Perceptions of Russia Before and After the Start of the War

[Debater Slayer]

This thread is based on the same premise of gauging whether anyone's perceptions have changed that my other recent thread is based on.

I'm interested to know whether opinions on Russia—not on every individual Russian, but on the country as a geopolitical and military unit—have changed among any members here since the start of the war in 2022, and if so, how.

The poll is anonymous. I also couldn't fit more options into the poll because I used the maximum number of possible responses, so I consolidated the responses where the overall sentiment before and after the start of the war is the same (i.e., still overall positive, overall neutral, or overall negative) into one instead of dividing each into "Positively before and more/less positively now," "Negatively before and more/less negatively now," etc.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Well, as per 2014 I viewed Russia negatively, but in a sense it goes back to Chechnya.

 

[EinGeheimkonto]

I am against war in general, but I do not have anything against Russia as a country. In terms of culture, they produced great composers, poets, and authors. They also produced great scientists, mathematicians and inventors.

I also don't believe the war was totally "un-provoked". The main thing was the expansion of NATO, which Russia did consider a provocation, a dangerous game of “poking the bear”. The CIA had for some time seen Ukraine as a sort of "wild card" for containing Russia. Zbigniew Brzeszinski effectively said that "Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be an Eurasian Empire".

 

[Estro Felino]

We are speaking of Russia and the Russian people, right?

Russia is a beautiful country and Russians are very good people. They are just like the rest of Europeans, like Northern Europeans but much happier and pragmatic. They love art, music, philosophy and literature. They are very good at the all four.
I have always seen them that way, both before and after the war.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

We are speaking of Russia and the Russian people, right?

Russia is a beautiful country and Russians are very good people. They are just like the rest of Europeans, like Northern Europeans but much happier and pragmatic. They love art, music, philosophy and literature.
I have always seen them that way, both before and after the war.

Well, that is not how I read the OP.
"...not on every individual Russian, but on the country as a geopolitical and military unit—have changed among any members here since the start of the war in 2022, and if so, how."

 

[Debater Slayer]

We are speaking of Russia and the Russian people, right?

(Coloring mine.)

No, I'm not, and I made sure to unambiguously point that out in the OP:

I'm interested to know whether opinions on Russia—not on every individual Russian, but on the country as a geopolitical and military unit—have changed among any members here since the start of the war in 2022, and if so, how.

 

[Koldo]

We are speaking of Russia and the Russian people, right?

Russia is a beautiful country and Russians are very good people. They are just like the rest of Europeans, like Northern Europeans but much happier and pragmatic. They love art, music, philosophy and literature. They are very good at the all four.
I have always seen them that way, both before and after the war.

This sounds so much like Trump that it is kinda funny.

 

[Estro Felino]

(Coloring mine.)

No, I'm not, and I made sure to unambiguously point that out in the OP:

Right.
Well... positive.
I mean... Russia has a very unique system of oblasts, republics, territories: it has always respected the peoples and the nations in the world.

Unlike some other European country which wants to keep their colonial empire in Africa tyrannically... (without naming it, it's not the topic).

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Right.
Well... positive.
I mean... Russia has a very unique system of oblasts, republics, territories: it has always respected the peoples and the nations in the world.

Unlike some other European country which wants to keep their colonial empire in Africa tyrannically... (without naming it, it's not the topic).

Are the rest of the 100 nationalities allowed to aviod Russian in schools and society as such for politics, the law and so on?

 

[Estro Felino]

Are the rest of the 100 nationalities allowed to aviod Russian in schools and society as such for politics, the law and so on?

aviod?

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

aviod?

Do they have the right to only use their own languages or are they forced to use Russian and learn it in school?

 

[Estro Felino]

Do they have the right to only use their own languages or are they forced to use Russian and learn it in school?

What countries?
I am not understanding what you mean to convey. Be more specific with an example.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

What countries?
I am not understanding what you mean to convey. Be more specific with an example.

No, I mean the non-Russian nationalities in Russia.

Edit:

List of ethnic groups in Russia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[LuisDantas]

I was wary of Russia to some degree since the taking over of Krimea a few years back.

The invasion of Ukraine spurred me into learning a bit more of contemporary history of Russia - and I am appalled by how often it has seeded military and political conflict in the region and how little was done to curb it.

Under Putin it has been a very imperialistic state, in all the worst senses of the word. That is bad for Russians and worse for those with a frontier to Russia.

 

[Yerda]

I think Russia is the most dangerous state on the planet and I thought this before the war. The leaders have show how an entire country can be captured by the power of outsized wealth, how to destroy fragile democratic institutions and how to create and weaponise an ignorant population (even weaponising the stupid and mentally ill beyond Russia's borders). The oligarchs and their footsoldiers will do anything that please them - anyone in the way will be eliminated.

 

[Estro Felino]

No, I mean the non-Russian nationalities in Russia.

Edit:

List of ethnic groups in Russia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No, they are required to speak Russian.
As people are required to speak Danish in your country.

 

[Debater Slayer]

I think Russia is the most dangerous state on the planet and I thought this before the war. The leaders have show how an entire country can be captured by the power of outsized wealth, how to destroy fragile democratic institutions and how to create and weaponise an ignorant population (even weaponising the stupid and mentally ill beyond Russia's borders). The oligarchs and their footsoldiers will do anything that please them - anyone in the way will be eliminated.

More dangerous than the US and China, the two most influential global powers at the moment?

(As with the other thread, I'm largely withholding stating my own views or voting in the poll while observing others' opinions.)

 

[Estro Felino]

I think Russia is the most dangerous state on the planet and I thought this before the war. The leaders have show how an entire country can be captured by the power of outsized wealth, how to destroy fragile democratic institutions and how to create and weaponise an ignorant population (even weaponising the stupid and mentally ill beyond Russia's borders). The oligarchs and their footsoldiers will do anything that please them - anyone in the way will be eliminated.

I agree. It's very dangerous for the banking élites who want to subdue all the peoples in the world, with their legalized usury.
Becoming rich by exploiting people's work, through the debt issue.
Russia is getting rid of these usurers. Hungary has already done that.

 

[LuisDantas]

More dangerous than the US and China, the two most influential global powers at the moment?

(As with the other thread, I'm largely withholding stating my own views or voting in the poll while observing others' opinions.)

It seems to me that, militarily, Russia is indeed far more dangerous than any other community at the moment. It has been ruthless and shown no restraint nor ethics.

Most of all, it has been actively teaching its own children to perceive military takeover as a legitimate tool of fulfilling their great destiny.

Trump is not quite there yet, and may never be. For all its serious flaws, the USA are not structured to receive that discourse all that willingly.

 

[Yerda]

More dangerous than the US and China, the two most influential global powers at the moment?

(As with the other thread, I'm largely withholding stating my own views or voting in the poll while observing others' opinions.)

Yes. I would say so. The super rich in America appear to be learning from them though.