[Ed. note: This is a copy-and-paste from a LinkedIn post.]

The War of the Worlds

Dmitri Vorobiev
Software Engineer

I am a Russian-speaking person and the following is what I want to say
about current events.

The size of the audience in Russia that we can reach here on LinkedIn is
negligible. Therefore, my appeal is rather to Western people, to those who
strive to understand why we see what we see and what we can realistically
do now and in the near future.

Having lived in Russia at more than one time (I was born in the southern
outskirts of the Soviet Union), I was much more likely to come across the
narrative that Putin voiced and implied in his speech on the Monday before
the war, about how "Russian people built everything for them", meaning
former Soviet republics, about the unrequited debt of the former Soviet
colonies to Russia, about the unacceptability of the choice of Western
values  by neighbors (people there usually express it through defending
so-called “traditional values”, but you get the point), than across
any discourse that postulates liberal values.

Unlike the USSR, from which it was practically impossible to leave, during
the last 30 years Russian state borders have been open, and many who want
to live differently do live differently, and they do not live in Russia
any longer. In recent years there was a nontrivial amount of people who
moved from Russia to Ukraine to pursue life in freedom there. No illusion,
there are plenty of bearers of the "traditional values" among Russians
living abroad, and, based on personal experience, I tend to think that they
may well be in the majority. The departure of those who were able to get
settled in the countries of the First World, whose skills are in demand, the
latter usually correlating to the general level of a person’s intellectual
development, his or her way of thinking, and, to a lesser extent, values,
further reduces the audience in Russia to which we could appeal now.

I see no premises or any basis for any significant change in the basic set
of values for the majority of the population and citizens of Russia either
now, or after the end of this war, or even during my own lifetime. On the
contrary, I remember very well how in the 90s, when I studied in Moscow,
the masses hated the freedom that suddenly fell on them, how the masses
did not accept it, hated the newly appeared entrepreneurs who gave them
work and food, hated and still hate Gorbachev, who released them from the
prison called USSR they all were born in.

Russia had a chance to develop, it had ten years to gain a foothold among
the free countries. The country chose not to. The country groaned, asking
that someone come who would "put things in order." The country did not want
to go against age-old habits of passiveness, inability to make decisions
on their own, envy of success. The country needed a dictator who would
make decisions for them. The country got one, cheered him, and the country
was finally happy. Young people born after 1991 write "I want USSR back"
in their social media statuses. The myths about the USSR, cherished by
older generations and fueled by propaganda, turned out to be tenacious,
passed on to new generations, and, I'm afraid, losing the war with Ukraine
will only boost these myths through resentment and anger. For this myth, for
its phantom pain from the loss of the conquered peoples who fled from them
thirty years ago, Russia, as we are witnessing now, is ready to die. Not
for Putin. For the empire, for the obedience of neighbors, eventually
for the values people share. Putin's propaganda fell on fertile soil,
but it did not impose ideas alien to its consumers. These ideas existed
and exist on their own. The atmosphere of freedom of the late 80s and all
90s did not take root, and it could not, the soil was simply not suitable.

Many write these days that they have seen a lot of "smart and progressive"
Russian people. Of course you have, so have I. I am sure, however, that
your sample (and mine) is biased, your social circles obviously consists
of people with similar fates and backgrounds, carefully filtered by several
degrees of education, the ability to learn foreign languages, being risen in
families with certain values and traditions, these families had a shortwave
radio to listen to BBC, Deutsche Welle and the Voice of America when such
an endeavor required courage.

Yes, many Russians, maybe even tens of thousands, are against the war, many
understand and welcome the choice of Ukrainians in favor of values that
are foreign and sometimes hostile to Russian traditional values. Some may
even take to the streets in their cities to protest. These people deserve
respect. But they will not feel supported at home. They will be persecuted
for their position - not necessarily by the repressive machinery of the
state, but their acquaintances, friends, neighbors, colleagues, relatives
will bully them. This is already happening, I know examples, this has already
happened after the annexation of Crimea, this will happen in connection with
all future wars of conquest that Russia will wage in any foreseeable future.

I was very surprised, if not shocked, by the world reaction followed
during the past week. This time the civilized world decided to actually do
something beyond expressing deep concern in Twitter. Sanctions are efficient
this time, and the impact on the Russian economy will be significant and
probably fast. Many countries provide direct support to the Ukrainian armed
forces. The West seems to have finally understood, perhaps subconsciously,
that Ukrainians fight for our peace, freedom and values right here in
the West in addition to fighting for their own democratic choice. We must
remember though that sanctions are restrictive, not educational. There exist
no sanctions to be targeted at the root cause, the bitter feeling of an
ordinary Russian citizen after losing colonies in 1991 and wanting them back.

For those Russians who publicly opposed the war in Russia and are known
to have suffered for it, the possibility of granting political asylum
should be considered. Those who vocally and publicly protested in Russia
and were persecuted by the state need to be given a chance to live among
like-minded people. We will not have to sacrifice much, there are not so
many people to be helped.

But nobody should count on a revolution.