April 25, 2024
Got a bunch of comments telling me that I am a racist and hater because I described the historical reason of why Russia is the kind of country it is. They said I dehumanized them. Let me make a list. First, my personal:
– Some of the people I knew were killed by Russian army
– The home of my parents-in-law was damaged by Russian artillery and tanks
– I am personally locked in Ukraine for years, and no one guarantees I make it out alive.
– My children wake up from the explosions, sleep near the door, and see nightmares with Russians chasing them.
But what really broke my illusion was Bucha massacre. After seeing the bodies on the ground, with hands tied behind, whole family with kids executed, watching videos of tortures they filmed, and discovering thousands of civilian bodies and torture chambers in every liberated city, my picture of reality was broken. How humans do that in 21st century?
When something that you do not expect happen in your life, it means that your expectations of reality were wrong. And to have an adequate picture of reality again, you have to fit that unexpected things into it, or you won’t find peace. I understood that I had to search the missing parts of the puzzle, discover why they are doing it. What I found in Russian history, customs and in (most of) people is ugly, but it explains why they are doing it. I am sorry if you do not like it, but I share the facts I know or that I’ve discovered. I am not making up anything, I check the data before posting.
Yes I am biased, it happens when someone comes with war to your country for no reason, you know. But when I say that Moskow area exited Stone Age 4000 years later than most of Europe and had nothing civilized before 1000 years ago, that’s a fact I discovered. Herodotus really called them “Androphaghi” 2500 years ago. If I say they are culturally incapable of any revolts, and have no political tradition of democracy and you should not expect them doing anything, that’s because I know they had the first real election ever in 1991, and in 2000ties most of them returned to the “strong leader” model and they like it. The exceptions are few and the system treats them as defects, they get killed, go to jail, or run abroad.
Try to find different evidence instead of calling me racist or a hater without knowing a thing. As I said, I want to understand how they are built. But please do not feed me with this pink pony world mindset. You have not just encountered them, live far away and, feel safe and may not need to go outside that make-love-not-war bubble while I want to survive without being turned to one of them and come to you in their uniform. And I am explaining the obvious things I did not see myself 2 years ago. Pray you won’t have to check it all in real life.
Comments from :
Carmella G. :
I am so very sorry that you and your country are suffering this horrendous invasion by Russia and that haters have no understanding or compassion for sufferers.
The support for Russia by the ex-president who is a defendant in a fraud case right now and his fascist supporters would bewilder me had not people like them supported Hitler in the 1930s.
The sane among us are doing our best to re-elect Biden and maybe take control of our Congress so we can prevent the quislings there from interfering with support for Ukraine.
Your courage is astounding. These days I am fearful that my own countrymen and women are lacking the strength and fortitude Ukrainians display every day.
So many here who support the Grifter/Conman are as Shakespeare said “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
With you in spirit.
Kevin Lossner:
Volodymyr, I value your written contributions to public education very much; please continue. Ukraine and your fellow citizens are the best hope for future stability in an EU where I and many others eagerly await your membership. The people of Ukraine have paid the highest admission price of any country I know, and damn anyone who stands in the way.
Roxanne Powell:
I learned Russian in the 1980s during the glasnost and perestroika era ushered in by Gorbachev. These were hopeful days, yet while learning the language I also learned Russian & Soviet history and politics. This was the most depressing field of study I ever engaged in (and I studied for many years). I was left with a dreary feeling of a wheel going around in circles. Sometimes it would move forward a little, but then as soon as progress had been made, it would jerk back and life in Russia/USSR would be as unfree and difficult as it ever was. I have no explanation for it but I agree with you and reached the same conclusions after Chechnya was brutally repressed in the late 1990s.
Edward Hunter Christie :
I’m not Ukrainian but I believe anyone who is objective and looks closely at this war will have been horrified from day one at the enormous brutality and criminality of the Russian state. It is a monstrosity against the good nation of Ukraine, and it is also a future threat for other nations. As a result, I want the army of the illegal Russian invaders to be crushed so violently that justice is restored and that the Russian state never tries something like this again. It’s the only way to deal with this kind of aggression. It is what emotionally sane people want, with both their minds and their hearts.
Tomislav Kajdi :
Nobody living in a country that hasn’t been under attack of savage genocidal hordes, crazed by the loss of parts of spoils of their previous land grabs can even remotely fathom your sentiments.
Luckily, there are multitudes that can tell right from wrong. Even more importantly, many are willing to provide help and support, and in the long run, no force can hold together anything that simply does not fit in the same pot.
Stay strong, Ukraine!
Terence Chamberlain:
Volodymr, your not a racist at all what your showing is that you care for your family after seeing what Russians were doing.. simple as that .
Russian forces target and kill Ukraine 🇺🇦 civilians everyday it seems deliberately and so your entitled to and expected to do all you can to protect your family . What parent would not .
Ignore the idiots who wrote such things and focus on keeping your family safe .
Support Ukraine 🇺🇦
Des Johnston :
What made it clear for me was seeing the security camera recording of the two men at the car sales yard. They were talking to two Russian soldiers, answering their questions, and parted each other’s company politely. When they were about 40 feet apart the Russians calmly turned around and shot the men in the back. This wasn’t war, it was just malevolence, barbarity, and mayhem.
Some people would say that russia never exited the Stone Age. They are still a bunch of Neanderthals with no regard for human life, whether they are citizens of russia, or other countries.
Uh, Foccusser, as a German guy, I feel compelled to weigh in, in defence of the reputation of my distant relatives: Ain’t that a bit unfair towards the Neanderthals, very early western Europeans? Haven’t they been the more civilized people of their time? 😁
The problem is that many Russians still have the mentality of stoneage people. 🙄