How Do Ukrainians Think About Russians Now?

· 5 min read
How Do Ukrainians Think About Russians Now?

There are, however, Russian independent media who still defy government restrictions. As a result, some of the  few remaining independent media in Russia have started to censor themselves. For most Russians, television remains the main source of the news. It is firmly controlled by the Kremlin and pumps out relentless war propaganda. Ukrainians are said to shell their own cities, and Russian troops are presented as liberators. Restrictions on reporting are increasingly severe, and access to almost all independent outlets is blocked or limited - or they censor themselves.

  • Why Russians do not protest is perhaps better explained by Russian history and not opinion polls.
  • A little earlier, we told you about a report in the Financial Times that the EU was proposing to sabotage Hungary's economy if Budapest blocks further aid for Ukraine this week.
  • Understanding Putin’s soft power can also provide insights into the long-term consequences of the conflict for his leadership and for the future of both countries.
  • You don’t know when your friends and family will be taken away for mobilisation.

The Russian foreign secretary flew on an unspecified “northern route to bypass unfriendly countries” in 12 hours and 45 minutes, Russian state news agency Tass reported. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said fears of “hypothetical Nato attacks” meant the Leningrad Oblast was not well-placed to defend attacks by Ukrainian drones coming from the south. Ukraine has been able to strike multiple targets near St Petersburg in recent days because the region’s anti-air defences are “poor”.

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You don’t know when your friends and family will be taken away for mobilisation. I’m afraid they will announce a full mobilisation and take everyone. My mother and I were very afraid for our lives, so the decision was made to leave. What we do know is that young Russians, unlike their elders, are growing up in an era of smartphones and social networks, and therefore have access to a wider range of information compared with what they are told about the war on state media.

  • Overall, he’s always had nationalist views, so it’s not surprising.
  • Also, prices for some ordinary things, like cosmetics and food, have doubled, but in many cases, we have no alternative because there are no factories here that produce those products.
  • In practice, however, the chaotic nature of the mobilisation is throwing off Mr Putin’s calculations.
  • Just over a quarter (28%) of people in Ukraine say Russians and Ukrainians are one people, while two thirds (66%) say they are not – a mirror image of the view from across the border.
  • While he said such an attack is unlikely now, "our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible".

Talk of wider war in Europe and the potential need for mass mobilisation or a "citizen army" may sound alarming. But the head of the British Army Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is not alone in issuing a national call to prepare for a major conflict on European soil. The war in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea. Next, two separatist regions in Donbas, Donetsk and Luhansk, declared their independence from Kyiv.

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The Levada Center stays within those parameters by asking whether people support the actions of the Russian military. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Why Russians do not protest is perhaps better explained by Russian history and not opinion polls. Polls suggest the majority of Russians, if not supporting the war, certainly do not oppose it. A bus service has started up connecting the city to the local cemetery where growing numbers of soldiers killed in Ukraine are being buried.

  • "We need independent media to stop the war and then try and improve life in Russia at least to a degree."
  • “Everyone has their own opinion but in general, I believe that children and teenagers should not directly express an ardent point of view about politics, and about the special military operation.
  • Even before his speech on Monday, Putin had been pushing the view that the two peoples are one, particularly in a tendentious essay last summer.
  • Ukraine is shifting its military strategy to “active defence” after its counter-offensive last year failed to deliver significant gains.
  • Britain has loosened travel restrictions on four western Ukrainian regions.

It’s too scary, the idea of dying or being locked up for life. Plus,  https://euronewstop.co.uk/when-will-german-weapons-arrive-in-ukraine.html  can see that despite many years of huge protests, the people have not achieved anything at all. Then, as now, except for a few missile attacks, Lviv is probably one of the safest places to be in Ukraine, far from the front lines in the east and the south.

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I mean – there is probably a way to go to Russia, but almost zero way for me to come back to study, and as a new semester is coming, I’m not risking it. Because of everything escalating so rapidly, I’m anxious about whether I’ll have issues renewing it due to me being Russian. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the older generation is drowning in propaganda and believes that Putin’s actions are justified. Al Jazeera spoke with five young Russians about their views on the invasion, and how the blowback has affected them. This man has a certain political style, to which most of the Russian population is already accustomed.

"Law enforcement agencies and special services are working at the scene," he wrote. The attack on the Slavneft-YANOS refinery caused no fire or casualties, governor Mikhail Yevrayev said. However, Mr Orban's political director said this morning that Hungary was open to using the EU budget to allow further aid for Ukraine.

For a few years, the unprecedented patriotic surge of 2014 served as symbolic compensation for the socioeconomic problems that had already begun. Russians lapped up the real and imaginary threats that were fed to them, and generally assessed military action as justified, defensive, and/or preventative. In practice, however, the chaotic nature of the mobilisation is throwing off Mr Putin’s calculations. It has undermined the common man’s confidence in the state machine, its efficiency and its dedication to a common cause. Thus it has undermined the very sense of unity and nationhood that Mr Putin hoped to  manipulate.

  • For centuries, Ukrainians have struggled against Russian cultural dominance.
  • His speech comes after weeks of speculation over whether the Kremlin would seize the occasion to announce an escalation in the war, says Mai’a Cross, Edward W. Brooke Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Northeastern.
  • Even so, the messages made for some jarring moments for some of those present, featuring as they often did ultra-patriotic and sometimes militaristic declarations.
  • He says about 50% have "definite support" without any qualms, but the other 30% have support with reservations.