@laplab you do realise that it's OK that it's harder for you to do many (most) things during wartime though, right?

That's the whole reason why we don't like good russians. Not because you may or may not be donating to #ЗСУ, not because you may or may not be an opponent of putin's regime, but because you play victim when faced with inconveniences.

I welcome questions and hardships that I get from interacting with the West due to the fact that I'm affiliated with russians (because I have a lot of russian employees, whom we have transported out of russia). I'll be glad when and if I'll have personal problems with crossing the borders because I have a russian tourist visa stamp in my passport.

Thing is that I have contributed to the legitimisation of putin's regime after 2008, 2013 and 2014 by doing business with russians, so it's logical that I have to face inconveniences.

On the other hand, russians themselves who benefited from the regime, no matter if by virtue of studying in #мгу or #мфти, or by receiving awards or stipends, should, will and do face their own share of hardships.

The point of the post which made you grumpily say "so be it", to play captain obvious, is that none of your hardships, my hardships, even hardships of #zpatriots in #EU or #UK are even remotely comparable to the hardships Ukrainians are going through right now. So why complain? Why say nothing about the war? Oh, sorry, you did!

https://mastodon.social/@laplab/109619573302290241

Tak-to))

@thomy2000 @tivasyk if you care for the matters of feeling for russians, read the long-toot above. Didn't tag you because ain't nobody got time for this.

@jonn i wanted to respond, but either i have been muted or blocked by the opponent. which kind of supports my previons impression (i'll add the text below, here's a screenshot for the moment).

in text:

«judging» is a tag that carries negative connotations while often is (incorrectly and manipulatively) used instead of «having expressing emotions on being faced with a complex situation involving another person».

i don't know you, true; i've only seen your stream and have experienced an emotion of surprise and disappointment that i have expressed.

i did not «judge» you, nor insult or harass or in any other way attacked you.

p.s. «i am not going to comment» is a comment btw.

@tivasyk

> «i am not going to comment» is a comment btw.

I wanted to point that out too, but instead tried to show empathy and explain why I, as a Latvian and most (all?) of my Ukrainian and Latvian friends dislike "good russians".

But we ended up getting blocked by vatnik sympathisers. I'm willing to bet that neither Thomas nor Nikita have ever directly donated to #ЗСУ.

In a way, Nikita is less dangerous than Thomas. Nikita doesn't hide the fact that he's "neutral" towards the war that his country is waging on his behalf.

Thomas, however, poses as a #Ukraine-supporter in the West.

@tivasyk haha this thomas frans guy is also rather weird. Can you imagine someone getting offended to read what I wrote to Nikita. I didn't even write anything close to what I may have written in private to a friend of mine, I don't attack Nikita or anything in my toot, just explain in 2048 symbols or less, why russians and people who interacted with russians after 2008 and russia should expect at least minor inconveniences or moderate inconveniences.

Imagine getting jaded about it.

You made a great call by calling the guy out for re-tooting Nikita's introduction.

@jonn i might be overly sensitive to the topic...

...but it's because if my country's army were waging a fashistic war against another nation, i would not be able to not speak against it.

people are different =/

@tivasyk OMG! These are the exact words I use to try to explain russian terpilas about reasonable morals.

Thing is that we've seen what fascism does to the world, not just #Europe!

So it's about pragmaticism as much as it is about morals.

What I tell russians to get through to them is: "Latvia and russia has a disputed territory, Abrene. It's was taken by russia in 1991 and was de facto conceded when the two countries were making the modern border. If my country, backed by NATO would invade russia and start a genocide there on the premise of protecting Latvian-speaking residents of Abrene, I would immediately denounce my own country, moved to a neutral country, and applied for an asylum on the grounds of wanting to waive my citizenship."

I think that the difference is that imperialists and those who grew up in the centers of the empires gain so much value from growing up in the center of an empire, they inevitably develop "terpiljstvo": a mentality and a set of behaviours of not going against the empire's policies. Thus, even when an empire turns fascist, they seldom protest and perhaps they even wait for "everything to get back to normal" so that they can keep benefiting from being in the center of an empire.

@jonn exatly what one sees in the eyes of many, many former russians, but today citizens of canada, usa etc: they wait for their motherland to keep it's power, despite profiting of the other country's democracy and comforts =/

@thomy2000 I think you should give this toot a read, because you don't seem to understand that #russiansArentVictims.

cc @tivasyk

@jonn All because I dare like a post from someone who hasn't talked about the war online.

**Audible sigh**

Anyways, you'll be the first person to go on my blocked accounts list. Congratulations!

@thomy2000 khui budesh?

@thomy2000 «from someone who hasn't talked about the war online» ― that's the whole point of my initial surprised reaction: why?

why not?

is it something a person can ignore? especially a person coming from the very country waging _that_ particular war?

ultimately: is NOT talking about the war OK?..

i think ultimately everyone answers for themselves.

@tivasyk I hate this mentality of "a person being however they act online", or in any single place for that matter. A person is not defined by their behavior online, nor by their behavior at work, nor by their behavior among friends, not even among their close family. They are defined by the sum of all of those. If someone chooses not to talk about a topic online, that's THEIR choice and I respect that. Is not talking about the war ok? No. Is it ok to only discuss it in real life? Yes.

@thomy2000 ok, i now better understand what you mean.

there's actually one possibility that makes your point valid to me: if the person's life would be directly in danger if publicly expressing an opinion.

however, consider this: isn't publicly opposing evil and supporting victims our «moral duty» as human beings?

is NOT mentioning the war but STILL grumbling about how difficult it is for russians because of the war somewhat... indicative of the person's perception of what's important?