I am Russian, she is Ukrainian, we were friends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too have started to distance myself from a few Russian friends I have known 10+ years. I'm not rude, and it's not personal, but I just cut off communication and don't want them in my life any more based on what I've seen and heard from Ukraine. If one of them were to constantly protest against Putin very publicly, or join a very public resistance movement, then it would be a different story.

For better or for worse, sometimes people bear the shame of the actions of their leaders.

Are these Russian-Americans? I very much hope you aren’t indiscriminately distancing yourself from everyone with Russian heritage.

Why do you care so much? We all have our own ways of coping, and PP isn't hurting anyone by distancing herself from them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Strange. All the Russians I know are vocally against Putin, against the war, and feel horrible when they see the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Your friend is definitely over-reacting.

Seeing is believing, and since I have yet to see mass Russian protests, I don't believe you.

[Anonymous]

This is op what you now represent to your friend, death and destruction:

[Anonymous]

And this

[Anonymous]

And this

[Anonymous]

And this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Strange. All the Russians I know are vocally against Putin, against the war, and feel horrible when they see the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Your friend is definitely over-reacting.

Seeing is believing, and since I have yet to see mass Russian protests, I don't believe you.

Are you stupid? I wrote "all the Russians I know". They live in the US or western Europe. They left for a reason.

The knee-jerk anti-Russian posts have got to stop. It's not helping Ukrainians, which has to be the benchmark here.

Instead of trolling around the internet, I hope all the fervently anti-Russians on these threads are donating and organizing for Ukraine. A little bit less useless bile, a little bit more practical help.

[Anonymous]

And this

What exactly do you want from your friend at this point? Friendship? Play dates? Dinners?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Strange. All the Russians I know are vocally against Putin, against the war, and feel horrible when they see the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Your friend is definitely over-reacting.

Seeing is believing, and since I have yet to see mass Russian protests, I don't believe you.

Are you stupid? I wrote "all the Russians I know". They live in the US or western Europe. They left for a reason.

The knee-jerk anti-Russian posts have got to stop. It's not helping Ukrainians, which has to be the benchmark here.

Instead of trolling around the internet, I hope all the fervently anti-Russians on these threads are donating and organizing for Ukraine. A little bit less useless bile, a little bit more practical help.

No, I'm not stupid, but thanks for the gratuitous insult, it really shows your true colors. I live in the US, and have not seen a single Russian protesting. I guess they're too busy calling other people stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too have started to distance myself from a few Russian friends I have known 10+ years. I'm not rude, and it's not personal, but I just cut off communication and don't want them in my life any more based on what I've seen and heard from Ukraine. If one of them were to constantly protest against Putin very publicly, or join a very public resistance movement, then it would be a different story.

For better or for worse, sometimes people bear the shame of the actions of their leaders.

Are these Russian-Americans? I very much hope you aren’t indiscriminately distancing yourself from everyone with Russian heritage.

Why do you care so much? We all have our own ways of coping, and PP isn't hurting anyone by distancing herself from them.

Because it’s an instance of indiscriminate hatred.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too have started to distance myself from a few Russian friends I have known 10+ years. I'm not rude, and it's not personal, but I just cut off communication and don't want them in my life any more based on what I've seen and heard from Ukraine. If one of them were to constantly protest against Putin very publicly, or join a very public resistance movement, then it would be a different story.

For better or for worse, sometimes people bear the shame of the actions of their leaders.

Are these Russian-Americans? I very much hope you aren’t indiscriminately distancing yourself from everyone with Russian heritage.

Why do you care so much? We all have our own ways of coping, and PP isn't hurting anyone by distancing herself from them.

Because it’s an instance of indiscriminate hatred.

Maybe you should be scolding Putin instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too have started to distance myself from a few Russian friends I have known 10+ years. I'm not rude, and it's not personal, but I just cut off communication and don't want them in my life any more based on what I've seen and heard from Ukraine. If one of them were to constantly protest against Putin very publicly, or join a very public resistance movement, then it would be a different story.

For better or for worse, sometimes people bear the shame of the actions of their leaders.

Are these Russian-Americans? I very much hope you aren’t indiscriminately distancing yourself from everyone with Russian heritage.

Why do you care so much? We all have our own ways of coping, and PP isn't hurting anyone by distancing herself from them.

Because it’s an instance of indiscriminate hatred.

Maybe you should be scolding Putin instead.

Stop assuming what I do and don’t do.

Listen: the COVID pandemic was in part the result of neglect by the Chinese government to regulate certain types of markets. Then the Chinese government hid the severity of the disease, making it that much harder for countries to prepare. Does that mean we should hate all Chinese Americans or all Chinese people who live in China? Of course not. Likewise, we should not be hating all Russians for the evils of Putin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too have started to distance myself from a few Russian friends I have known 10+ years. I'm not rude, and it's not personal, but I just cut off communication and don't want them in my life any more based on what I've seen and heard from Ukraine. If one of them were to constantly protest against Putin very publicly, or join a very public resistance movement, then it would be a different story.

