This is an incredible, moving video. Everyone should watch it. You are such an important ambassador for Russians of your generation to the wider world, Roman, and I hope you continue to use your platform to speak out. You're very young, but you have such insight and awareness of the world around you (and beyond you) and you communicate it so clearly to the rest of us. There are not many TH-camrs that I can say have become "essential watching" the way your channel has.
Roman, I am here in Ukraine fighting. Today has been relatively quiet but we are sure this battle will get very intense. We will fight to the very end, but your videos help me to know that not every Russian is our enemy. I hope you are well and we can all live in peace and freedom. It’s strange, we are about the same age and I am now a soldier and you are far from home because an old man wants to be a tzar. But don't worry, we will stop him. What a crazy time to live and die. тримайтеся, брати українці. слава україні! 2 May Update: привіт to all. I forgot I made this post, and wanted to say: We are still alive! I am shocked in a positive way. My unit was first near Kyiv and now in the east (this is all I can say for our security). We are planning something big for them in the next few weeks, so stay tuned... I have seen such courage in our entire nation, I am honored to be born Ukrainian. Thank you for the kind words, we are holding on! до перемоги! 10 June: well friends, I think this is my last hours. My unit has taken losses here in Luhansk Oblast. I think we are completely surrounded, but we will fight to the very end. I must say I feel totally at peace, I made a lot of mistakes in my life but it has been an honor to defend my country for these months. I feel free and calm. It was an honor to live 25 years as a free Ukrainian, maybe the next generation will live their whole life as one. We will defend to the very end. слава Україні
Hello there Roman. My name is Yarik, and until the middle of a last month I lived in Mariupol, Ukraine. The war hit my family very hard, we lost our house, we lost some of our pets, we lost our live savings and most sadly we lost some of our relatives and friends. Nobody that is sane and have brains that from our town supports what russian government did to us, to our home. But we still believe that they are some decent people in Russia left and that they will leading it soon, not the corrupted imperialistic psychos that now in charge
intresting please talk about what you have done to people of mariupol ?plese tell me about gobnzalo lira .kidnapped by sbu why ?what about azov batallion ?have they perpetrated crimes o not.i am glad my country india refused to support ukraine
@@robo__cop8154 Mariupol? Russians fucking destroyed it, when we left there was a lot of civilians on a streets in russian side, it was so fucking scary... Azov were the ones who gave the possibilities to safely go to Berdyansk and Zaporizhia Gonzalo Lira? I honestly didn't know who the guy is, he might be dead due to russian bombs, he might be in a shelter with no Internet or sbu might have thought that he's an russian provocator (and honestly, from what I've read rn he had it coming). Azov batallion from my point of view heroically protecting our city from the real nazis here (russian soldiers), when chechen marauders gived stolen food under mask of a "humanitarian help". Azov might have done some shit in the past, in 2014-15 tho, not gonna lie.
@@zarikvarik1177 why didn’t Azov battalion, fight Russian soldiers outside the city. Why hide in the city? They deliberately used civilians as shields.
I was born in Moscow in 1996 and I can tell ya'll that Roman has described the experience of a whole goddamn generation in this video. Props to you man. I relate to everything you said. The state our country is in right now is soul-crushing. This is not the bright future we were promised as kids. Still I'm praying for peace and freedom everyday, despite my severe depression even. Nothing and no one is eternal you guys. We will get through.
@@Nathsters not good. Gen X is mostly brainwashed by propaganda, there is an ongoing inner conflict in most families I know. The economic damage is mounting as well. People are being persecuted for the most insane shit. So yeah, it's not looking too good for us.
As a Finn, I remember how in the 90s there was hope that Russia would become a free country and there was a lot of trade and tourism between Russia and Finland. Then Putin became president and everything changed. I did my military service in the navy in 2003 and remember how Russian submarines would regularly enter Finnish territorial waters to test our readiness, just like in the Soviet days (Cold War style). My job was to identify the vessels from their propeller noise (acoustic signature). This became an almost daily occurrence after Putin came to power and they've been even more aggressive since then. Finland is now joining NATO, something it would not have even considered had Putin not invaded Ukraine. You're right, Roman. It's not the same country as before.
It never was. Since 1991 power in Russia was taken over by people, who value power and money more than well being of citizens. Alcotard Yeltsin was nothing but a puppet.
@@intellectualexperience7948 Russia has already responded with a threat that "joining NATO will lead to Finland's destruction". Finland's leadership understands that Russia sees us as a threat whether or not we're in NATO. A 2018 lecture about Russia by a retired Finnish intelligence officer has gone viral after the invasion of Ukraine. I highly recommend watching it, subtitles in English are available: th-cam.com/video/kF9KretXqJw/w-d-xo.html
@@VNExperience its a general theme of any superpower. Until human consciousness will view governing as "power" and not as "responsibility" nothing will change.
I'm from Finland, and i sometimes talk about how amazing it would be if Russia was a peaceful country with my dad - such a separate culture and some amazing places to visit, a stones throw away, just over the border. I could go visit Estonia right now, the cruise ticket would cost me 20 euros and the biggest hassle would be finding a parking spot near the port, imagine if visiting Russia was the same! The economic benefits of that would be pretty decent too. Sadly the biggest thing Russia has ever provided Finland with is a constant, and at the moment, ever growing, threat.
Im half Russian and i also wish we were friends with Finland. I love Finland and admire all nordic countries. Keep up being civilized amid this fucked up world!
Omgg! This is so true. I visit Tallinn and Estonia many times a year. But I have never been to Russia and now it seems like I never will. Before covid it was the Russians who visited Finland and bought Finnish goods such as cheese and dish soap.
Roman, The Russia you’re talking about that once was finished for me in 2008. I’m half Georgian and the invasion of Georgia was a pivotal point for my family. We realized and had the foresight that it will only get worse. We left. Moved around. Then in 2018 I went to live with my dad in ukraine - with my dad who worked in Russia for 30 years in echo of Moscow and worked hard and honest and paid his taxes. Now the invasion happened. My dad now is declared a foreign agent in Russia, lost his home, pension, everything. He is 70, he should be enjoying his life and instead sits in western ukraine thinking about how all he worked for went down the drain. Then I sit here bitter and sad. When I worked with an organization that tried to explain to western leaders the direction Russia was heading in, we were ignored and treated like paranoid loonies. I But now, second time in my 22 year old life, the same fucking president destroys and crushes completely everything. Kills my friends, neighbors, and so on. Bucha is 10 minutes away from what was my home - I can’t explain what the fuck kind of emotions it feels to see your neighbors killed like this. It’s so violating that my home was broken into and shit stolen. My uncle and older brother can’t even leave Russia - tied due to work and family members, and both ethnic minorities and against the war, meaning they’re even a bigger target. What’s worse is their fucking friends and other family members all support the war. Unfortunately this is just where Putin was heading and whether due to our ignorance or something else we didn’t stop him. We all thought that “he will go away” or “he is just bluffing” and now all of us collectively eat shit. Now that you’re in Georgia I hope you enjoy your time. My mother’s land is welcoming but you WILL get fat from the food. I recommend you visit Keto and Kote (restaurant) on Zandukeli street. Go there when the sun sets. You’ll like it.
