Young folks here in Michigan parrot their parents and want to stick it to Putin. But, realistically, the Russian President has stuck it to the West, with oil shortages, supply/commodity interruptions, sky-rocketing prices and rising interest rates. The ruble is at its highest, the harvest is bountiful and MacDonald's and Starbucks are no longer poisoning young Russians! I believe your "suffering" will be over soon. It will be a new world where travel to Europe or America is not possible with rubles. It is the new East/West divide, which for me is quite sad. Honestly, most here did not believe that Mr. Putin would cross into Ukraine. Now, Donbas and Luhansk regions are independent Russian states, Crimea is geographically attached, and Russia will rebuild Mariupol. It is a new world -- but be careful what you wish for.
What was your perspective on the banning of Russian state media in the West? I lean toward seeing it as a mistake and a serious missed opportunity to illustrate a commitment to the freedom of press that democratic open societies will die without (even if we can be almost certain of significant amounts of legitimately obvious dis/mis/mal-information from specific sources.) After all, it isn't as if our own Western media have anywhere near clean hands in recent years (Russiagate, Hunter Biden, Lab Leak hypothesis suppression etc etc).
Might be a silly question. Just curious about a Russian's take.
Young folks here in Michigan parrot their parents and want to stick it to Putin. But, realistically, the Russian President has stuck it to the West, with oil shortages, supply/commodity interruptions, sky-rocketing prices and rising interest rates. The ruble is at its highest, the harvest is bountiful and MacDonald's and Starbucks are no longer poisoning young Russians! I believe your "suffering" will be over soon. It will be a new world where travel to Europe or America is not possible with rubles. It is the new East/West divide, which for me is quite sad. Honestly, most here did not believe that Mr. Putin would cross into Ukraine. Now, Donbas and Luhansk regions are independent Russian states, Crimea is geographically attached, and Russia will rebuild Mariupol. It is a new world -- but be careful what you wish for.
What was your perspective on the banning of Russian state media in the West? I lean toward seeing it as a mistake and a serious missed opportunity to illustrate a commitment to the freedom of press that democratic open societies will die without (even if we can be almost certain of significant amounts of legitimately obvious dis/mis/mal-information from specific sources.) After all, it isn't as if our own Western media have anywhere near clean hands in recent years (Russiagate, Hunter Biden, Lab Leak hypothesis suppression etc etc).
Might be a silly question. Just curious about a Russian's take.
Thanks for this piece.