Thread by @BadBalticTakes

We need to treat vatniks & orcs with more respect.

(Ok, an absurd clickbaity opener here but bear with me).

Specifically, we need to treat them with the agency that they deny us and recognise they are absolutely responsible for the crimes they support and commit.

🧵…

Particularly in the West, too many people overstate the degree to which these people “don’t understand what’s really going on”. They’re often excused as mere brainwashed victims themselves. If only we could open their eyes to the reality of Russia’s crimes.

This is nonsense.

The fact that Russia is waging an imperial war of genocide is very openly discussed by Russia. Everyone can hear it. That includes vatniks in the West.

No one is like: “Wait, what?! I thought it was just a special operation to protect Russian speakers or something.”

Similarly, when neo-Nazis side with Russia and fight for Russia, no one on Russia’s side is saying:

“Wait, I thought we were the ones doing the de-Nazifying.”

They know what they are.

When it suits them, they will switch to more broadly agreeable sound bites that work better internationally: Bothsidesism, anti-war/anti-imperialist framing, the need for negotiations, etc.

But it’s pure gaslighting. They know they are advancing an imperialist, genocidal agenda.

Russia is a system built on lies. Everyone participates in the lying. It’s not going to collapse if we try to tell people within it (and supporting it elsewhere) that they are being lied to. They know lying is essential for them.

Telling Russia supporters their leaders are lying is like telling football fans their players are diving.

It won’t stop them supporting their team. They’ll feign outrage when needed, but can clearly call out cheating when it’s a different side.

It’s part of the game to them.

Similarly, Russia supporters are suddenly very articulate when it comes to critiquing Western imperialism or abuses of power and corruption in the West (as long as it’s not their allies). Why can’t they articulate the far bigger problems with Russia? They choose not to.

Remember a year ago, Russia & its sympathisers were united in saying there’s no way Russia would launch a full invasion. They knew that would be wrong. The fact they all switched so seamlessly to justifying it when it happened shows how readily they play these narrative games.

And captured Russian soldiers who said they didn’t know they had invaded Ukraine are really not that dumb.

The whole idea of the “mysterious Russian soul” plays into this nonsense, suggesting that Russians just can’t be understood - nor judged - in the same way as everyone else.

But they should be.

Similarly, vatniks in the West are not as clueless and detached from the reality of what Russia is doing - as many like to think.

When Roger Waters, for example, speaks against war on behalf of Russia, he knows the game he is playing.

Polly put it best: theguardian.com/music/2023/feb…

Some think this account is too harsh with Westerners who support Russia’s lines. Maybe they’re just too naive to understand the implications. But swap “Eastern Europeans” for other peoples around the world and they immediately recognise their same beliefs as bigoted extremism.

https://twitter.com/BadBalticTakes/status/1609865259971485699

The bad takes on this account - against the Baltics, Ukraine, or “Eastern Europe” in general - have one thing in common.

They deny our agency.

Our states are fake, our identities were given to us by Russia, our opinions are as US puppets, we’re just Russia’s sphere, blah, blah.

The irony is that we shouldn’t just continue asserting our own agency but also recognise the agency of those who deny ours.

Treat them all with respect only in the sense that they are people like everyone else who are responsible what they say and do.

Imperial genocide requires an immense number of active participants who know what they are doing, even while sometimes pretending otherwise. Don’t fall for it.

They all must be held to account.