The hatred for russia is like nothing I have known. I am British Norwegian, my father used to tell me about how much the Germans were hated. Now he says russains, russia and the putin regime are worse. Our future generations might forgive this war, but don't expect it for 80 years
Russia had so much potential , it was on the rise to become a sort of liberal country. Now those dreams are destroyed by one megalomaniac man. His power needs to be revoked and that of many surrounding him. I have hope for the future of Russia but it will be a long and painful endeavor
@@the_uglysteve6933 Do you personally think this is good tho? I believe that hating people only for their nationality/place of birth is never the right thing. We never know what a person thinks and stands for, and assuming anything without talking to them is a pejudice
@@Лапша-ш5ж there will be a lot of shortsighted hate for a while. People with brains that function know that people are people, and Russians are usually friendly and cool to talk to.
as a chinese kid born in 2000, I share so much of these complex feelings with you - had a brief taste of what the country could have become during my childhood (although the environment wasn't even that good with all the censorship), and then having to watch everything just went downhill day by day. so sad.
I couldn't agree more....I'm from the US and so much of this is how my own generation is. I'm thankful for the time we had to see it doesn't have to be like this. I hope we can one day go back to that but I know it's a long shot. Though it is nice to know that there are similar hopes among many of us!
As a Ukrainian I never understood what people who sounded like they were mad at Roman for being Russian wanted him to do about the whole situation, but this is a reflection video I was hoping Roman would make. Excellent job !
@@martinn.6082 and that is a bad thing. The pressure from the ignorant pigs like you who think they have the moral high ground are influencing what Roman has to say to appease these fools which ultimately is putting him in danger. Truly sad and I hope your kind of lacking empathy ceases to exist
@@martinn.6082 Do you realize that he had to move out of the country to sound it out without the consequences which were explained a few videos earlier.
I’m Russian and I couldn’t hold back my tears by the end of this video. The country I was born in had everything to become equal to other modern European countries. Until a madman, a psychopath, a monster decided that he is a chosen one and he can become a monarch. And now the country I was born in doesn’t exist anymore. I can’t calm down because that’s my personal tragedy as well UPD: thanks to everyone for your support, I really appreciate it ❤️
I feel the same, even though I am out of the country, I feel like part of my cultural identity was being destroyed by the system itself. I also can't accept it or understand it neither with my mind nor with my heart how the majority of the population of my people actually genuinely support the regime. It's the greatest tragedy of my people.
Interesting how Russians say Putin is a monarch/dictator yet keep voting for him. Last time he got elected with 63% of votes... It's pretty close to a loss
I feel horrible. I am 27 and now I understand that my entire life was useless from the start. no matter how you were born or what you do with your life you was fucked from the beginning. I understand that I never gonna have children, that all my efforts don’t matter.
@@devrusso I personally, and my family and friends never vote for him. Interesting how you believe that the elections in Russia are actually proper democratic elections. Do you honestly not think they are not rigged?
Just let it be known that despite all the patriots calling you an invader and hater of Ukraine, there are still people like me who can see the bigger picture. I am with you 'till the end!
It's absolutely insane. I work in software development in Czech, and I've met many Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs etc through my work. Just as you are saying, they are amazing people, both brilliant and eager to learn, and very respectful. While nobody can deny that the atrocities happening in Ukraine are hard to even comprehend, the fact that an entire generation of Russian youth have been robed of hope for good future is also very saddening.
I have studied art and history in Czechia and tons of my friends were from all the corners of the East; girls from Yakutia who drank kumis, roommates from Ukraine, doctors from Kazakhstan, classmates from Russia proper and photographers from Tatarstan. All extremely talented people who spoke multiple languages and were gifted artistically and technically, people who formed a large part of who I am today and upon whose photos with me I look and tears come from my eyes. So many content creators I follow are from the Russian Federation, amazingly talented people who other countries cannot match. I'm so sad it has come to this. It's such a worthless war - none of us will gain anything by it, not the European common person, not the Russian common person, and not even the European nor the Russian leadership. And Ukraine, caught in midst of things, again suffering? Holodomor, WW2, Chernobyl, the tough 1990s and now another war? This land is the worst afflicted in the last 120 years. I just want for us all to sit down by the campfire once more, read Gogol aloud and act in Chekhov's plays while we listen and sing the very same songs Viktor Tsoi sang. Группа крови - на рукаве, Мой порядковый номер - на рукаве.
@mail box I do not agree. For those who kill innocent people there's a term - killers. Murderers, if you wish. Regular people don't kill another innocent people. Holy heck, regular people can only kill roaches in their houses, that's literally maximum level of physical harm. And those who did war crimes (also I think naming a war as "special operation" is a war crime too) are killers and murderers
@mail box he didn't say - every man in Russia is innocent, but he did basically say that there are many people in Russia who are innocent and do not support war
@mail box Everyone know that this war was created by the russian government, not by the russian people. Also, the propaganda is definitely a part of the problem, but the root is still the Russian government.
You have no idea what you have. Come to Europe or the U.S. or Canada and see for yourself the horror that is modern day western values that have turned once thriving cities into open air zoos.
As a German citizen who's parents came from Chelaybinsk in '98. Seeing them support Putin and talk badly about the entire population of Ukraine honestly makes me sick to my stomach, I strongly feel with you Roman. Best of luck Brother.
me too. I support Roman and will help him and people like him any way possible. All are welcome and safe at Fort Calgary. This is my part for Truth and Reconciliation!
entire? im eastern ukranian and i support russia for example,this war isnt black and white you know. its as if you picture the whole ukraine united or something which is false.
do you freaking aware how the current ukranian goverment treated ukranians who pro russian civilians in the last years? for you " whole ukraine" is west to the dniper. tired of this western propoganda bs tbh. russian too but the loudest is the western, do you aware that they arming neo nazi militants? ffs....
All I know as an American, somehow people here forget about all the war crimes we have committed. They only do or feel what the TV tells them. We have our own brainwash here. I do not support Russia, but Americans should stop being hypocrites.
Even though we're on completely opposite sides of the world and from completely different cultures the idea of "this country had so much potential and now it's all going to shit" resonates with me so much. Greetings from Brazil.
@@pezvonpez Just like the USA, Brazil is a very polarized country right now and people are going nuts over politics. Some people see recently elected president Lula da Silva as the Antichrist himself, others see him as the savior of the poor and weak. No matter what i say, chances are another Brazilian will come around, say the exact opposite and call me a communist or a nazi because that's how things are right now. That being said: i think Lula da Silva is a lesser evil than the former president Jair Bolsonaro. But i don't see things getting much better. Even though he's not an anti-vaxxer / pro-military dicatorship / Donald Trump's little b1tch, Lula was very recently sentenced and imprisoned for corruption and could only run for office because the whole criminal process was deemed null in very shady circumstances. To add insult to injury, in many ocasions he showed public support for left leaning dictators such as Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and pushed for agendas that are very questionable in terms of democratic stability. His past is also very controversial. Lula served as president for two consecutive terms (2003-2010). Even thought he gathered appraisal for his relative success in reducing extreme poverty, his government was stained by corruption scandals and wasted opportunities. So there's a love/hate relationship towards him depending on who you ask. So some people will say that now everything will be fine, some people will say that Brazil is going to hell. I don't see things changing too much to be honest and that's terrifying.
Reminds me of the phrase "The world you were born into no longer exists." This is an incredible video and hearing your perspective is always enjoyable and educational.
old values , old culture.....identity......everything that was from last century, they will try delete it with censorship .....so once al the kids from 1900s are gone......it will be mission accomplished for them. Didn't think it would happen so soon but damn man...they're moving at the speed of light....just look at how society was in 2010 compared to now.....you kinda miss it......
As an Iranian I relate to this so much... I'm also 23 (about to become 24 in a week) and I feel like my youth and a chance to have a happy life has been taken away from me and my generation by an oppressive regime. For us who live in these kinda countries daydreaming is all we have. future aspirations and hopes are nothing to us but a reminder of our misery and pain, a reminder of our lost life, nothing but fuels for depression.
