georgia and Kazakhstan -- which has been heavily skewed towards people who are relatively wealthy and educated.

This has been fairly evident in my own experience--I've met software engineers, marketing specialists, doctors, and project managers--but a city/regional politician still seemed somewhat of a novel find!

When I say UMC and elite, I don’t mean these occupations which are salaried or experience déclasséd movement due to regulatory capture—I mean the oligarch babies and the peripheral managers

You'll have to argue with Vosem about that.

[Schiff for Senate]

Do you realise the Russian people are being fed misinformation and propaganda 24/7, constantly? They don't get to see the real news reports or the facts. They only hear Putin's "version" of events and are warned that the real facts, if they ever do reach Russian people in the first place, are just "anti-Russia western propaganda."

Believe me, if you or I had spent our entire lives in Russia, there's a greater than 90% chance both of us would've been susceptible to the lies fed to us our entire lives, through no fault of our own.

You have no basis for saying they support "strongman leaders." They haven't had free or fair elections in a long time. Putin is a dictator. And the fact is that most Russians who've not believed Putin's propaganda, and even some who do, don't support this war. Those who have gotten access to news revealing the atrocities Putin and his soldiers are committing are generally opposed to the war. And they've seen the damage it's brought to them in their daily lives.

Living in a brutal dictatorship without access to real news, being fed lies and propaganda 24/7? While still not nearly as bad as, say, North Korea, their conditions are pitiful, and they deserve our sympathy, not our scorn.

Yeah, no. I stand by what I said, I didn't say anything wrong.

Also, the entirety of Russian history shows that Russians tend to prefer strongman leaders.

Donald Trump won a national election in America once; ergo, Americans prefer xenophobic, lying, misogynistic racists as their leaders and deserve what they get.

Also, again, a reminder that the Russian people haven't had much of a say at all in who their leader is for a long time now. If they do dare to dissent against the Putin regime, they're swiftly silenced.

Maybe a century back or fifty years back Russians preferred strongman leaders, IDK. What I do know is that during the entire 21st century, they've had no say in who their leader is and that they live under a brutal dictatorship (and actually this is also true for much of the 20th century).

Much of what you're saying is just baseless stereotypes about the Russian people, whose only basis is historic facts. TODAY, whether the Russian people want a strongman leader or not, they've got one. And if they do oppose him, again, they're permanently silenced.

[All Along The Watchtower]

I feel sorry for everyone caught up in Putin's disgusting and horrifying war of aggression against Ukraine, a country that by his own propaganda is "actually part of Russia", which means per his own logic he's having Russians fight other Russians---turning an existing Ukrainian civil war (Donbas) into a "Greater Russian" civil war. What an accomplishment, Mr. Putin. 

I feel sorry for the people of the Donbas who have been living through a civil war for most of the past decade. I feel sorry for everyone who has been forced to choose "sides" against their neighbors, their extended family members on either side of the Russian-Ukrainian border. And I will never criticize ordinary Russians for "not taking on Putin" from the safety of living thousands of miles and an ocean and continent away, unlike some people.

War is always hell on Earth, and anyone telling you otherwise is either a moron or a POS trying to sell you on some propaganda for ulterior motives.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Donald Trump won a national election in America once; ergo, Americans prefer xenophobic, lying, misogynistic racists as their leaders and deserve what they get.

Also, again, a reminder that the Russian people haven't had much of a say at all in who their leader is for a long time now. If they do dare to dissent against the Putin regime, they're swiftly silenced.

Maybe a century back or fifty years back Russians preferred strongman leaders, IDK. What I do know is that during the entire 21st century, they've had no say in who their leader is and that they live under a brutal dictatorship (and actually this is also true for much of the 20th century).

Much of what you're saying is just baseless stereotypes about the Russian people, whose only basis is historic facts. TODAY, whether the Russian people want a strongman leader or not, they've got one. And if they do oppose him, again, they're permanently silenced.

Donald Trump didn't win the popular vote in either of his elections and the midterms results since his election show that most Americans don't like Trumpism.

