My opinion on Russia and the Ukraine war

Если ты из России: Рано или поздно настанет покой, а те, кто поддерживают Z-идеологию и все действия государства, останутся по ту же сторону истории, что и приверженцы германского фашизма в 1945. "Русский мир" — это возвращение в средневековье. Если тебе дорого будущее — не будь "пофигистом". Говори, объясняй, убеждай, спорь с родственниками, друзьями и близкими. Сегодня даже очевидная истина требует борьбы.

It has been a long history of decline, and the beginning of the Ukraine war is not an isolated incident. Putin's coming to power and actual motives at that time are dubious, it's suspected that he himself staged the 1999 apartment bombings to get the best chances of winning the election. But before anyone knew anything, he seemed like he would be the leader Russia needed. Hopes were up, to democratize the former USSR, and integrate Russia with the rest of the European world. Over time, something changed. Putin's actions have shifted, he started contradicting what he was saying just a few years ago and started portraying Russia as insecure. His focus shifted to grassroots conservative talking points about "traditional values", antagonism to the majority of the world, and countless invasions. With the political consciousness I started to acquire at around the age 14, the observations started to put me off.

In February 2022, I was woken up by my mother early in the morning. A war has broken out between Russia and Ukraine. I was unhappy with living in Russia. The slow decline, self-isolation, antagonism of the government and lack of care coming from the general population was making me depressed - the beginning of the war has put the nail in the coffin.

Me being a 17 year old with no income at that time made leaving a lot more difficult. With the help of many of my friends and convincing my mother, I booked a ticket to Kazakhstan. When the day of the flight came, I had to go through the Russian passport control. It took over half an hour to convince the passport checkpoint worker for me to go. Being an unaccompanied minor at that time made the task much harder, it took so long I almost missed the flight. At that time I thought all passport checkpoints would be like this, but all passport checkpoints I've been through since then took less than 5 minutes.

After arriving in Kazakhstan, I lived with my relatives, free of rent. I got a contract job, and eventually as my stay was ending, I left for Armenia. There I met my best friend - Vasily. After some time I found a relationship, and moved to Brazil (São Paulo). Though the relationship has ended, that's where I'm residing right now.

It's pretty obvious I don't support this war, but the war itself isn't the real problem. "Pofigizm" (Lack of giving a care), is often quoted by Russian residents as a pride of the Russian culture. The lack of care is ingrained in the culture, and the government has abused that to get whatever they want their way. There's not much an individual can do, but caring about the situation alone helps immensely. If you care - you can make other people care. The politics of today's Russia are only compatible with the Middle Ages, and eventually this will come to an end. "Putin isn't fighting opposition, he's fighting the future. And the future will come anyway." - Kara-Murza