It's such a sad acknowledgement not only for Russia but for all Eastern European countries that went through wars, famine and serfdom that left scars and pain to this day. Love from Romania, keep strong
Russian political system has always been terribly authoritarian and regressive. They were ones of last European powers to abolish the serfdom, and when the time of modernization came under Tsar Alexander II he was assassinated and replaced with his son, who was a brutal and oppressive autocrat. Then after all those tsars when there was place for Russia to modernize again they chose a different path of socialism, which along with many things it solved still didn't bring Russia any democracy and kept extreme authoritarianism and censorship. And finally, when the socialism collapsed the liberalization of Russia ended in a disaster with private sector being seized by a few wealthy individuals, causing an everlasting poverty and misery for the majority of people. Some people just aren't capable of democracy yet, it's the sad truth.
toate tarile din Europa de Est au suferit din cauza Rusiei :) si-o merita din plin, sper ca sanctiunile sa o distruga atat de tare pana o sa ajunga sa se manance intre ei.
@@juhannusruusu Oameni atat din Rusia cat si din Romania nu au alegeri bune si drepte cu candidati competenti, Rusia poarta blestemul dictatorului cum noi purtam blestemul politicienilor incompetenti si opulenti. Pot toti, si ai lor si ai nostri sa se ia de manute si sa moara in foc.
Спасибо тебе за это видео. Пересмотрел его наверное раз 10 уже. Сам свинтил из россии еще в 2016м году. Живу теперь в Канаде. Стремился уехать как можно дальше от богоспасаемого отечества еще с 2008го. А после крыма все стало понятно. Аналогии бросались в глаза. Аншлюс австрии фашистской германией... Всем говорил что это 1937 год и скоро будет 1939й. Но никто не верил. Думали что я поехавший или предатель (я не шучу. Работал на заводе инженером и как крым захватили там такой патриотичный угар был что я не мог перестать охреневать). И вот пришел 1939й. Скинул твой ролик моим канадским знакомым и коллегам чтобы примерно понимали что происходит изнутри. Спасибо.
As a person from Hong Kong, I can relate to all the things you said, that pain of watching our homeland sinking beneath our feet, and being utterly powerless to do anything. Roman, thanks for speaking out, that was a powerful video.
As a person from the United States, I can relate to all the things you said, that pain of watching our homeland sinking beneath our feet, and being utterly powerless to do anything. Roman, thanks for speaking out, that was a powerful video.
Lol @ your hope and optimism in HK. No one was naive enough to believe that HK would continue to get special treatment and mainlanders would be 2nd class citizens.
As a person from Sweden, I can relate to all the things you said, that pain of watching our homeland just sink between our feet, and being utterly powerless to do anything. Thanks for speaking out Roman, that was powerful stuff.
As a young Russian, I can't say that my life has ever been boujee. I've always seen it as depressing before (was optimistic for the future though) but it's straight up dead now. Being surrounded by people who support this mess of a regime is scary. Like even my parents. I'm studying to be a foreign languages teacher (English, German, Swedish) because I wanted to help the new generations understand the world and be understood, foreign languages have changed my perception of the world and life itself forever and I want to share this. I wanted to help my country be this open, friendly and cool place. But idk if that'll happen anymore. At least in this lifetime. Peace to you all. With Russia from love I guess.
I feel your pain. However, please do not give up your dream, your hope, it is so beautiful. The older generation that is holding the power now will be gone in a decade or two and your generation will take have the power then. The change will take long time and this is a difficult phase now. We must persevere. Peace and love from Helsinki!
It might seem like an individual can't make a difference, but I think you choosing to study languages to share knowledge is so admirable. Please don't loose hope, the best weapon against misinformation is education! I'm from Finland and I would have loved to visit Russia before this situation. It's kinda crazy to see how our neighboring country can be so different. I wish you all the best even though the situation may seem grim right now.
Stay safe, but keep the faith. I am from the West, so I do not truly know what you are going through, but I believe in people like you. I believe in you. If you need hope for your future please take some of mine. People like you are with you heart are indispensable.❤
I'm never someone to suggest that a good person leave their country behind, I generally believe that struggling nations need their best and brightest to change things. That being said the future of Russia looks bleak on just about every level and at this point Putin leaving won't likely change that. I'd hate to say it but you should think about an exit strategy, if you can speak English and German that puts you at a pretty good advantage.
I am 21, and a few days ago I caught myself thinking that I was deprived of my motherland. The feeling that Russia has been captured. In fact, it is. I see that my generation is mostly against this war, but most of them are just trying to live as if nothing happened. It is like living under occupation.
...and from what history teaches us, it will only get worse. Unless people realize it is their country, their lives ad their fate. Until than, the conditions will mostly only be deteriorating
It feels just like that. It's ridiculous how they say on TV that Russia is "saving" Ukraine, while it's us regular Russians that feel occupied by the regime... I swear it's so scary sometimes. Thank God we have Internet nowadays and we can actually compare the points of view, see where the actual freedom is.
Роман, я родилась в 1979, почти вдвое старше тебя. Могу добавить, что мое поколение ещё застало конец афганской войны, Развал СССР, войну в Чечне, криминальные 90-е и примерно с 2000 года жизнь стала налаживаться и как-то очень быстро нормализовалась. Страшно смотреть, как так же быстро все полетело в пропасть. Главное отличие между нами 20 летними и вами - мы были абсолютно нищие, но с огромными возможностями и перспективами. Сейчас у молодежи отобрали и то, и другое. Каждому поколению наше правительство ставит подножку. Доколе?
Я помню середину конец девяностых, я был в России и учился в младших классах. Тогда денег не было совсем, и еды иногда не было. Но жизнь ощутимо улучшалась каждый месяц, и это было очень приятное чувство - знать и чувствовать, что дальше будет только лучше. Сейчас жизнь намного сытнее и обеспеченнее, но того чувства, что чем дальше, тем лучше - нету.
@@gandibaat3637 Мы с мужем поженились очень молодыми, в 21 год. Оба поступили в аспирантуру, мы биохимики. С 2003 года муж начал активно работать в Австрии, он выиграл грант на три года. Я тоже с ним немного поработала и в 2011 мы по работе поехали в Канаду, и тут остались, уже гражданство получили. У нас была масса возможностей по трудоустройству. Молодых ученых из России охотно брали во все университеты Европы и Северной Америки. Визы и разрешения на работу выдавали без каких-либо проблем, ограничений и проволочек. Я все ещё поверить не могу, насколько все поменялось за каких-то несколько месяцев.
I care. Thanks for sharing. I left the Soviet Union as a kid, my family came to America as refugees. And I can tell the indoctrination our parents had is real. And it’s so sad to see it go back to that. Because you’re right. A ton of potential!
Roman, I'm a bit older than you and visited Russia in the year 2000 when Putin was in power. I was 17 and studying Russian history as part of my A-levels. Russia was in a bad way, pensions were not being paid and old people were begging in the streets. We had a really lovely tour guide called Galina who was probably in her 50s, but obviously had a hard life and looked older. All the students and teachers put $10 each in an envelope and bought her a bunch of flowers. I'm guessing she got something like $250 which in the year 2000 was a lot of money (and still is) she broke the f**k down and was crying so much with gratitude. I'll never forget it. I understand why Russian people think Putin has done an okay job because he bought stability. He hadn't, oil prices bought stability. Russia should be in a way better position than it is if it were not for massive corruption and Putin doing deals with his mates to build stadiums in Sochi for the Olympics for example. Before Putin was president he was considering driving a taxi and now he is one of the richest men in the world on a salary of $150k a year!! Do the math!!! How has he achieved this without stealing billions from the Russian people. It's so obvious, I just don't understand how the Russians don't see it. Look at the drip he was wearing in his stadium talk!! That coat was worth more than the average Russian earns in a year. Peace
He let his mates build stadiums to host the olympics, why does that come at a detriment to the russian people? Didn’t he get a lot of his wealth from doing deals with oligarchs (50% of wealth given to him or prosecution from the courts for crossing Russia).