Anyways, I said nothing wrong, so I don't know why you're even arguing with me. I only feel sorry for Russians who are anti-Putin and against the War in Ukraine.

Everything else you're saying is unnecessary.

[Schiff for Senate]

Donald Trump won a national election in America once; ergo, Americans prefer xenophobic, lying, misogynistic racists as their leaders and deserve what they get.

Also, again, a reminder that the Russian people haven't had much of a say at all in who their leader is for a long time now. If they do dare to dissent against the Putin regime, they're swiftly silenced.

Maybe a century back or fifty years back Russians preferred strongman leaders, IDK. What I do know is that during the entire 21st century, they've had no say in who their leader is and that they live under a brutal dictatorship (and actually this is also true for much of the 20th century).

Much of what you're saying is just baseless stereotypes about the Russian people, whose only basis is historic facts. TODAY, whether the Russian people want a strongman leader or not, they've got one. And if they do oppose him, again, they're permanently silenced.

Donald Trump didn't win the popular vote in either of his elections and the midterms results since his election show that most Americans don't like Trumpism.

Anyways, I said nothing wrong, so I don't know why you're even arguing with me. I only feel sorry for Russians who are anti-Putin and against the War in Ukraine.

Everything else you're saying is unnecessary.

What about the many Russians literally brainwashed by the propaganda that Putin has relentlessly pushed at them their whole lives? You don't feel sorry for them at all?

[America Needs R'hllor]

No. Only for those who are full opponents of the regime and thus are persecuted.

Most Russians support the war. Many of those who don't care for it because of the harm it's doing to the economy or the conscription don't mind all the war crimes, and didn't oppose the annexation of Crimea or the war against Georgia. I might start feeling bad for them on a human level if things get really, really bad in Russia, but right now the Russians are not suffering 1% of what the Ukrainians (or Syrians) are suffering.

[Battista Minola 1616]

The prism of understanding Russia:

                                                                                        "This is bad."          "This is good."
"The Russian government is bourgeoisie"           PSOL, socialists          People scared of the KPRF
"The Russian government is anti-bourgeoisie."   Vosem, liberals          Tankies

Tangential to the thread, but I made something similar a few weeks ago so I am reposting it here.

The prism of understanding Ukraine:

                                                                                "This is bad."            "This is good."
"The Ukrainian government is fascist."            Tankies                      Azov true believers
"The Ukrainian government is anti-fascist."   Tucker Carlson         Liberals, socialists, conservatives etc.

[TheTide]

No. Only for those who are full opponents of the regime and thus are persecuted.

Well, no one can do much good if they are persecuted.

[America Needs R'hllor]

No. Only for those who are full opponents of the regime and thus are persecuted.

Well, no one can do much good if they are persecuted.

Sure, and I feel bad for these people. But I'm 100% certain that they are a small minority of Russians.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

No. Only for those who are full opponents of the regime and thus are persecuted.

Most Russians support the war. Many of those who don't care for it because of the harm it's doing to the economy or the conscription don't mind all the war crimes, and didn't oppose the annexation of Crimea or the war against Georgia. I might start feeling bad for them on a human level if things get really, really bad in Russia, but right now the Russians are not suffering 1% of what the Ukrainians (or Syrians) are suffering.

Exactly! I agree with you 100%.

[😥]

No, because the absolute majority of Russians support the war against my people, support the war crimes that the Russians commit every day in Ukraine, support the killing of civilians, support the rape, support the genocide organized by the Russians in Ukraine

[TheReckoning]

No, because the absolute majority of Russians support the war against my people, support the war crimes that the Russians commit every day in Ukraine, support the killing of civilians, support the rape, support the genocide organized by the Russians in Ukraine

What evidence do you have for this statement?

[All Along The Watchtower]

No, because the absolute majority of Russians support the war against my people, support the war crimes that the Russians commit every day in Ukraine, support the killing of civilians, support the rape, support the genocide organized by the Russians in Ukraine

What evidence do you have for this statement?

Does Andriy of all people here need to explain himself on this subject?! I don’t even agree with him (see my above post) but I imagine that I too just might be biased against Russians if I were Ukrainian right now, ffs!

