I kinda feel sad for the Russian soldiers. At least those that aren't psychopaths that were released from high security prison for torturing and murdering people and were simply people from the back country that were brainwashed and sent to the front thinking they were fighting Nazis with nothing but a rifle and a bit of ammo and whatever clothes they could bring with them.
I don't. They got sent and went to another sovereign country and started a war. These same soldiers you have empathy for will gladly shoot Ukraine soldiers and civilians.
How many of these 'non-psychopath' soldiers have killed innocent people in Ukraine?
They all went and they all are complicit to the murder, torture and rape of Ukraine. They can go suck on a grenade while the pin is out. No sympathy for these fascists.
Many have surrendered to Ukraine because they didn't even want to fight in the first place. Many others don't even know that they're doing and have been left to fend for themselves.
In the end, these people are human beings who have been manipulated into believing they going to war to defend their country.
Yeah maybe some of them are monsters and deserve punishment. But let's not dehumanize anybody.
Well, they know what they are doing - they came to Ukraine armed to kill Ukrainians. And they have killed many thousands, including civilians. If they are not stopped, they will kill and enslave more, serving their empire to grab new lands.
Their country is not invaded - they know their goal is to expand the Lebensraum for the Russian race - in their terms, "Russkij mir".
Do they really look like they know what they're doing? Have you seen the videos where they recruit conscripts?
I'm not trying to excuse what they are doing. What they're doing is horrible and inexcusable. But a lot of them are simply being sent with minimum equipment and training and are practically used as canon fodder.
All I'm saying is we shouldn't dehumanize people. It's not all black and white.
They carry and aim their weapons with full knowledge of what they are doing - invading the neighboring country, killing those who resist and enslaving others. It's been one of the most popular Russian sports for many centuries. That's how Russia became so big. They know the rules of the game very well - it's deeply ingrained in Russian culture, which has never been anything but imperial. They are obedient slaves of the empire.
They have been conditioned since childhood to blindly submit to authority. Their ignorance doesn't absolve them of war crimes. I would prefer that they stay alive, but sometimes murderers must be stopped by violent means.
The age of the violent empires is finally coming to an end.
It's so easy for people on the internet that have never lived thrugh real difficulties to spout rhetoric. Russia is absolutely in the wrong. That doesn't mean that the people living in his Russia and his army are doing anything other then trying to survive. Some are monsters. Most are just people and are products of their environment. Just like you.
We dehumanize them to make the necessary act of killing them easier for us.
It's not about degrading them or anything. It's about staying sane. If you would treat every dead Russian soldier as an individual who had dreams at one point, your sanitary would be the next victim of this war.
When you defend your country you can't have that, so you kill orks instead of humans.
When the war is over, there will be a lot of work for therapists I guess.
While I agree with you, the real bastards are Putin and his asshole friends. They, however they did it, convinced their country it was necessary to go to war. But it's the people who get slaughtered, not the butcher in his palace.
Of course they need to be stopped. But still I know the monster is the puppeteer.
@reddwarf@cyborganism He who does evil, deserves evil. And ... there is Internet in Russian, too! Which means there is opportunity to escape the propaganda and get the facts straight.
No pity for the russian soldier. He comes to kill.