Thread by @tarasmi

A thread about “ordinary Russians”, whom many Western media portray as victims of an authoritarian regime. But that's just not true. 🧵

I know some people from Russia who hate Putin and his government, but in general, they have the same Soviet mentality that doesn't respect the independence of Ukraine or other republics of the former USSR.

If you ask them, they will tell you that Ukrainians and Russians are one people. And that is the main problem. The majority of Russians cannot accept, that the major of Ukrainians wants to avoid being associated with them.

Just because we have shared history, doesn't mean we are the same.

So, in general, Russians doesn't feel wrong about invading a sovereign country. Because in their mind, they're not invading.

That's why the majority of Russians were so happy about annexing Crimea. In their imagination, it was reunion. Even praised by Western media, Russian liberals like Navalny told, that Crimea – “isn't a sandwich”, that could be returned to Ukraine.

That's why annexing of Ukrainian territory went so smooth because Putin had all support from “ordinary Russians”. There were some rallies before annexation and against war with Ukraine, but after they complete disappear.

And that was 2014, when “ordinary Russians” were allowed to gather in rallies with 100,000 participants, but they chose to support the annexation of Crimea and in return agreed to live in an even more authoritarian state.

So, that was their conscious choice, and now they're experiencing the consequences of it. They can't blame Putin for that, it was their decision.

And now, when Russia started an unprovoked war against Ukraine, “ordinary Russians” feel more pressure: from western sanctions and from their authoritarian regime. They began to tell, that they are innocent, and they against the war.

But it's not true, they supported Putin in 2014, and if there were no destructive sanctions for Russian economy, the majority of them won't even bother to say something against the war.

The Russian writer Sergei Dovlatov once said: “We endlessly curse Comrade Stalin, and, of course, for the cause. And yet, I want to ask—who wrote the four million denunciations?”