“No bobs or vagene for you. But avoid the army and you’ll face torture” perfectly sums up the state of orcland these days.

  • @hydroptic
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    302 months ago

    Kidnapping foreigners to fight in their genocidal war is a new low for Russians, but it’s not like I’m surprised.

    And no, shit like this wouldn’t be fixed by replacing Putin – he’s not the cause of everything that’s wrong with Russia, he’s a symptom.

      • @hydroptic
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        2 months ago

        They have a centuries-long history of extremely brutal and downright psychopathic rule. You really need to read up on Russian history if you think that Putin is the reason things are the way they are.

        edit: just ran into this relevant article: https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4560963-is-the-problem-putins-russia-or-mother-russia/

        Analysts of Russia differ about many things, but the most important difference concerns their interpretation of the roots of Russia’s ongoing aggression. One side argues that Russian history and political culture are to blame — or, to put it more simply, uniquely Russian characteristics are the cause of Russian aggression. The other side argues that the causes are not uniquely Russian, but typical of the behavior of certain kinds of states, regimes, societies and leaders.

        Unsurprisingly, historians of Russia and Ukraine tend to fall into the first camp

        • @Zeritu@lemmy.world
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          62 months ago

          They also had Gorbačёv. It’s not like all their leaders were psychos, it’s just that when they get one who isn’t, they hate him.

        • @jabjoe@feddit.uk
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          22 months ago

          Well I hope we are both differently wrong and we get a peaceful Russia some time soon. Doesn’t seam possible with Putin and there doesn’t seam much hope after him, but let’s hope there is.

          • @hydroptic
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            12 months ago

            Oh yeah, I wouldn’t mind being wrong, but unfucking Russia would be an absolutely monumental task and like you said it doesn’t seem like there’s much hope of it happening. Here’s to hoping, I guess

    • @Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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      52 months ago

      It is really an ongoing low. There have been reports of this with nepalese “joining” the Russian military for a year now. Some may have been voluntary but many took jobs as private support staff only to be sent to the front.

      • @hydroptic
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        22 months ago

        Yeah, they’ve been kidnapping Indians too and literally torturing them if they refuse to join the army.

        Wonderful culture, such nice people.

        • @Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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          32 months ago

          I think it is important to remember to separate the regime from the people. This has nothing to do with the Russian public. We know there is real opposition, it is just heavily suppressed.

          Please remember that dehumanizing a culture or group is one of the ways used to justify treating them exactly how the Russian regime is these people.

          • @hydroptic
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            2 months ago

            It’s not some abstract regime that is routinely torturing people in Ukraine and elsewhere, though. There’s something deeply fucked up about their culture when you consider that absolutely hair-raising brutality has been a hallmark of theirs for centuries now. It’s a colonialist, imperialist, violent and deeply racist mentality.

            I had a significant proportion of my family tree (who were Ingrian Finns) genocided by Russians. I’m the first generation in my family for about 100 years who hasn’t either had to live under Russian occupation, fight invading Russians, or dodge Russian agents because somebody in the family dared stand up to them (yes I’m old and my parents are practically ancient). The argument that the problem is their regime just doesn’t sit right with me, considering the shit that the individuals get up to pretty habitually, and the hundreds of years of brutal regimes have to come from somewhere.

            This is not to say that all Russians are terrible, nor that it’s a fundamental biological feature of the people, but even scholars think that their culture is – to put it very mildly – extremely problematic

    • @girlfreddy@lemmy.ca
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      32 months ago

      Technically he was the cause. Now his “mandate” has advanced to include every rich asshole Russia has tho, so that’s the problem now.

      • @hydroptic
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        2 months ago

        They’ve been like this for centuries now; the Russian Empire was already pretty damn fucked up.

        Putin is not the cause.