Would be interesting to hear from any russians in here, because i can't help to think that large majority of russians are complicit to what seems to be a dictator going mad as much as the dictators in his neighborhood (aliyev, khomeini, taliban etc)
What regular people think: https://meduza-io.translate.goog/feature/2022/02/24/ya-ne-ch... Widely known people: https://meduza-io.translate.goog/feature/2022/02/24/samoe-st...
Both articles take words from my mouth. In last couple of days I've converted all my savings into foreign currencies and am looking to change the job if my current employer (US based) does not fix the wage to USD or EUR. Since this morning, I have hard time thinking about anything but the war. The whole Ukraine situation and other occupied territories is repulsive, but the actual full-scale war was not what I expected. This should not have happened, period. My heart is wholly with Ukrainians. My mother's family comes from there to, so I'm half-ukranainian. As an RF citizen, I feel ashamed, sorry and helpless, even though regular people never had sufficient amount of political leverage during last two decades or even more. Russians will have to work hard to internalize the putin's rule when (if) he and his cronies go away, same as what people of Germany did after WWII.
The difference here is that Ukraine did their best to appease Russia, including promising to never join the EU/Nato for promises of security. It seems like Ukraine was ready to give everything for independence, but their independence was unacceptable.
What does RF have to gain from this? Most publications say very little. What are they missing?
It seems like it all comes down to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_of_influence#Contempora...
Notably:
"Our state has given up its share of the Soviet nuclear arsenal - the third largest in the world - and in return has received assurances, including from Russia, that our borders and our security will be respected. All this did not happen. So it is strange to hear the Russian side asking for any guarantees when so many promises have already been broken by the Russian side itself," Zelensky said when asked about Ukraine's possible refusal to join NATO in exchange for a guaranteed withdrawal of Russian troops from the border.
He had the previous US president wrapped around his finger, and he was able to take Crimea with barely any effort. How is the balance of power skewed in favor of the West?
Honest question. How do you know a large majority of Russian citizens are being complicit in supporting these acts of war? This is such a broad, generalizing statement. It's not like they were asked to vote on it?
Believes that Putin does not care about the opinion of the well-to-do Russian diaspora, even if they have fiscal or monetary connections to Russia. Very concerned, at the personal level, about the impact of broader sanctions that threaten to isolate the Russian economy like the Iranian economy. Views Putin as responsible for provoking these sanctions. However, he believes that the general Russian public is generally supportive of Putin's actions.
I see Putin as a very competent and ruthless leader. As a citizen of a post communist country, I'm somewhat concerned.
Can you elaborate, in material terms, what does russia win by invading and occupying ukraine? What do you imagine the economy of ukrainian people will be after this?