Here’s my today's trip into one of the Russian Telegram chats where politics is discussed. To get the mood. You are welcome to gaze into this corner of mysterious Russia with me. Nothing offensive. No violent vatniks. Only ordinary people🧵 Revolutions don’t work. Look at Iran. Protests don’t work. Democracy doesn’t work. Look at Europe. Ursula is corrupt. Somehow Canada popped up in a conversation as corrupt too. My guess is there are Russian relocants to Canada in that chat.

When I claim that Russia is a death cult, I take into account this. Russian casualties grow steadily. If Russia were a normal country, it could have been the graph of labor and capital growth. "Why is human life so cheap in Russia?" is the question to historians and economists🧵 But, surely, poverty can't be solely blamed. There are much poorer countries with fewer growth opportunities where human life is nowhere as expendable. There are other autocracies around the world where 1/10 of such proportional losses will be seen as horrendous.

Research confirms it: people are really getting dumber. And number. Politicians are getting dumber and dumber, too. Which is to be expected. But when you look at certain political leaders of the world, it is clear, isn’t it? 🧵 Borowitz, an American humorist, defines three stages of ignorance: ridicule, acceptance, celebration. G.W. Bush’s blunders opened the era of stupidity acceptance, according to him. Watching him and Sarah Palin made Americans think, “Alright, politicians can be stupid”.

On this day, in 1944, Soviets began the operation of "liberating" Crimea from its indigenous population. Over 190,000 Crimean Tatars were deported from Crimea in three days. Same year, more than 40,000 Bulgarians, Armenians, Greeks, Turks and Roma were deported from Crimea 🧵 The long journey to remote corners of the USSR lasted 2-3 weeks. On the way, thousands died of starvation and diseases, left without food, water and medical care.

Strange to hear about anti-war Russians when the first thing many Ukrainians did was contact their relatives in Russia in the early morning of February 24, 2022, only to get openly euphoric reactions, or shocked yet cautiously euphoric. Devastated ones were very rare🧵 Euphoric or patronizing relatives from Russia: “we will liberate you”, “don’t worry, we just need to kill all ‘banderas’ and then there will be peace”, “this is no war, don’t lie” and other masterpieces of Russian twisted thinking.

This orange spot on the map is approximately what constitutes Siberia. The region Russia began colonizing back in 1581.

In today’s Siberia, the descendants of colonizers are getting worried about the war with Ukraine. Apparently, it took them almost 3 years to come to this 🧵 Russia’s size is its advantage. Russians know it very well. The Siberians interviewed by a Russian paper were sure they were unreachable. That is, until Ukraine started attacking Russia with drones. Ukrainian drones reached at least 25 regions, so even Siberia started to worry.

“Donos” is a word very familiar for those who remember the USSR. The despised practice of informing communist authorities about real or imaginary wrongdoings of neighbours, colleagues, family members is undergoing a Renaissance in fascist Russia of today 🧵 They say that more than 4 million denunciations were written in the USSR only between 1932 to 1963.

Modern Russia has not broken this record, yet. A different scale. You can get it from Russian schizophrenic news. Below there are some lighter ones.

The relationship between Russia and the US is so complicated. Instances of abuse and mutual projections fascinate me. From a psychological perspective.

Russia goes to great lengths to deny its dependency on the US. How? By banning uncomfortably pro-American paintings🧵 This is the one of the banned paintings dated 1892. Ivan Aivazovsky is the artist. There's an American flag in the paintings if you squint.

Back in 1891-1892, the Russian Empire faced a famine. The US had offered a helping hand in the form of food shipments for those struggling.

To see what giving up occupied lands to Russia means, let's revisit Crimea, a pro-Russian land occupied back in 2014.

Since Russians were cheering the return of "historical" lands, you'd think Crimea might flourish under good old thumb. Well, numbers tell a different story 🧵 Budget:

Under Russian occupation, Crimea can only cover about 25% of its budget, while Sevastopol can cover about 33%.

Under Ukrainian government in 2013, Crimea covered 40% of its budget, while Sevastopol covered 65%.

I find it mildly amusing how Navalnaya has reacted to Assad's "resignation". Her message to her English-speaking audience is like a party toast. For all the good against all the bad. Cheers-cheers.

Her message to her Russian audience written in Russian is somewhat different
🧵 It's like she is trying to appeal to her compatriots' sore spots. By sore spots I mean greed. Putin stole from them and so on.

I don't think Russians are that dumb. They know Putin stole from them. Do they suspect Putin pays them money he stole to go kill Ukrainians? Some do.

I missed this news about Syria. In 2016, Russian propaganda produced yet another stomach-turning project. They made a calendar with Syrian girls thanking Russians for protection.

The quote in the picture says, "I rest assured while my land is under your control."
More below🧵 This cutesy one says, "How did you know that I like classic music". Classic music is a reference to PMC Wagner. Their cruelty needs no further advertisement.

This Saturday, we in Ukraine remember Holodomor victims. My family also has a story to share. It's not a tragic one. Rather, a tale of invention that kept my grandmother's family alive during a man-made famine. Great-grandfather was a smart and, by village standards, rich man 🧵 He had cattle. He had land. They lived by the river in the fields, far from the rest. When communist brigades, along with enforcers, started collecting grain, fruit, eggs and any food they could spot, Stepan, the great-grandfather, had to think quickly.

On the day 1000 of Russia's full-scale invasion, I want to thank you all, guys. Romania, Canada, the Baltics, the US, Poland, the UK and more of you from all corners of our ever turbulent world. Including sane Russians too.

By rising to the call, you did something amazing 🧵 As did Ukraine. To think about it, in these 1000 days we have accomplished a lot. We preserved state sovereignty. We also showed a high level of organization and resilience. We are supported internationally, which, alone, is wonderful in the dividing realities of today.

Yesterday's announcement of a march in Berlin did not all go swimmingly for Russian opposition. Upon checking Yashin's Telegram channel, the realm of delusion I tend to avoid on a good day, I discovered a heated argument about flags, of all things.

This will be a thread🧵 Fighting over what flags to bring to the march immediately caused a grave split within the movement. Should they bring traditional ones, lovingly called Aquafresh 🇷🇺 in honor of toothpaste? Some went so far as to suggest Ukrainian flags. Yashin himself bemoans the fighting.