It’s incredible how Putin was able to turn Russia’s image from “occasionally drunk, but beloved funny uncle” to “scumbag murderer rapist” in a bit more than a decade.
It has always been a sketchy place, but they at least kept an okay image up, and a lot of people in the cities enjoyed a significant quality of life increase since the 2000s. I have some Russian colleagues who fled before/after the war, and I see their sorrow as they see the horror Russia is doing to Ukraine and its own citizens. You cannot choose where you are born, and they are sad to see the decline of the country they grew up in.
The war started in 2014 but somehow half of Europe and all of the US forgot.
Not to mention what happened in Georgia.
Or what happened in Chechnya.
Or with people living in Moscow just because Putler wanted to start a war.
Or journalists.
Sorry,but Russia never was a beloved uncle.
Russia was always the “shady, violent, uncle who can’t keep his hand off his kids but everyone ignores that because some family image they need to uphold and furthermore while he is quite poor he makes great gifts to the rest of the family. So everyone tolerates him.”
Russia had some kind of chance during the wild 90s, before Putin and his fellow chekists retook all control. In some ways the West should’ve had a different approach to Russia during this period of time and in the early 00s. Not that anyone or anything but Russian pride and megalomania, and Putin’s ambitions, are to blame for the current situation. At this point Russia has to be defeated and their overblown self-understanding changed.
Russia was kind of the drunk uncle before Putin’s intensification, filled with vodka drinking bear wrestlers, insane driving, and comrade jokes. This personified especially in Jeltsin’s behaviour
It’s incredible how Putin was able to turn Russia’s image from “occasionally drunk, but beloved funny uncle” to “scumbag murderer rapist” in a bit more than a decade.
It has always been a sketchy place, but they at least kept an okay image up, and a lot of people in the cities enjoyed a significant quality of life increase since the 2000s. I have some Russian colleagues who fled before/after the war, and I see their sorrow as they see the horror Russia is doing to Ukraine and its own citizens. You cannot choose where you are born, and they are sad to see the decline of the country they grew up in.
The war started in 2014 but somehow half of Europe and all of the US forgot.
Not to mention what happened in Georgia. Or what happened in Chechnya.
Or with people living in Moscow just because Putler wanted to start a war. Or journalists.
Sorry,but Russia never was a beloved uncle. Russia was always the “shady, violent, uncle who can’t keep his hand off his kids but everyone ignores that because some family image they need to uphold and furthermore while he is quite poor he makes great gifts to the rest of the family. So everyone tolerates him.”
Russia had some kind of chance during the wild 90s, before Putin and his fellow chekists retook all control. In some ways the West should’ve had a different approach to Russia during this period of time and in the early 00s. Not that anyone or anything but Russian pride and megalomania, and Putin’s ambitions, are to blame for the current situation. At this point Russia has to be defeated and their overblown self-understanding changed.
Russia was kind of the drunk uncle before Putin’s intensification, filled with vodka drinking bear wrestlers, insane driving, and comrade jokes. This personified especially in Jeltsin’s behaviour
Germany was too busy making money 🤡
That’s why I was specifically talking about image
Yep. This was the image we had from the Russians. A bit odd and drunk but reasonable people. All gone
https://youtu.be/PuQD1jgG9oQ