cross-posted from: https://europe.pub/post/1289229

Rule #1. Russia’s traditionalism makes it surprisingly predictable. If Russia surprises you, then you don’t know Russia.

Rule #2. If Russia promises to do something good, it will never do it. Consequence: a treaty with Russia is not worth the paper it is signed on.

Rule #3. If Russia promises not to do something bad, it will definitely do it. Consequence: Russia will do it the moment you decide it will not do it.

Rule #4. If Russia promises to do something bad, it will definitely do it. Consequence: Russia will do it at the most inopportune moment for itself.

Rule #5. If Russia accuses someone of meanness or a crime, then it has already committed it.

Rule #6. If Russia claims that someone is preparing meanness or a crime, then it is preparing them.

Rule #7. If Russia makes an official statement, it is a lie.

Rule #8. Russia does not understand the language of force, it understands only force. The consequence: ultimatums and negotiations with Russia are useless, because it perceives them as a sign of weakness.

Rule #9. If you are afraid of “provoking Russia to escalate”, then you are mistaken. Escalation has been planned by Russia for a long time and does not need an additional reason, pretext or provocation.

Rule #10. If you are still afraid of Russia, then you are doing it in vain. You simply do not know Russia.

  • Bonna Shejve@europe.pubOP
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    27 days ago

    Check with maps where Ukrainian people live. Do you know that even on OCCUPIED TERRITORIES russians force Ukrainians to fight against Ukrainians?

    Yeah they do realize that, and they are (correctly AFAIK) identifying that Ukrainians made a huge contribution to that. Of the 27 million Soviets who died in WWII, about 7 million were Ukrainian. That definitely deserves to be remembered and we owe them just as much for the defeat of fascism. That being said, it’s absolutely deranged to act like it wasn’t a huge number of Russians, both soldiers and civilians, who died in Stalingrad (even if Ukrainians were brought in to help).

      • Bonna Shejve@europe.pubOP
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        27 days ago

        Thank you for the question. Look, all the territories that the Russians are occupying - all the men, even teenagers, are being forced to fight against our guys from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These are teenagers who are not even 16 years old. Ukrainians speak both Ukrainian and Russian - in the east, south and even in the center, they mostly spoke Russian, especially in large cities. But with the Russian attack, Ukrainians gradually began to switch to Ukrainian.

        I don’t really understand the question about “Russian-speaking Ukrainians who hate Azov”. There are none. We believe that all the fighters who defend Ukraine from Russian invaders demand respect. We do not kneel before the Russians, we kneel before the Ukrainian fighters who gave their lives so that Ukrainian children would stay alive. The Azov fighters, just like the fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, defend Ukraine from Moscow’s tyranny. Kharkiv is Russian-speaking, practically located on the border with Russia - but the Russians could not capture Kharkiv, people came out with their bare hands to defend it.

        • FunkyStuff [he/him]@hexbear.netBanned from community
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          27 days ago

          If you’re more concerned with defending a post-Soviet state’s territorial integrity than with the basic question of defending human dignity against Nazi freaks like Azov you aren’t worthy of an internet connection. You should be ashamed.

          • Bonna Shejve@europe.pubOP
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            27 days ago

            You have clearly distorted information about the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Azov fighters. Can you explain your point of view?

          • Bonna Shejve@europe.pubOP
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            27 days ago

            I really suspect that the Russians have again passed off their crimes as the crimes of the Azov fighters. You should look at the atrocities that the Russians committed in Bucha, and since Mariupol is still occupied, we guess that the Russians did the same thing there as in Bucha. Unfortunately, you were misled and the Azov fighters who defended their city were falsely accused. The Armed Forces of Ukraine and all of Ukraine are fighting so that such atrocities as in Bucha do not occur. The Russians despise man, human dignity, they behave exactly like the Nazis in 1939-1945. Russian crimes in Bucha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucha_massacre

      • Bonna Shejve@europe.pubOP
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        27 days ago

        Maybe the Russians don’t like the Azov fighters so much because they did the impossible - just a handful of people held back the swarm offensive for a long time and diverted forces from Kiev. Thus, they failed to capture Kiev. They sacrificed their lives but saved Ukraine from surrender