Russia isn’t down yet. They may be nervous, but they are a formidable enemy. Europe and Ukraine must continue to invest in the best weapons and defense. Luckily enough, the EU has a shitload of money.
The media outlet Meduza has asked ordinary people in Moscow about what they think about Ukrainian strikes. I don’t know whether that is representative for the whole of Russia (maybe someone with more knowledge of Russia’s society can comment):
Some quotes:
All these years I felt sympathy for Ukrainians as I read the news about attacks by our “brave” special-military-operation [sic] boys … I’m sorry about what’s happening. And I’m very sorry that people are dying on both sides of the front line because of one man’s imperial ambitions.
We tried to find shelters, and there simply aren’t any in the area: everything’s been turned into car washes, private shops — anything at all except shelters… We’re cannon fodder in this pointless war, statistical casualties.
What shocked me most about this attack was that there was no alert, no warnings of any kind. I woke up to the buzzing of drones and explosions. The only information I could find about the scale of the attack was on Telegram and Instagram. I’m very worried about my family — if attacks like this keep up, I may be forced to leave Russia with them.
My attitude toward the war hasn’t changed. I don’t approve of the war, and I’m waiting for it to end.
What did anyone expect — that by year five of a full-blown war, drones just weren’t going to reach Moscow? An eye for an eye: our guys are hitting apartment towers in Kyiv and the Pechersk Lavra, and Ukrainian drones are flying straight into factories. The only thing I hope for is that as few people as possible are hurt, and it seems to me that the Ukrainian armed forces do less harm to civilians than our troops do.
My attitude toward the war is only hardening into intense hatred of what’s happening, of how everything is being taken away from people. Instead of space, new technology, and breakthroughs in medicine, we’ve got gas at nearly 100 [rubles], rising prices, constant fear for ourselves and our loved ones, and no visible future.
The war is returning to where it began. We should be grateful that Ukraine, unlike Russia, is hitting military targets, not residential buildings and cultural landmarks.
On the contrary, I support it [the strike by Ukraine], even though […] it’s scary. Because how else, except by force, are you going to open the eyes of those who blindly believe an old senile man who’s already started talking about a new term, and make that usurper of power in Russia sit down at the negotiating table?
I didn’t manage to take a photo. But that image will stay in my memory. A quiet Moscow morning. The familiar silhouette of the city. And a drone, flying calmly over the capital of a country that for decades told its citizens about its own omnipotence. That, I guess, is exactly how great illusions end. Not loudly. Not with trumpets blaring. But in the moment when you suddenly see the difference between the backdrop and reality.
[…]
I read through many of these and felt a little hope, but this one perfectly captured the bleakness I worry is too common in Russia:
Sergei
Moscow
I don’t care anymore. The world has shrunk to the size of my family. Didn’t get hit today — great. We hope it won’t hit us tomorrow. No regret, no compassion, no reflection, not after listening to the insane crap about a “righteous war” from the people around me.
My behavior is like a cockroach’s: survive and keep my family alive. Keep my head down, don’t stick my neck out. Heroism is a sign of desperation, when normal human principles stop working. And right now, heroism — like criticizing the authorities or sabotage — is a road to nowhere.
They killed my emotions, killed my hopes, killed my joy. And it wasn’t only, or even mainly, the authorities that did it. It was also the wretched mindset of Russian citizens, who cling in a frenzy to ideas of being chosen, of being unique, of some God-given historical role. So you live for the handful of people right next to you.
Burn in hell, all of you.
I don’t know if this is actually a representative perspective or just confirms my bias, but I worry too many Russians will just keep their heads down and worry about their own families instead of taking the risk to trust each other to stand together against their government.
Only a specific subtype of people will answer a poll by Meduza. And those are not the ones that are pro-Putin.
They’ll get a lot more nervous when winter is near and even more refineries are destroyed.
It’s not interesting. They manage to downplay the situation as well as usually. Enough for their type of audiences.
I love that for them 🥰