Putin is estimated to be worth $200 billion, by Forbes magazine, making him one of the richest men in the world! And it was all dirty money, as Putin and the oligarchs stole millions from his people and had the journalists and dissidents who exposed him literally killed! This has been going on since 1990 or so, when Putin became Prime Minister. Look up the Moscow Apartment Bombings--Putin allowed hundreds of people to be killed in the bombing of three or four apartments in Moscow, as a distraction against the corruption of the oligarchs. He wrongfully and deliberately blamed Chechnyan terrorists, and then had thousands of innocent Chechnyans killed when he invaded their country! But the distraction worked, and he had any investigative journalists that tried to expose him "dealt with"! And from then on, he exerted heavy control over the media.
My wife (Russian) feels the same. This turned her from wanting our son to have the Russian citizenship to her wanting to get naturalised. Part of her identity got simply crushed.
My thoughts exactly. Thanks for sharing this. I'm also Russian, I'm also born and raised in Chelyabinsk, I'm also leaving to Georgia pretty soon, and I'm also dreamed about free Russia, opened to the World, with equality, acceptance and cultural connections, with some bright future, now we haven't any. In addition I'm a gay guy and a protestor, so it's even more dangerous for me to be here, still it's so hard to leave my friends and family. Awful feeling, my only hope is that I can be useful there in Georgia, I hope I could find some volunteer work to help Ukraine and Ukrainians.
How’s it like living as a gay Russian? There was news of Russian hooligans luring Gays and humiliating them on video. Concentration camps on Chechnya as well. How does day to day life, live?
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 It really depends on lots of factors. Mainly your location and appearance. Chechnya is hell, with few other Islam South regions, but Moscow, St.Petersburg, some Ural cities and Novosibirsk are better. Young people mostly tolerant, older generations mostly homophobic, also police and army culture extremely homophobic. There are many misunderstandings. Western homophobia comes from religion, Russians basically lived under 70 years of atheism, so here homophobia comes from prison culture and it's a bit different. For example being top is not so bad as being bottom, hate mostly comes from perception of being gay is like being a woman, not from some concepts of sin. So if you are feminine, you'll at the same time face much more hate, but also more attention from "straight guys" who are want something. And if you're like me - cis masculine bearded guy, people usually don't believe you're gay, they assume any signs as jokes, but if you do something "not manly" the s**t will got real. I told some of my co-workers many times that I like guys, they just laughth, but when I dyed my beard in blue and came to corporate party holding hands with my bf, some of them called it f**et s**t... Fun part, not my relationships, but my dyed beard. Still I'm masculine, big and tall, and I live in big city, most hate I face is verbal. Lots of guys and girls and fluid people face much more hate. It's not mean that I feel free and safe, I'm out only for my friends and co-workers, I can't hold hands with my bf in public places, I live in apartment building where some neighbors asking why are two guys live together, when I went to protest against the war I was afraid more than hetero allies, because if police will find out that I'm gay, violence towards me will increase drastically. There was cases of raping and murder of LGBT+ people in police. And there are many other problems, gangs, who using date apps to blackmail or bite people, hateful movements, discrimination laws. It's not like Iran or Saudi Arabia, no death sentences or something like that yet, but it's much worse than any EU country, even if it's homophobic in a way. The bright part was that things getting better, Western and Japanese cultures made younger generations more accepting, some organizations helping LGBT+ people, in 10 to 15 years we could become free European country with equality, but putin start this horrible war, so now young generations have no future. I think this is part of the reason why he did it - because he lost young people to modern culture, and he afraid that future generations not interested in him and his values from 1950s. Anyway, thanks for asking, I need to talk about it with someone. We, gays afraid even more than straight people who stands against the war here, we forced back in closet, we afraid that anyone now can tell on us to the police and they can ruin our lives, because if you're different means you're enemy now. From the beginning of the war putin few times mentioned "gender equalites" and other LGBT+ thing as Western flaws in aggressive way, in the way that "we" here can't accept such things, so we're are special target now.
Бро я не буду пытаться тебя переубедить от переезда, но хочу рассказать, что я жил на западе в нескольких странах и там далеко не во всех городах лояльно относятся к геям. Скорее всего только в крупных, да и то чаще всего в центральных районах. В США например убивают трансгендеров, почитай об этом в интернете. ЛГБТ представителей мало где принимают, многие люди не испытывают положительных эмоций когда слышат, что ты гей.
@@FayFromGallifrey Stay safe and be happy, best regards from Poland🇵🇱 Now that you made the decision to leave, more tranquil life could be ahead. Spain and Canada are the most lgbtq tolerant countries. 80% of Spaniards supports lgbtq people, so that’s an attractive option. You could probably ask for asylum. Russian airplanes are banned from EU airspace, not Russians.
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 Thank you! I dream to visit Poland one day, love the language, studied it a bit, not enough to have courage to speak, but quite enough to watch Netflix Polish series without translation :) As for leaving, I have no other option, my company relocates to Georgia, and I can't find new job here, also I can't properly help Ukraine from here, If police finds out that I've sent some crypto to Ukrainan funds, I'll be sentenced for 20 years. Georgia also not that much LGBT+ frinedly, but they have great police, nice food and freedom to speak what I think. As for asylum - it's hard, I'll can't back to my family if they need me, plus I want to work and be useful, not to take place of someone's who's life is in greater danger, until I'm ok. My one and only concern is that I can't get Shengen visa in Georgia, it's especially hard now anyway, but my dream is to visit different EU countries as tourist, especially Poland, Slovenia, UK and Austria, and one day, when this war ends, I hope to get to Ukraine to help rebuild, even if I would cry every single day there from understanding what was done.
Oh my.... I grew up in Moscow in the Soviet Union era. I came to the US in the mid 90’s as an exchange student and my gut feeling back then told me to hang on and stay no matter what. Thousand visas, college loans and 20+ year road to a green card and then citizenship later... I sit here and listen to Roman’s perspective as if it was my own but almost 20 years prior to his birth year.
I was finishing law school during 2006/2008 and I remember meeting international students from Russia and Ukraine during this time, extremely smart and educated. Law school was kicking my ass, but this girl from Moscow told me what a piece of cake studying American law was, saying it was a thousand times harder in Russia, especially for ORAL EXAMS!! And even if you "passed", if you didn't bribe your teacher with an adequate amount of money, you still failed. So yeah, law school was a breeze for her, but she DIDN'T WANT TO GO BACK RUSSIA. Her plan was to get a PHd in something hard, and defect. I met students from Iran who had the same plan.
Being a 90s kid in Lithuania (ex-USSR), we had the exact same vibes in the years between 2004 and 2010 - it seemed that Russia is going to be an awesome country we would be partnering with. Its really sad that went the drain... A really relatable feeling, Roman. Good video.
Honestly, I would’ve loved to see Russia become actually democratic and becoming a first world country, however seems like this ain’t gonna be a thing any time soon. I am also Lithuanian if you’re curious.
Indeed. Russia was actually crazy liberal back then. A time when Tatu, openly lesbian group, was crazy popular in Russia, did tours and nobody batted an eye. A time when we were actually looking forward to start a partnership with Russia. What the fuck did you do, Putin.
as an Estonian, it was more like 90s up to 2007. They instigated a riot in our capital and next year invaded Georgia. After that we were like "yeah, fuck Putin and fuck Russia", turned towards west even more and never looked back. We were the first ones to realize how fucked that country is, even though the world should have seen that coming after what they did in Grozny...
