I’ll be honest, guys. I’m grateful for any support for Ukraine from foreigners. But when, in a monologue about helping Ukraine, you gradually slip into rhetoric like “Russians and Ukrainians are alike,” you lose most of the Ukrainian audience in the room. At that point, only Russians remain — and even then, a certain kind of them.
“Russian soldiers are all forced to go to this war.”
Please, listen to at least some real interviews with them.
Because in 90% of cases, after the word “forced,” one of these reasons follows:
“I was forced to fight because I signed a contract that said I would only dig trenches and do logistical support. But I was betrayed and sent to assault positions. I was promised I’d just help the army and earn money while staying safe.”
“I was forced to fight because I was in prison and was told my sentence would be canceled if I signed a contract. It’s very unfortunate that other Russians don’t really respect me.”
“I was forced to fight because I wanted a better life, to pay off my loans. They said they would pay well, so I signed the contract.”
Yes, there are ideological Russians who are genuinely interested in destroying Ukrainians. But the majority see these killings — and their participation in them — as a source of income.
This is not the first such case in human history, including today. Yet for some reason, you fail to grasp this.
At the same time, many of you refuse to listen to Ukrainians, considering our perspective unreliable — even though we have lived with and interacted with this nation for centuries, while you may have only had a couple of Russian acquaintances.
So yes, thank you for the support. But Ukrainians are not fighting to “liberate Russians from Putin” and make Russia free so that we can then live together with it in harmony — as many of you once imagined, and as many “liberal” Russians still do.
Those Russians who are truly on Ukraine’s side — not just “against the war” — most often do not see the continued existence of this modern empire as a result of Ukraine’s victory. Because that victory would lead to further attempts to free Belarus, to cut Georgia off from Russian influence, and then to internal processes within Russia itself. Beyond that, representatives of national minorities are already discussing the creation of their own forms of statehood without Kremlin control, if they are given such a chance.
So yes, Ukrainians do fight for the freedom of others — this has also been true historically — but in the case of our victory, there will be courts just like after World War II, where the excuse “I was just following orders” is not a valid alibi.
And in the case of a Russian occupation of Ukraine — you will simply have the opportunity to meet many more Russian soldiers and form your own opinion of them.
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