Is the common Russian as sick as this? When you look at the iraq war as a comparison in england we had the largest ever protests this country has seen against it. If you ask most people about the iraq war in england today they will call it an unjust war. You get the impression in Russia its the other way around not only are the majority of russians onboard with it, but they have a sick twisted mentality where they want to see death and destruction.
The other one was the leaked telephone call between a russian invader and his girlfriend back home, his own girlfriend is telling her husband/boyfriend to rape as many Ukrainian women as possible.
I get you always get one or two sick f'ks in war situations, but nearly everytime we hear from russians its the same sick twisted shit. Meanwhile they parade like they are defenders of the faith against the sick west.
Yah but tbh, the "ex-Tsarist Russia, ex-USSR" rodina psyche probably only really compares to English (well Plantagenet) one in the 100 years war with the Valois (in what we call France now).
If such situation persevered and existed today by whichever hypothetical course of history from then to now (including extreme political oligarch forms of govt and how it gains public trust/approval/coercion in the way this almost specifically exists in Russia), I would venture you would see much of the same phenomenon.
i.e Iraq and even WW2 had far more stabilised form of what nationstates were....so one's own irredentism (regarding where my army has been, rather than what my citizens/blood-brothers are) is fairly nominal factor in most areas this convo comes up....and the issue basically becomes was there basis for my army to have been there to do what it did.....as opposed to inherent territory/people (that if I dont have direct sovereignty over, at least should fully defer to my consolidated geopolitical sense given the inertia of the prior etc etc)....given weight of time and investment in all sense that existed for the time that did.
The issue is that Russia does not recognise Ukraine as a fundamentally separate sovereign nationstate....especially with the borders Ukraine has.
This psyche situation became quite clear in the Georgian intervention already....and several political developments, arguments and policies that were going on within Ukraine after the 1990s low point (for Russia).
It was not prepared or accounted for well...and there were obviously some large miscommunications and misjudgements.
Now the sting of war will entrench it all much further long term. This will be a baked in permanent feature again in Europe's calculus....in that sense a number of delusions (carefully built up by elitist class that I despise across the world) have been removed.