I am from Siberia (Russia) and I agree with Roman. I was born in the USSR in 1990 but grew up in modern Russia. My Russia, my country died when Putin came to his third term. In Russia, you cannot be president more than 2 times according to the constitution.
@@glendanielson9006 if I remember correctly, when Medvedev was president they changed the constitution to remove term limits so Putin becane president again
@@glendanielson9006 he and other people in the State Duma (government): okay, you can’t be president for more than two terms in a row, but with a break, you can do some shit like that
24 year old hungarian here. I cant believe how relatable you are to me. Hungary is right now became russia's"light" version sadly :/. I can feel your pain because i fear we will go down the same path as russia.
Growing up during the cold war, when the Hungarians rebelled against Russia (Soviet Union) in 1956, Hungarians were heroes to us. It's mind-boggling for me to think that now that Hungary is led by a pro-Russian president with little regard for freedom of speech.
I was born and raised in Turkey. I feel EXACTLY the same. word to word. year to year. it crushes me inside how our identities have been stoled by the dictators. I wish I couldn't relate to you...
I suspect Turkey is not that far gone yet. I ran from Russia to Istanbul and when I landed I felt like a heavy weight has been lifted from my shoulders. It felt great to be able to use internet without VPN etc. I don't know inner working of the country though so I'm not making any conclusions, just sharing my observations.
I’m glad I got to visit your country in 2014 before this latest madness started. It’s painful to see the road Turkey is on but I’m afraid the US isn’t far behind in terms of super religious people taking over the government. I felt very welcome as an American and even though I don’t speak the language at all, I never felt like a stranger.
Turkey was never really a free, democratic country. I don't support Erdogan, but saying that before him things used to be better from freedom, democracy and economy point of view is just extremely ignorant.
@@seeyouchump Definitely not saying it is or ever was really, but it seemed to be democratizing then, albeit VERY slowly. I had met several students from places that were tighter controlled, like Indonesia and Iran that told me how much freer they felt in Turkey, even some who were LGBT relieved to be in a place that even though it isn’t accepting, didn’t feel in danger. Obviously that safety is more questionable outside big cities and further east in Anatolia. I would be hesitant to go back now, though especially given the strict security I imagine there is in Istanbul now.
@@DiveTheseClips Welcome to Istanbul!! I'm glad things have been working out for you here. I think in general you feel the influence of the government as much as you are a threat to their continuity. For example I study in one of the oldest uni's in Istanbul and last year they appointed someone as the head of the uni. and a strong resistance sparked in all universities in the country. Since then, hundrends of my friends have been arrested, our academicians are getting fired etc. my dorm room is surrounded by heavy armed police right now and we are regulary beaten up etc. Last year I didn't felt this much of a pressure because I wasnt a significance "threat" to the regime. Russian minority is not a concern for them rn but I am really concerned about your safety in the future. I'm not even mentioning about the hyperinflation that threatens our basic needs right now. Most of us now cutting meals to survive and it seems that it will be getting worse. I mean welcome with my all heart but I wish we could have provide you guys better standards and hopefully you can find a more reliable place in the future.
I am an old American who has lived through these dramatic changes, albeit from afar. I have been interested in all things Russian for 40 years. I saw the positive changes and felt comfortable traveling to Russia in 2018. I have traveled a lot and Russia was my favorite trip by far. It was better in every way than I expected! Now this. I am crushed. Of course I am just an outsider lookin in but my heart bleeds for people like you and the other Russians and Ukrainians who are directly affected for one man's ego. So sad.
You mean for _"many peoples ego"_ who sit in Brussel, call themself the EU, use the NATO to further use the Azov Nazîs and those Criminals murdered over 20.000 people since 2014 and nobody cares cause the EU & Nato want Russia to become another vassal or die... and people are too stooooopid to understand. Yeah what a world to live in.
One man’s ego? This conflict has been engineered for years against Russia when Putin tried to set up independent financial systems in the country. Simple as that, no other reason. You know how I know that? You and everyone else didn’t give 2 shits about the war in Georgia.
Recent Russian polls have shown that 90 percent of Russians approve of a fist nuclear strike on USA and Europe for no other reason than making them feel bad. I'm serious, Russia today is a totally, I mean TOTALLY fascist state, with zero independent media, total police/KGB control over everything. In 2022 There are more political prisoners in Russia than in 1970 USSR years! Incredible
As someone from Georgia, you and few other Russians prove that there’s still hope that something might change in Russia and there are Russian people who I can be friends with. I can’t stand brainwashed Putin supporter Z crowd, but lately I see many Russians like you and it gives me hope that one day we can live in peace. Huge respect for you and hopefully one day we can get drunk af together somewhere in Tbilisi if you stay here :D
Seeing Russians like him genuinely gives me some spark of hope for Russia. There's still hope for Russia. Younger generations will one day replace the older generations. There is still some hope left.
There are a lot of people that don't support all of this z nazi bullshit, trust me as a Russian.There's just a very loud part of the people who do support it that overshadows us.
@@mnivvy yeah, sadly, most annoying people are usually loudest ones. And I wasn’t even talking about Russians only, even we, Georgians, have people who are brainwashed by Putin’s propaganda and support him and his actions for some freaking reason.
@@crunchymix Imagine if those children grow up in an environment where the West is viewed as a source of evil to be despised... what will happen when they are, say, 20 years old... They'd make Goebbels proud...
Hey Roman, just found your channel and was really touched by this video. I'm an American born in '93, learned Russian in school. I've been visiting Russia almost every year since 2011. It's not my country and I don't have any family ties there, but it always welcomed me like a second home. When I first started going, there was something in the air that was really exhilarating and it felt much freer than my own country in so many ways. What you said about younger people is right - you guys were always so scrappy, resourceful, insanely astute. I always admired that and probably would've been intimidated by you all if you hadn't also been such genuinely kind people as well. Most of my friends have fled to other countries or gone completely quiet on social media. I really miss and worry for them. I also worry for my friends in the older generation for the reasons you mentioned. I worry for your country as much as I do Ukraine. It feels like a heartbreak, I think about it pretty much every day.
When I was a kid, my Father would yell how shitty our prime minister was all the time. I would ask him :" If our leadership is so bad why did you move out of russia?" My Dad said: "because its so good that we can shit on our leadership and not sit in a cell or lay in a grave, be greatful for democracy."
As a Russian who was born in the 1990 I can say that I feel exactly the same. I never payed a lot of attention to politics until I graduated from the university in 2012, but I remember a lot of "kitchen talks" from my parents from Listev's death in 1995 (though I was small at that time I felt by people's reaction that something terrible happened) to present day and each time it was one terrible thing after another. Though, only when I became older I understood all the horror of the situation and made the decision to leave the country, I never assumed that something like full scale war can happen (I had thoughts about the inevitable fall of the economy, or the border closure, but not something like what happened). And several months ago I woke up in the morning and my country of birth was no more. Thank you for speaking up your mind, Roman! It means a lot for me that there are people who think the same about the hole situation! I do hope for this war to end as quickly as possible and for you I wish to stay safe!
I'm a Canadian just a few years older than you. This is like the most significant thing since the fall of the USSR, this is huge. We're flying into another coldwar faster than the hypersonic missiles! Our generation is going to be a true anomaly, with a perspective not shared by the old or the young. We lived in a golden age and didn't really know it
@@Chiboza the thing is. In war there are no rules. I already know 2015 that war will Happen soon. It was from my point of view very logic,because of strategic reasons. Ukraine has a lot of oil under the bottom of black sea and russia wants that europe is more dependent on russian gas. In crimea thanks to putin is a lot of emergency because of the drinking water.
