Hi. These Russians are honestly something unsettling—they’re so willing to tolerate their government and propaganda that it’s almost ridiculous. I was in a CIS Telegram chat, and most of the people there were Russian. They casually post images like “proper nutrition charts,” but with Russian flags and Z symbols. I didn’t realize it was that cartoonishly blatant for them. And they’re fine with displaying symbols of hate in their homes. At the same time, they write that they are against the war. It just disgusts me.
It was also strange to read their complaints about how poorly they live and how terrible everything is, while in Ukraine cities are being destroyed and people are dying from explosions every day.
Thanks for the ask! You are fully correct — russian imperialism is very overwhelming and ever present. I know no other place where they casually use this many slurs towards literally everyone (I don't know or understand half of them and I'm supposed to be fluent in the language). They're very... casual about their hatred, and being "against war" to a russian usually means being against a sort of metaphor, an ephemeral thing that just... comes and goes on its own. They accept no responsibility and in majority feel no shame, a tendency that is fed by their propaganda, but exists on its own after centuries of imperialism.
They seem to love making victims out of themselves and see no connection between actions and consequences. They always use "why is this happening to us?" like they didn't literally start the biggest war in Europe in the past century. A genocidal war, to be more specific.
So the tendencies you've noticed are very real and very disgusting, as you've said.