Are average Russians complicit in the war in Ukraine?

There are several thoughts I would like to share about the current situation in Ukraine and being a Russian. I left Russia in 2013 and lived abroad ever since. I left because I saw no real perspectives for my future in this country, I struggled with many conservative aspects of the Russian mentality and wanted to see the world. Until recently my nationality never caused me much trouble apart from the usual annoying visa paperwork, occasional vodka jokes, some sexist comments about Russian women, and the assumption that I can tolerate extremely low temperatures (which I can not). Nothing an experienced foreigner cannot survive. Yet lately I have been horrified by the things I read online. So, let’s poke this bear.

I have an unpopular opinion to offer. To begin with, I am against patriotism of any kind. I find it is unreasonable to support and love your country no matter what, just because you were born there. I do have occasional pride for, say, Kollontai or Pussy Riot but if I am completely honest with myself, shared nationality is a weird thing to be proud of. My Russianness did not contribute to the achievements of any of these people in any way.

Now back to the war. I hear people say that most Russians support the war (which might be true), so there should be consequences for Russian nationals living abroad. I wonder how should it be determined whether I, as a Russian living abroad, should be sanctioned? Most likely nobody will ask me if I support the war, or Putin, or toxic straight masculinity for that matter. My nationality is enough to pass a judgment on me and sanction me because many of my compatriots are misinformed or bloodthirsty.

Misinformed?! They could use VPN to learn the truth…

“Russians can get informed through VPN, they just don’t want to, so it seems that they choose to be misinformed.” The truth is that the level of media literacy in Russia is generally quite low, so even if we have an opportunity to look for independent information we would not know where and how to find it. Besides, many average Russians are apolitical, know little to nothing about International Law, and, in my experience, often cannot tell the difference between nazism and nationalism.

More importantly, we should not underestimate the power of information bubbles. There is a reason why an average person does not go to white nationalist forums and read what they have to say about anything. People (in this case rightfully) assume that white nationalists have nothing valuable to offer. Very much simplified, this is how many Russians see the information coming from the West. Besides, it is very hard to live in a constant state of cognitive dissonance. When you hear everyone around you saying “We are fighting Ukrainian nazis who are killing babies!” and then you read online that “Russians are killing babies!”, your brain is likely to disqualify one of these pieces of information and discourage you from creating this dissonance again. Trying to tell right from wrong when you are constantly bombarded by propaganda is not that straightforward.

Russians should protest!

Probably the most common argument I read is that Russians should protest and change the regime. If they don’t then it’s their fault. This would be great but, unfortunately, unlikely to happen any time soon. Firstly, for many Russians, the maximum freedom and stability they have ever experienced were under Putin. Before him we had a painful transition to capitalism under Eltsin, before that we had the Soviet Union, and before that absolute monarchy. We have never had democratic culture or freedom of protest or the rule of law in the traditional understanding of these words. Secondly, when people do protest, they are being brutally mobbed, oppressed, imprisoned, and killed. So when people say that Russians have to stay in Russia and change the regime, they basically tell Russians to go and die or spend their lives in prisons, so that their children could have a small chance for a democratic future.

Considering that western countries have zero real support for pro-democratic Russian citizens. Remember what happened in Belarus? The whole world held its breath and united in support of Belorussian protesters, the West even passed some sanctions, and then… Russia helped to brutally suppress the protests and the world forgot about Belarussian heroes, now they are perceived as bloodthirsty supporters of the Ukrainian war. The same goes for Navalny. Do people remember that he is still illegally imprisoned, his sentence extended?

“Expert” opinions

Just a year ago an average person I would meet in Europe or the U.S. knew little to nothing about Ukraine. Now every second person I meet is a geopolitical expert on Eastern Europe, who knows exactly what is going on in this war and is eager to share their wisdom. To these people I plead, just don’t. I lived in Russia for most of my life, I visited Ukraine and have many Ukrainian friends, I have degrees in Eastern European Studies and International Relations, and yet, I have a very hard time understanding what is happening and I have very few predictions to offer. Parroting news anchors is not the same as understanding a complex conflict situation.

What about

Then, of course, there is hypocrisy in all this. Are average Americans complicit in the war in Iraq, torturing thousands of innocent people during the War on Terror? What about the French and the war events in Algeria? What about all those weapons that France and Germany sold to Russia after the annexation of Crimea, and that are now likely used to kill Ukrainians? I understand that whataboutism is hardly an argument, but it can show us the bias in how differently we treat citizens for the mistakes of their governments, depending on what governments we are talking about.

Final Words

As you have probably guessed, I am scared and frustrated. I had to survive my share of abuse and I do not want to be blamed responsible for this war. I am ready to take the anger of people from Ukraine, as they have the right to be angry, they are grieving terrible losses, and they are living through an awful trauma. However, to all the other folks out there, please, think twice before you decide to attack or punish a person because of their nationality.

“A nation should be judged not by its worst, but by its best representatives.”

– Boris Akunin.

To my like-minded compatriots, I say: don’t give up, continue to support the opposition in any small way you can, spread the truth about the war (e.g. Popular Politics), talk to your families, and try to ignore those who want to burn you at the stake.

Featured Image: “Executioner” by Elizaveta Savolainen, a part of the installation “When there is no safe word”