Thank you, Roman! Being a 25 years old Russian I can relate to each and every word you say. Thank you for being a voice of our generation (that is actually pretty small in number but we still do exist)
Yeah, the number of Russians in their 20's now is about half of the number in their 30's, it's crazy! Apparently with the chaos of the USSR collapsing many people didn't want to have babies in the 90's.
As a Lithuanian I had a similar experience given my father and grandfather had to live through the USSR and lost many family members and friends to Russians. The attitude and perception of the future was so different back then. That Soviet mentality of fear and oppression still persists, which I understand why so many older people worry about the aggression of Russia
I watched a TH-cam video from Peter Santanello not long ago and he was talking to Russian-Americans in South Florida and everyone spoke freely about everything, except for two elderly women (probably in their 70s) that wouldn’t say anything about Russia and you could literally see the fear in their eyes. I’ve heard that this is very common with people who lived during the Soviet era.
@@MisKristalful my Lithuanian grandma will be 96 this year, and she still doesnt really talk about the war or partisan resistance or any of those things. I believe it's not fear, its just not that easy to relive moments like running to the forest to escape getting raped by russian soldiers who came to their small village. She was 15 at the time, oldest of 4 sisters.
Lithuanian here: my grandparent was a partisan intelligence officer (partizanų ryšininkas) but unfortunately died of prostate cancer before i had the chance to ask him anything. I do remember, thought, that he was a great and caring person. My other grandpa is still alive and he was in the Soviet army for a while and told me some bits about the past but not much. One thing in particular he told me was that when the borders opened all russian cars became scrap metal just because western cars were so much better. Corruption was a career decision and vodka was a currency. If you wanted a rebuilt engine for your Volga you could just walk over to the military barracks and hand them two jugs of vodka. He said that people who say that "it was better in USSR" are ungrateful idiots and he would not want to go back to the olden days.
I admire your insightfulness, Roman! I'm a 30-yo woman from Finland, and my generation had a front-row seat to the Russia of the '90s and early 2000s. There were times Russia was really progressing, at least seemingly so; especially during the Medvedev administration. A large chunk of us Finns thought that we had pretty good relations with Russia as it were, we had our cooperation and agreements. I visited Russia in 2008 for a long while, I had learned the language before and loved St. Petersburg. I would've loved it if things had stayed that way. For the record, I am so sorry for what has happened to the dreams of most Russians your age. I hope when this all ends, there can be a better era, founded on truth rather than lies. And I believe you can all contribute to that by being courageous and speaking the truth if you are a Russian outside of Russia. In Russia, well, Vladimir Kara-Murza was courageous and was just arrested. I respect that, but I hope he calculated right on this one. The calculus is, if you want people to know the truth within the walls of an oppressive regime, you would want to use covert measures because in this case, overtness will land you in jail. Crimea happened, but Europeans still thought that they could keep the oil/gas trade up. That there was no need to bolster armies or anything. In Finland, though, we always kept a conscription army. We had been attacked by Stalin once and paid a painful price for it. We kept good relations with the US, bought NATO-compatible fighter jets - just in case, but as the will to join NATO wasn't there, we didn't want to ruin our "relations with Russia" without a reason. We thought we had our EU membership, our cooperation, our agreements. But Finland, along with Ukrainians, most Russians of your age group, and many other people around the world realized on that faithful Thursday of 22nd February that the agreements of the current Russian regime, the Putin regime, mean nothing. The words of our president Niinistö were: "Now, the masks are finally off." I found this heartbreaking for Ukrainians who had to choose whether to fight or flee, whom to get out first, what to do with their pets - imagine that, the pets, who feel as much as we feel, suffering for humans' mindless deeds. I saw this girl, who could've been someone going to school with me. I saw these families shot in their cars, their dog shot beside them. And the worst was somehow, is still somehow yet to come. I also felt bad for the ordinary Russians, whose only route out from what was increasingly an Orwellian nightmare, but also still their home, was to go to Georgia or through our train Allegro from Sankt Peterburg to Helsinki. I feel that Ukraine is fighting for the whole of Europe now. I know our government is helping them, sending weapons, ammunition, and other kinds of help. I know it is going to get worse in Ukraine, the general whom Putin has chosen to lead the war is responsible for leveling Aleppo. So they are probably going to use the Syrian playbook. Ukraine is fighting first and foremost for its future, but also for the future of European democracy, for the future of all of us. Finland is already helping Ukraine however it can and will join whatever treaty organizations there are to keep Bucha and Mariupol from happening here, or if we want our own examples, to keep the "Mainila shots" or Mainilan laukaukset, a red flag operation with which the USSR started the Winter War, from happening. So much for NATO "expanding". We never would've joined if that aggressor would've kept within his borders. So when the trolls, propagandists, or whoever says this, it is very much a moot point. NATO is a group of sovereign countries that have legitimate fears and concerns that their country and their democracy would be destroyed if they were alone. They are right. The Winter War taught Finland, that being alone against the Soviet giant is a dangerous game. We got away when Stalin decided the costs were too high, he told us the terms for peace and we had to capitulate and through that, lose a lot of ground, but we got to keep out from the Soviet Union. There is a lot more, including the continuation war, but the lessons of the winter war apply here. I'm happy Ukraine actually gets the help it was promised. We didn't, back then. I wonder how this whole clusterf*ck will end. Stay safe, Roman! You are doing the correct thing here. Keep your channel up, and discuss what you can within the limits of the situation. And, just try to take time for yourself, so that you don't become consumed in this war. This update of yours was really important. To me and to many others.
Your fundamental misunderstanding of the entire situation is astounding given the absolute endless fire house of bullshit here. But I’ll address just a few things... 1. NATO is a group of sovereign countries? That is laughable, these governments are all controlled by the same western financial systems/IMF/ NGO’s receiving carpe Blanche and fnding to push foreign ideologies and laws on their people. 2. Finland would’ve never wanted to join NATO had Russia not invaded Crimea? Crimea was part of Russia nearly all it’s history, calling it is hostile takeover is ridiculous. The legitimate Ukrainian gov was overthrown in a US/EU backed coup in 2014 and many eastern regions declared the gov illegitimate and declared independence. Crimeans overwhelmingly supported separation from Ukraine. 3. Vladimir Mursa was caught on videotape in a Moscow cafe conducting covert activity with a US CIA officer. In America that person would’ve been locked up and the key thrown away. These so called opposition leaders like Navalny never had any serious public support in Russia. As an American who lived there for 4 years I can tell you this for a fact, and you should know better. Yeltsin presided over tremendous suffering, crime, abuses by authorities and was beloved by western diplomats as they helped up carve the Soviet Union’s resources for oligarchs bought off by outside international business interests. Putin was adored and the Georgian war was ignored until he started removing western financial dominance in the country. You have a lot of experience and zero wisdom unfortunately.
Finland enjoyed peace with the Soviet Union/Russia ever since the end of WW2, when it in fact should have been annexed after all the horrible crimes it committed with the Nazis. Most people of his generation would be more than ready to protect Russia from NATO expansionist into Finland, an OFFENSIVE military organisation that gangs up, steals and plunders. I can assure you that there is much better future for Russia with China than with the west, and the guy in the video speaks for an overwhelming minority (including those of his generation). Putins approval rating has now sky-rocketed among all demographics.
Thank you for your informative post. Despite the fact that at the time Finnish were greatly outnumbered, they resisted for an extraordinary amount of time. They deserve huge respect for their resistance. I completely agree that today Ukrainians are fighting for peace and democracy for the rest of us. They are already the moral winners.