[TheReckoning]

No, because the absolute majority of Russians support the war against my people, support the war crimes that the Russians commit every day in Ukraine, support the killing of civilians, support the rape, support the genocide organized by the Russians in Ukraine

What evidence do you have for this statement?

Does Andriy of all people here need to explain himself on this subject?! I don’t even agree with him (see my above post) but I imagine that I too just might be biased against Russians if I were Ukrainian right now, ffs!

This forum is academic in nature. It’s not a place to rant against countries you (justifiably) have a low opinion of. Making false statements is not okay in an environment like this.

[dead0man]

No, because the absolute majority of Russians support the war against my people, support the war crimes that the Russians commit every day in Ukraine, support the killing of civilians, support the rape, support the genocide organized by the Russians in Ukraine

What evidence do you have for this statement?

Does Andriy of all people here need to explain himself on this subject?! I don’t even agree with him (see my above post) but I imagine that I too just might be biased against Russians if I were Ukrainian right now, ffs!

This forum is academic in nature. It’s not a place to rant against countries you (justifiably) have a low opinion of. Making false statements is not okay in an environment like this.

you have information showing the statements are false?  Can we see it?  Everything I've seen on the subject shows fairly high levels of support inside of Russia for the war and for Putin.  Do you, of all people, think Russians are against the war?  Russians have never waged a war that didn't involve killing and raping civilians, so when Russians support war, they are also supporting those parts of how Russians wage war.  And genocide isn't unheard of, in fact, they've tried to do it in Ukraine before.

[Antonio the Sixth]

No, because the absolute majority of Russians support the war against my people, support the war crimes that the Russians commit every day in Ukraine, support the killing of civilians, support the rape, support the genocide organized by the Russians in Ukraine

What evidence do you have for this statement?

Does Andriy of all people here need to explain himself on this subject?! I don’t even agree with him (see my above post) but I imagine that I too just might be biased against Russians if I were Ukrainian right now, ffs!

Yeah, I have a different view on this but Andriy's perspective is totally justified given his circumstances and no one has the right to criticize him.

[TheReckoning]

No, because the absolute majority of Russians support the war against my people, support the war crimes that the Russians commit every day in Ukraine, support the killing of civilians, support the rape, support the genocide organized by the Russians in Ukraine

What evidence do you have for this statement?

Does Andriy of all people here need to explain himself on this subject?! I don’t even agree with him (see my above post) but I imagine that I too just might be biased against Russians if I were Ukrainian right now, ffs!

This forum is academic in nature. It’s not a place to rant against countries you (justifiably) have a low opinion of. Making false statements is not okay in an environment like this.

you have information showing the statements are false?  Can we see it?  Everything I've seen on the subject shows fairly high levels of support inside of Russia for the war and for Putin.  Do you, of all people, think Russians are against the war?  Russians have never waged a war that didn't involve killing and raping civilians, so when Russians support war, they are also supporting those parts of how Russians wage war.  And genocide isn't unheard of, in fact, they've tried to do it in Ukraine before.

It is virtually impossible to get accurate information on a question like this. When polling was done through the phone, Russians who were asked the question hung up 90%+ of the time after hearing what the question was.

When was the last time Germans were involved in a war that didn’t involve raping/killing civilians? It’s been a long time. You think they also support this?

Yeah, I have a different view on this but Andriy's perspective is totally justified given his circumstances and no one has the right to criticize him.

No one is ever free from criticism.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

With regards to the present situation? Yes, because my supply of pity, while not absolutely limitless, is considerable. Do I fault Ukrainians (who I certainly feel considerably more sorry for) for, broadly speaking, not having any? No. They're engaged in a war of survival and are entitled to (and must) think and feel whatever is best to allow them to continue to prosecute that struggle. Regarding the long-term historical picture? Certainly. And for their neighbours. Both are trapped in the same grim historical cycle.

No one is ever free from criticism.

No, but the harassment is in poor taste and you're only doing it as it's taboo-busting behaviour. It's unpleasant and reflects poorly on you.