INVISIBLE RUSSIANS

There are 144 million Russians in the world. You probably met some of them. Nothing peculiar about them, two legs, two arms.

We develop our view of the world based on our experiences. We can’t read other people’s minds, so we assume that other people are much like us. This is why a normal person with humane values who’s never dealt with Russians most probably won’t be able to imagine what an average Russian is.

🔳 Let’s talk numbers.

Eighty-six percent Russians don’t speak any language except their own (1); 72 percent don’t have travel documents to go abroad (2); that’s why you have never seen an average Russian. And since you most probably don’t speak their language either, most Russians remain invisible to the world.

🔳 Who are these “invisible” Russians?

Soldiers. Currently, 150,000 Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine (3). They probably have some plan, some military strategy relayed to them by their higher-ups, but they also take private initiative. A morbid initiative, like raping hundreds of women and children, torturing and killing thousands of civilians (4) sitting in their homes, standing in lines to get food, driving their cars trying to evacuate.(5)

In an intercepted phone call home, a soldier bragged that he and two others raped a 14-year-old girl. Another one described how they slaughtered and ate a shepherd dog just for fun.(6) They burned a stable with 30 living horses inside. (7) They shot zoo animals. (8 )

This is no military strategy. This is just their idea of fun, something to do while staying abroad.

🔳 OK, these are soldiers. Maybe they went insane because of the horrors of war they witnessed. But what about their families?

Hundreds of intercepted phone calls show those soldiers’ wives, mothers and friends are all very supportive. Wives make wish lists for loot: T-shirts, blenders, laptops and TVs! Russians plunder lingerie, cookware, and even used children’s toys. Their children will be playing with teddy bears stolen from massacred Ukrainian children. Someone took 36-year-old irradiated forks from Chernobyl. Now Russian soldiers are shipping their loot home from Belarus. Russia is a country of murderers, rapists and looters.

One of the most harrowing things I have read recently was an interview with the head of the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia. She told how she pleaded with the Russian mothers to try to save their sons from certain death in the war in Ukraine by whatever means. And you know what the most popular response was? “What’s the point?” Let it sink in. Mothers don’t see a point in saving their sons’ lives. I’m a mother and I can’t wrap my head around this.

It’s a proven fact: human life has no value in the Russian mindset.

🔳 What about the rest of the Russians?

As of the end of March 2022, 83 percent of Russians approve of Putin’s actions as President and 81 percent support the war in Ukraine and, by extension, rape, murder and looting (9). That’s 116 million people. Why do they need this war? I’ll be honest, I have no idea, neither do they. They gain nothing from it, just hate and economic disaster.

Talking about the economic disaster. Russia is one of the biggest exporters of fossil fuels in the world. Putin is one of the richest men in the world. Meanwhile, 35 million Russians live in houses or apartments without indoor toilets, 47 million do not have hot water, 29 million don’t have any running water inside their residences, and 22 million do not have central heating.

The problem is not poverty as such, but the fact that they don’t see a problem in this situation.

🔳 What about the tiny fraction of Russians who are against the war? Mostly, they do nothing. Their stance is, “We are small people. There’s nothing we can do.” Most of them are silent.

🔳 So, what’s the bottom line?

Russian normality is to live in shit and do nothing about it, while supporting an awfully rich psychopath.

Russians in their overwhelming majority are not victims, but the foundation of Putin’s regime.

To the western world, they are like a virus, invisible, but deadly. They will kill you and ruin your world out of sheer hatred and jealousy. They can’t stand the idea of someone having a good life while they are stuck in their own shit. They want everyone to be as miserable as they are.

🇺🇦 Ukraine is fighting for the culture, democracy, and human lives, not just their own, but yours as well. We are paying way too high a price for this. The price we can’t afford.

My dear friends outside Ukraine. We need your help. I know, you are NOT just “small people” and you can do A LOT. Fight with us! For freedom! For the future! When Ukraine will win, you will win!

Here’s what you can do:

❕Raise your voice. Write to your local government representatives. Urge them to send arms for Ukraine; to stop buying Russian oil and gas; to stop exports to Russia.

❌Boycott Russia:
DON’T buy from Russia
DON’T work with Russia
DON’Tconsume Russian culture—there is no such thing as culture without politics, especially in Russia.

❌Boycott big businesses, like Nestlé, Mars, and Mondelēz that have not pulled out of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Do not sponsor the war! (10)

🔰Donate money to the Army, humanitarian NGOs, volunteers and charities in Ukraine (11). Please, DO NOT donate to the Red Cross. They are siding with the Russians despite the daily war crimes those commit in Ukraine (12).

Marysya Rudska