For better or for worse, sometimes people bear the shame of the actions of their leaders.

Are these Russian-Americans? I very much hope you aren’t indiscriminately distancing yourself from everyone with Russian heritage.

Why do you care so much? We all have our own ways of coping, and PP isn't hurting anyone by distancing herself from them.

Because it’s an instance of indiscriminate hatred.

Maybe you should be scolding Putin instead.

Stop assuming what I do and don’t do.

Listen: the COVID pandemic was in part the result of neglect by the Chinese government to regulate certain types of markets. Then the Chinese government hid the severity of the disease, making it that much harder for countries to prepare. Does that mean we should hate all Chinese Americans or all Chinese people who live in China? Of course not. Likewise, we should not be hating all Russians for the evils of Putin.

After all these previous images of Ukranian destruction at the bloody hands of the Russian government, you really have some nerve to turn around and lecutre people about hating Russians indiscriminately. Did you see all those empty strollers representing dead children, killed by Russia? And then you have the nerve to tell people they shouldn't hate Russia? Get real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too have started to distance myself from a few Russian friends I have known 10+ years. I'm not rude, and it's not personal, but I just cut off communication and don't want them in my life any more based on what I've seen and heard from Ukraine. If one of them were to constantly protest against Putin very publicly, or join a very public resistance movement, then it would be a different story.

For better or for worse, sometimes people bear the shame of the actions of their leaders.

Are these Russian-Americans? I very much hope you aren’t indiscriminately distancing yourself from everyone with Russian heritage.

Why do you care so much? We all have our own ways of coping, and PP isn't hurting anyone by distancing herself from them.

Because it’s an instance of indiscriminate hatred.

Maybe you should be scolding Putin instead.

Stop assuming what I do and don’t do.

Listen: the COVID pandemic was in part the result of neglect by the Chinese government to regulate certain types of markets. Then the Chinese government hid the severity of the disease, making it that much harder for countries to prepare. Does that mean we should hate all Chinese Americans or all Chinese people who live in China? Of course not. Likewise, we should not be hating all Russians for the evils of Putin.

After all these previous images of Ukranian destruction at the bloody hands of the Russian government, you really have some nerve to turn around and lecutre people about hating Russians indiscriminately. Did you see all those empty strollers representing dead children, killed by Russia? And then you have the nerve to tell people they shouldn't hate Russia? Get real.

Yes I do, because the regular people of Russia have nothing to do with that. But I have a different question: Are you from this part of the world? Do you have anyone there? I doubt it. In contrast, I do. And I know that the only way we are going to get past this horrific type of nationalism/fascism is to see people as separate from the totalitarian government that oppresses them. That is more important now than ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too have started to distance myself from a few Russian friends I have known 10+ years. I'm not rude, and it's not personal, but I just cut off communication and don't want them in my life any more based on what I've seen and heard from Ukraine. If one of them were to constantly protest against Putin very publicly, or join a very public resistance movement, then it would be a different story.

For better or for worse, sometimes people bear the shame of the actions of their leaders.

Are these Russian-Americans? I very much hope you aren’t indiscriminately distancing yourself from everyone with Russian heritage.

Why do you care so much? We all have our own ways of coping, and PP isn't hurting anyone by distancing herself from them.

Because it’s an instance of indiscriminate hatred.

Maybe you should be scolding Putin instead.

Stop assuming what I do and don’t do.

Listen: the COVID pandemic was in part the result of neglect by the Chinese government to regulate certain types of markets. Then the Chinese government hid the severity of the disease, making it that much harder for countries to prepare. Does that mean we should hate all Chinese Americans or all Chinese people who live in China? Of course not. Likewise, we should not be hating all Russians for the evils of Putin.

After all these previous images of Ukranian destruction at the bloody hands of the Russian government, you really have some nerve to turn around and lecutre people about hating Russians indiscriminately. Did you see all those empty strollers representing dead children, killed by Russia? And then you have the nerve to tell people they shouldn't hate Russia? Get real.

Yes I do, because the regular people of Russia have nothing to do with that. But I have a different question: Are you from this part of the world? Do you have anyone there? I doubt it. In contrast, I do. And I know that the only way we are going to get past this horrific type of nationalism/fascism is to see people as separate from the totalitarian government that oppresses them. That is more important now than ever.

The troll is showing their colors. The nationalism / fascism is all in how russia is now behaving.

I’m not a troll. I agree that Russia is being fascist; however, it is not the Russian people — it is the Kremlin. Even during the Cold War, we understood the importance of people-to-people ties. We need to continue to value that as a way out of this nightmare.