Yes, but that kind of outside opinion about life in Russia does not matter anything to me. That's just copy and paste from CNN/BBC/DW/e.t.c. derogatory narrative.
Well, I guess that was when I stopped flying FH( Yet, my latest post was in 2021 No, I am not from Urkaine, I am from Volgograd. And I too think that there is some truth to Russian самодержавие being alive and well: when one guy sits on a throne of a country in XXI century for 20+ years - this is far from normal.
Yes, "monarch", "dictator", "party leader", "president" and any other derivatives of "strong leader at the head" government structure is a very Russian cultural thing. But that's "not normal" only for non-Russians westerners. (In fact that more kinda like East culture) For Russia and Russians, it was always the same. Since Novgorod republic ~1000 years ago, I guess. You can not just copy some western parliamentarian republic here. It will just not work. Never worked. Cultural thing.
You are probably right. About the cultural thing, I mean. But with this kind of pattern the government does not take responsibility for its actions before its people and, as a result, does not care much about well-being of the citizens. All that situation around Ukraine, unfolding since 2014, did not and will not benefit the people of Russia. Yet, it still unfolds...
I agree. We did not wanted this. But we have no choice in this matter. Or it was a choice between bad and the worse.
That's a trait of every government. For 99% of governments, citizens are the resource. Nothing more. Some hide it better than the others, but it is all the same. On the other hand, it is a precious resource (which can be problematic when handled poorly), so citizens are provided with minimal care and maximum brainwashing.
US Embassy in Kiev on Russia's claims about Ukraine being an artificial creation of Russia: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FMNFMkjXEAEAjKy?format=jpg&name=900x900
You forgot to mention that this "theatre" staged its first performances in a private townhouse owned by prince Urusov (and continued to do so for the first five years of its existence). "Big" If it wasn't for Peter the Great, we'd be discussing issues of the Polish-Chinese border today
September 17th, 1939 - does that ring a bell? That's when Russia acted, invading Poland together with its ally - the Third Reich. You tend to forget that Hitler and Stalin were once pals, who divided the Central Europe between them. 2 millions of Poles - that's how many were forced to leave their homes in Eastern Poland and moved to eastern USSR. 21 768 - that is the number of Polish officers, policemen and intelligentsia executed in1940, in Katyn Massacre alone... on direct order of Stalin (something no one teaches in Russian schools).
Should we take this like an idea that goverments of other countries, the EU, USA, would care better about well-being of citizens of Russia? All of Russians?
No matter how, you provided yor territoty for Hitler to hit USSR. You can't pay any acceptable price for this.
It's a very strange idea. Why would they? Normally the governments prioritize the interests of their own citizens. Ours doesn't, however...
Could you please briеfly uncover the mechanism how it goes this way in... What countries did you mean?
Really, why? You were saying that Putin is better not to do what he's actually doing. This is exactly what the representatives of other countries say. Why do I have not to conclude you think others suggest better solutions?
Really. If you remember, last time when Putin prominently exercised his "international policy", it was in 2014. This substantially degraded the econimic situation in Russia. Don't know about you, but I am still "enjoying" the results, even though it's been 8 years already. And now he went and turned it from bad to worse. From my armchair the solution is quite simple: just stay clear from the internal affairs of other countries!
I am afraid most of the Russians won't realize that until, as we say it in Poland, they wake up with their arms elbow-deep in their potty. And I do believe the actual threat for Russia comes not from the West, but from China. They will take your precious Siberia, once your economy is bled by pointless imperialism. And no one will blame them, after you prove (once again) that you believe you're entitled to take whatever you think should belong to you. They will do the same - taking what they find is managed by incompetent, uncivilized bunch of savages. What did you need Crimea for? It's a money pit for you, requiring constant subsidies, external freshwater supplies, without anything close to a viable economy. What do you need Donetsk and Lugansk for (apart from coal mines)? These are regions now effectively run by Russian mafia. Don't you have enough of organized crime at home? Lessons from Chechnya never learned it seems.