Thread by @sumlenny

THREAD Russians are fierce about the #visaban. It is impressive to see how Russians from the most liberal ones to the Putin's ambassadors use the same language here. A liberal professor Mironov says "the goal (of the West) is to lock Russians in the Putin's concentration camp" /1

A former program coordinator of a German think-tank in Moscow compares visa bans with napalm bombardments of Russia. In comments to a post she mentions, Russians compare the ban with the Holocaust ("they want to put red stars on our cloth") call Zelensky Nazi, and blame the US /2

Russian right-wing libertarian icon Latynina goes further and brings an argument, if Russians id not get visa, Salman Rushdi should be deported to Iran. As she probably believes Rushdi was an Iranian migrant (he was not, he is the Indian-born UK and US citizen, but who cares) /3

What is the reason for all this outcry? Well, Russians are being hurt in their sacred feeling: the feeling to be exceptional. This is one of the basic emotions in Russian self-assessment and roots in deep cultural racism. Russians KNOW they are better than others. /4

Like most of the attempts to bring a white cis-male in a patriarchal world to reason lead to outcry "you feminists try to discriminate against me!" - Russians literally see themselves as victims of the Holocaust (!) because they cannot get a tourist visa to Austria anymore. /5

It is a full lack of moral or legal self-reflection. This reminds me of a case as a Ukrainian journalist shared a photo a Russian state-media journalist made in Russia-occupied Mariupol, and got a shitstrom from a Russian editor, who said the Ukrainian guy infringes copyright /6

You see the pattern? "My rights are sacred, and they include even the rights nobody heard about, like to accompany my army to a destroyed city in a neighbor country - and I don't care about the others' rights or feelings" /7

Same time, Russians totally ignore the fact, that 1) there are a lot of countries where they can go even without visa if they want to exit Russia, and 2) The right to obtain asylum in the EU was not affected by the tourist visa ban, as asylum is a human right (and tourism not) /8

Well, it is NOT about fear of missing a chance to leave Russia. There are thousands of ways to do it: and definitely more ways than for example Afghan people have. It is about the feeling to be exceptional, traveling to Europe for holidays while the RU army destroys Ukraine /9

As I said above - it is about the fundamental lack of self-reflection or basic empathy. It is the same imperialism that inspires even the "best" Russian liberal to bring a Russian flag to a Ukrainian protest, and "express support" of liberal Russians, saying "we suffer too". /10

This summer, the Ukrainian LGBT community organized Kyiv Pride in Warsaw, and clearly asked Russians who planned to come, not to bring Russian flags, which trigger war refugees. Many Russians were insulted and said they will bring flags "because we suffer in Russia too". /11

It is about hijacking any non-Russian event; about not allowing the very idea that any nation may want to go its way without Russian advice, or that Russian involvement may not be welcomed. And once again - a total lack of empathy. The visa ban outcry has the same nature. /END

PS The legal questions behind and around the #visaban were described here:

https://twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1557736925603045377