⚓️ Gaia

Remember, Russia is our country. We don't have another country, and we never will. The best solution is to fight. You can keep pretending that there's no "elephant in the room". But over time, it will become so big that everyone will start talking about it. And the sooner we become strong and can implement the changes we've planned, the less consequences we'll have to deal with in the future.

Patriot of Russia, Ares

Ares on the "Elephant in the Room"

In Russia after the war, I particularly felt that society was desperately trying to ignore the "elephant in the room" in the form of war, sanctions, and everything else that stemmed from Putin's dictatorship.

A million people on the frontline died and were seriously injured, making it impossible to either fight or live a normal civilian life. There are roughly the same number of those still fighting on the frontline. Some of them return home and face PTSD, becoming a danger to society and themselves.

Our country is sinking ever lower - even when it seems like the final chapter has arrived. New pages keep appearing, creating the impression that there will be no end to this.

Pensioners have long been abandoned to their fate. And what about the veterans who fought against the Nazis? Nothing - they're gone. And when they were here, no one cared about them. Miserable gifts of groats, stewed meat, and postcards on Victory Day... Gathering on May 9th, marching down the street, drinking vodka, and forgetting it all the next day. Is this honoring the feats of our ancestors? Is this remembering when the Putin regime is doing the same things as the Hitler regime did in the past? Is this respecting Victory when the Georgian ribbon is used to justify the invasion of Ukraine, which also fought against the Nazis in the past?

Any opposition is persecuted brutally and in violation of the Constitution, which the Putin regime doesn't care about at all. Millions of people have left the country, and thousands of political prisoners are languishing in prisons under horrific torture conditions.

People are drowning their sorrows in alcohol, trying to live a normal life as if nothing had happened.

They're trying to live without touching politics, hoping that Putin will die or "everything will blow over".

What's happening to our country is a real tragedy and pain.

I don't care about the Ukrainian government or structures, nor about any other countries in the world.

What's happening to our country? That's the most important thing.

It's not the West or Ukraine that are our enemies. They don't care - they're other countries with their own politics and citizens who decide the fate of their countries or, like us, fight for freedom. There's only one enemy for Russia - Putinism. We can endlessly search for external and internal enemies in the form of other countries or our own opposition. But there's only one truth - whatever other countries and states may be, the responsibility for Russia and this entire war lies with the Putin regime. I'm not going to say that all Russian citizens need to repent and see the light - I'm not Ukrainian after all. Although I can understand ordinary Ukrainians - they're being hit by missiles, their loved ones are dying... The point is that the regime is to blame - and the regime should be judged.

Ignoring the "elephant in the room" means accepting the existing order and treating it as a given, something that can't be changed. Silence leads to the regime becoming stronger because it doesn't face organized resistance. You can take to the streets with posters as much as you want, but you'll only create problems for yourself.

In our country, there's a real dictatorship, and our country is being led into the abyss. Everyone feels this - either indirectly or directly.

Life in Russia is becoming one continuous theater of the absurd, where today's nonsense becomes tomorrow's reality.

I see only one way out - to fight for the freedom of our country. I made this choice myself and accepted its consequences. Not because I need power or money, or because I have some bad and hostile motive. I made this choice because I couldn't stay silent and ignore the "elephant in the room" any longer. I couldn't swallow it, I couldn't tolerate it.