I've seen people on twitter claiming that it's a putin's war and it's literally everyone's fault but 'common russians', so I've done some digging and here's what russians say about it (according to russian poll, no bullshit here)
1. 77% support the war
2. 34% support nuclear strike on Ukraine
and again, it's a no-bullshit stats, it's not so-called 'western propaganda' or 'ukrainian agenda', it's russian stats told by russians to russians collected by russians
the takeaway here is pretty easy. you can kill or imprison putin right away, but russians will still attack Ukraine, because this is what the people want. this is how it always has been
Westerners will say that russians have to answer positively because of their oppressive government. Well, what about the 23%? If the government is so oppressive that they punish people for answering polls, how are 23% not afraid to say they're opposed?
Also those 23% probably think they're "for peace," but actions speak louder than words. They're not actually doing anything to stop it. 23% of russians could definitely stop the war. They could wreck their entire economy. So they don't *actually* care that much.
I have no doubts that they will say that. To be honest, I don't know how to make my point anymore, it feels like a lost cause sometimes. but recently I've posted some memes and noticed that several english-speaking users followed me, so I decided to use that I have to try again. just in case
It does feel like shouting into the void sometimes. I talk to people in person and I feel that's effective. People who aren't online all the time don't know what's going on. I've had conversations with my barber and my doctor in the last week. I sent the doctor a link to Hospitaliers.
I feel it's really important for Westerners to get out of the bubble of online supporters. I talk to Ukrainians first because I like you all, but also I can make the IRL conversations very personal, e.g. "I have friends who have no electricity or drinking water, who are kept awake by explosions."
Almost no American can really imagine what fighting on the front or hearing explosions is like. It's too abstract. But everyone has experienced sleep deprivation (for other reasons) and losing electricity (albeit temporarily). I ask them to imagine TWO FUCKING YEARS of that, and they can.
or one guy I talk to in person, he has two children. I say "OK imagine Canadians came and took them away and you have no idea where they are now or if you'll get them back."
People know how that would feel, it hits them in the heart. ISW maps and headlines don't do that.
one of my numerous nightmares is when people like you talk to indifferent people - they're like "yep, sure, you're absolutely correct', i completely agree and will donate and do everything i can" just to make you leave and they absolutely don't give a shit
because that's what i did when i was young and read about russian invasion in georgia and, you know, all the other conflicts in the world, i just pretended to care for 5 minutes and then forgot about it. and only now i understand how horribly wrong i was
sure and there are lots of things going on now that I don't talk about because I don't know enough to educate others. I am REALLY informed on Ukraine, relative to 95% of Americans, so I can answer almost any question. No one can or should listen to me on other conflicts.
I totally understand and I can't guarantee they're doing anything, but I talk to people *who already trust me* for some other reason, with whom I have a pre-existing relationship.
And it's in the context of some conversation, it's not a sales pitch. At the very least it keeps some attention on it.
In mid 2022 a Russian friend in St Petersburg indicated about 70% of the workers at her job (a large medical office) supported the war. After Feb '22, people felt they could talk openly about the topic whereas before it was more of a taboo subject. It's proven to be an accurate number since then.
Sergey Mardan weighed in on a poll that found that one-third of Russians would be fine with nuking Ukraine. Mardan disagrees with them—not for humanitarian reasons, but due to his genocidal, imperial belief that Ukraine does not exist and is part of Russia.
youtu.be/FNxwg79adBU