In order, this was probably thought n. 4 that I had the moment the war started: even if _somehow_ Putin were magically able to _somehow_ conquer and effectively annex the entirety of Ukraine to the Russian territory, Russia lost this war the moment it began regardless. Not only did this war kick Russia back to the USSR time within its borders, but also without. After the end of the cold war, it was taking _years_ for Russia to make itself a new name in the world (particularly in Europe and the US), but after 30 years, I honestly had the feeling that we were all on the good way there. I was discussing the thing with a Finnish friend, who told me that people who had seen the cold war were not exactly the most trustworthy towards Russia, but most of them were slowly but surely on their way to change their views, whereas basically the entirety of newer generations didn't have a single qualm against Russia. Now, older generations were thrown back to their original views and newer generations don't trust anymore, and this is what's going on in so many other countries as well. It will take *decades* for the Russian reputation to build back to the level it had in January. And who's gonna pay for this? The young. The people who _could_ have helped Russia to further develop into the intertwined reality of today's world, and instead will have to deal with a broken reputation that will take the better part of half a century to cleanse. And this was one of the first things that hit me of this whole thing, because I'll see the consequences of it probably for my whole life, and this is just not fair to Russians.
I am from Russia and about the same age as Roman. I have exactly the same thoughts and I have buried my life in Russia, it will never be the same and in foreseeable future it can only get worse. I am going to move to EU asap, but I hope I will be able to see the new/better Russia within my lifetime and will come back. Good luck to all of us!
It seems hard to believe... I was born in 2006, so now I can do almost nothing against the shit happening, I had a perfect childhood thanks to my parents, that's why I always loved Russia and hoped for the better future of my country. But now... Guys who wanted and could change the regime are escaping the country or being sent to prison, while Ukrainians and Russian soldiers are dying for some random reason from mr. Putin's head. Other people are supporting this because of the lack of knowledge or because of the fear. And... It seems for me, for a fifteen years old Russian girl, that regime won't change without people. And the fact that people are leaving country so hard is depressing. I don't blame anyone, I can understand why people escape this nightmare. I would like to do something. But I have no political rights yet(it seems like no one else here has, but others have it at least written in Constitution) and no recognition or respect. I can just wait what those grandpas in power will decide, observe the information and try to understand what can I do in the future if there won't be nuclear war or if I survive it. And it sucks. I wish you good luck, mate. Hope you will be ok
My mother grew up in Finland and she worked as a tour guide on the trans-Siberian railway during her time off from university. While I was growing up she often told me how beautiful Russia was and what interesting people she had met on her travels. She would always sneer at older Finnish people who were generally very distrustful and disparaging against Russia. But in the last 8-10 years she’s mostly stopped doing that. I hope that one day Russians can be free and hopeful for the future again, and that one day the Russia you loved can become a reality.
Yeah, these last years changed a lot of perceptions. When I was a kid, everyone hated russians for occupying us. But after 1990 I thought that we should all give them a break, clean slate, especially my parents. Big mistake in retrospect and whatever chance russians had with my generation and my kids, that's hard gone.
@@skiguru99 Interestingly, the popularity of Finland's NATO membership is highest in the older age groups. (It is pretty high in all age groups, but highest in the older age groups). Finns have always been pretty reserved regarding Russians and suspicious of them, but I wouldn't call it "russophobia" as such. Finland is an individualistic society and we treat people as individuals.
@@joojoojeejee6058 , it’s not Russophobia if it’s true. Phobia-an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something. It’s ok to fear Russians, they’re not humans ( I am not talking about people like Roman) just those who support Putin and his regime. You can’t support Putin and not be responsible for what his barbarian hordes are doing.
Man, here in Lithuania we would love to have a neighbouring country that's open, democratic and friendly. Export would be so much easier, no political tensions, more beautiful places to travel to and explore! It really is a tragedy.
Don't forget your water borders! Finland, Sweden, Noway, Denmark, Poland and Germany are right in your back yard too :P I had the good fortune to train "exchange" soldiers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the mid to late 90s here in Denmark. You guys are level headed practical people with balls of steel. I wouldn't hesitate a second to call you brothers in arms.
@@zombie2356 You mean like Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1569 to 1795? It's gone and belong to history. It woudn't last anyway and break up like Yugoslavia. It's not a realistic dream.
I was born the same year as you and that's crazy how almost identical our experiences are. I wish we could just build a country of young people, the country that we believed in and that was taken from us And yet we are people born in the years of demographic crisis. There are more Russians in their 60s living now than there were us ever born. A red-book generation with forbidden values and views. Heartbreaking. Thank you for speaking out and giving this feeling of community, it was really important to feel understood
Always remember that the young will be around longer, and the older ones won't be long for this world. They'll slowly die out. I must emphasize that this is not about hating old people and not all old people are retrograde. I'm just sharing a hopeful message with regard to demographics.
Настолько точное описание моих мыслей и восприятия происходящего, что даже становится жутко. Спасибо тебе большое за то, что озвучиваешь эти вещи. И спасибо за то, что даешь веру в то, что мы все не одни в этом тяжелом моральном состоянии
Google Translate: Such an accurate description of my thoughts and perception of what is happening that it even becomes creepy. Thank you very much for voicing these things. And thank you for giving faith that we are not all alone in this difficult morale.
@@Евгения-ь6и1с всем нам надо держаться вместе, к сожалению, очень многие люди в связи с войной предстали в совсем неприятном свете.. как будто мир встал с ног на голову
When I watch these videos, I feel like Roman is speaking for me, that's how much I can relate. We're just about the same age and share a similar industrial regional city/working class family background. All the hopes and wishes for the future, the way he talks about it rings home so much it hurts. I also moved to Saint Petersburg not long before Roman did and even randomly ran into him at a supermarket haha. The whole situation breaks my heart. A friend of mine from Kyiv, who I have known since 2013 and talked about music with is now posting pictures of himself in military uniform, defending his homeland and his 5 month old son's future from an invasion being waged by a country that happens to be my home. My best friend is American, my girlfriend has family in Estonia. The music I make speaks of the universal human experience. I'm an English teacher. I want to connect and empathise with people, help them, build relationships. Unfortunately, I now feel stuck, facing the reality of living in an increasingly repressive regime or fighting an uphill battle of trying to make my way out of it.
@@maakwatherrie I can’t possibly confirm or deny this with any statistical certainty, I can only tell you that among all my friends or acquaintances, but more importantly, among my 15 or so students (all of various ages, occupations and geographic location) none are pro-war. At the very least 5 of them have already left the country, more, like me, are considering their options abroad. The only people I know to be sort of pro-war or on the fence are my grandparents and my deadbeat uncle who has no job and lives with them. My dad is just lazy, doesn’t go much on the internet and is conflicted about the situation. It’s clear it doesn’t feel right with him but the only (or just about) information he gets/seeks comes from state TV. There is a million more nuances in determining and studying someone’s attitude and a assessment of the war beyond the fact that someone is Russian, such as age, occupation, media preferences etc. You’d do well to find someone who’s more against this war than those Russians who are actively leaving the county or are trying their best to do so, though. I personally believe it is the ultimate protest.
@@maakwatherrie I hardly think I’m saying anything controversial here and I tread with enough consideration in my day to day life as it is. I’m not gonna hold myself back engaging in civil and honest discussion in the comments here, stating what is simply my personal observations and experiences
It's so surreal right now to be a Russian. I'm a student and came to Poland as an exchange student a week before the war. Everything doesn't feel real anymore. Russia froze in my imagination and now I don't know what I'll come back to. I hope there is something to come back to.
