-
Spent quite a bit of time in mid and eastern Russia. I like the country itself, especially the east regions (altai etc) is an amazing place, most of the people whilst maybe won't come bounding up to you with open arms, if you ask them for help in any way, they will help as much as they can and beyond. I've never been west of Samara or to any of the big cities in the western/european area, I would make a guess that most folk who live in the mid and eastern regions feel little interest in what happens in Moscow. Much like how many folk in the north of England have any interest in what happens in the South East/London.
The amount of bureaucracy in rural Russia is high, not so much fear of authorities, but just wary of the utter misery that can be inflicted on them if they raise their voice or hand. Loads of rural areas will put their kids into military roles such as local enforcement, border lands or infantry type roles as its pretty much the only way to get a leg up, they also live quite deep in the state run media bubble, so with the best will in the world, they can't easily see the truth.
I don't know what the answer is to the problem, the state definitely does have enough dusty old prisons, state companies and bureaucracy to make anyones life a misery if you do oppose.
I would say very few are pro war, probably much less than 5% if my mates feelings on numbers are correct. Most folk just try to block it out and survive, they are also in a domestic energy crisis coupled with a lot of people are out of work, its a very bleak feeling there (again all not in the western areas, I don't know anybody there).
BrickMan-
Yeah from what I’ve read, it’s not a question about whether they’re pro war or not, it’s life, money and work. If you live in the middle of nowhere in the wastes of Eastern Russia where the only work is subsistence farming etc then a relatively high salary to join the army and fight is honestly a reasonable and desirable choice. Who you’re fighting and why is irrelevant . Sad but when you have nothing it makes sense.
Which it is why it’s so important that we cut off money from purchasing Russian energy as that cash directly feeds this fucked up situation.
-
Friend is Russian and grew up there but was sent to Uni outside Russia and has worked around the world has a different viewpoint. Her parents still live there and she won't speak to them about the war unless they're here in person. They accept their phones may be bugged sporadically and wouldn't comment anything beyond "we hope for everyone that the war ends soon" at the start of the war so she stopped discussing it.
She reckons most older people consume state-run media almost entirely and even younger ones are heavily influenced by it (particularly dependant on socio-economic status) so the influence is quite pronounced. She's spoken to old friends who genuinely believe the war is justified and that Western media is lying.
Jameo
atz
What’s the deal with this then? I struggle to believe all Russians, or even most Russians, are pro war. Especially if they’re leaving elsewhere and have access to proper news. Is it a genuine fear of repercussions?