@@barbarusbloodshed6347 yeah, I know. But what choice do I have? I have no money, and I've been told that Polish universities stopped accepting new Russian students for the time being. I'd love to, but from what I can tell there's no way of staying here :(
It's not like this was just sudden and out of nowhere, discounting the weeks of border posturing, discounting even the mess of Crimea and eastern Ukraine that Russia caused starting in 2014, this happening was no surprise to any of us that live in bordering countries.
@@scottscottman8354 A lot of young Russians have been leaving your country already, it is impossible for me to imagine the situation they are going through. But is it right to leave? Even if your country is becoming less the way you want it to be, shouldn't they at least try to make it better? I don't know what i would do if my country became embroiled in war or turned evil. But i at least think i wouldn't want to leave. Again, it's an difficult situation for you and i am sorry. Though you should be careful just in case Russian state is monitoring your comments online.
I'm a 22 year old Belarusian. I never had any hope for my country, and basically understood that for as long as our president stays president, nothing will change and things will keep getting worse. But when I say worse I don't mean a full-on fucking war. It's still unbelievable to me how we're basically perpetrators for a war on Ukraine in everything but name. Even while following the news leading up to the invasion I kept thinking, no shot Putin is actually insane enough to start a war, right? Well, he was. Every day I'm thankful that I moved to Czechia to study (and now work) a few years ago. Don't know what I'd do had I stayed home. I miss my family though, I haven't seen them since early 2020 because it's been genuinely unsafe for me to return to my country since the summer of that year. I really hope this insanity will end soon but at this point, who the hell knows when and how that will happen.
I became obsessed with the situation in Belarus when the everyday protests went on and on after the last election. People of Belarus gained so much respect, risking a lot everyday. At a point Lukashenko was really visibly afraid and walking with a rifle at all times. I really hope you can put an end to his regime. And I hope in my country we will put an end to Erdogan's regime. Stay strong.
Students in eu will get an "humanitarian visa" to stay if they want and are under political pressure. The eu is preparing this right now for students from russia and belarus. it is not out yet but will come soon.
Hey GW, really glad you made it. As dire as everything looks right now, I am pretty confident, that these regimes run on outdated ideas mostly supported by generations that will eventually die out. Lukashenko is not immortal, in fact, he has like 10 more years of life maximum? It will be very hard for anyone else to continue in the same way. Be patient but never stop pushing against authoritarian regimes. Greetings from Brno!
On the positive side, the war in Ukraine has shown that Lukashenko doesn't have much control over his army or over anything really. Hopefully he will at some point be overthrown
That Belarussian president and Russian president stay in power, because the guards always ready to do what they say and stand with their opinions, so nothing changes in the dictatorial country then.
Роман, спасибо что даёшь людям зарубежом понять что происходит в нашей стране. Ты лицо нашего поколения в западном мире. Нам всем придется сильно потрудиться чтобы возродить нашу страну. Соболезнования семьям погибших Украинцев и Россиян. Слава Украине! Жыве Беларусь! Россия будет свободной!
Проблема в том что в 90е люди тоже трудились потом впали в пропагандический гипноз и разрушили все свои достижения. А те кто проснулись, проснулись медлено и поздно. Уйдет путин. Будут 90е 2.0 потом немного демократии и оптимизма, ваше поколение потрудится потом замечтает о величии и опять та же херня.
Тут самое страшное это читать сколько иностранцев, многие из которых даже русский не знают, поддерживают путинский режим хотя бы чтобы мы жили в говне, думая что им будет хорошо. То есть они поддерживают войну и все прочее потому что им не надо ни от солдат убегать, не из оружия стрелять. Сидят у себя дома чешат себе яйца и говорят что нам надо делать в восточной Европе(
My hearts out to you man. I feel similarly about my country too. I live in Hungary, and it’s such a sad site to see how our corrupt government steals the tax payers money and the EU funds. Although I know that we have much better here than the average Russian people, but it’s heartbreaking to see the amount of potential going to waste, just because people are corrupt and flawed.
Hi, I want to ask some questions about politics in Hungary. Everything I hear from Hungary is mainly about how bad the EU is. Is that a more recent development or was it already a long time because why even join the EU if you do not care about the core values? and why stay in the EU if it's that bad? Or won't Hungary leave because of the EU funding? Because I wonder if a politician is always saying how bad the EU is, but doesn't do anything in the direction of leaving the EU, then why believe him that the EU is that bad? Do hungarians mainly read state news and don't trust other news? Are other parties also so anti-EU or is orbans party really the best of what's available? Just trying to understand the current mindset of hungarians and how it became that way
@@drag0nfi5t I'm a hungarian too. The EU is bad stuff mainly comes from the goverments side. Most people in the opposition mostly like the EU and want to be a part of it still. The problem here is that the oppsition parties suck badly (a bunch of politicians are in oppsitional parties that used to be part of the previous government before 2010, which everyone hated basically - but thats a longer story), and the government basically brainwashes the poor rural population. The poor people in the rural areas get shit like a bag of potatoes or 10000 Fts (roughly 30 euros) for christmas from the government and shitty minimum wage jobs like road building and stuff, so they vote on the government, because they fear that if the opposition wins they wont even get that. The other problem is old people, who grew up during the communist times and they hated it. So all the government has to do is to convince them that everyone on the left and in the eu are just as bad as those communists were back then and they will vote for them. Also the only free TV channels (which you dont have to pay any subscription for) are controlled by the government and oligarchs around government people. What they do basically is steal money, but give back just enough so that they get reelected. If you know enough about the russian situation its basically the same, just on a smaller level.
@@BigB848484 Thank you for your explanation. I live in Finland and we always wonder how the hell hungary gets away with complaining about EU and seemingly just want to fuck with us regarding common challenges and values. We have this feeling that we should ask for you to be kicked out, but then it´s better to have you inside in case orban wants to go dictator and screw the innocent people.
@@drag0nfi5t Woah, that's a big question. To summarize as much as possible -> The EU is mainly a trade union in which a LOT of financial gains can be made by the member states IF they abide by the rules laid out by the "constitution" so to speak of the EU. This includes things like not wasting money on corruption, accepting gay rights, and such.... in recent years there has been a rise of some right wing or autocratic movements (which we now know has likely been influenced by Putin over many years, sounds like tinfoil hat nonsense but there is actually enough evidence in the Trump elections and the Brexit that he's been mucking about, but nothing's been done with it). Ummm... long story short -> Orban is becoming an autocrat, is using propaganda to make the EU look like an enemy to scare the Hungarians so he can stay in power, and yes he's still in the EU because of aaaaalllll the money he get's from the EU (but that might change now).
Russian here, I relate to many of the things you've said. Waiting for acceptances from Canadian unis currently, let's hope I get that student visa and leave in 3-4 months. All we can really do at this point, is leave.
@@cardinal9009 Удачи вам! I'm an american born Ukrainian with many Russian friends here in NY and I think it's good many russians and ukrainians are coming to the west to experience a more free world and perspectives. Russia will become a better place when our generation become leaders in the world.
Canadian here. Hopefully you get accepted! We largely understand that the Russian people have nothing to do with the war. We are a welcoming country I would say, mostly! And I believe you would be feeling quite at home with our miserable weather as well 😆
I can't imagine the pain of losing my home country to an armed conflict, or to an immoral, corrupt government. You are doing God's work Roman, thanks to you, I know what young Russians must feel like right now.
I am 28 and live in Russia all my life and things have been steadily getting worse and worse since at least 2010. Nothing new. I expected one day it could be this bad I just didn't think it would happen so soon
@@taterkaze9428 I can't. Or rather say that I am too scared. My social anxiety is huge, as well as regular anxiety and depression. Due to my mental health problems I won't be able to adapt somewhere new where I am alone. Recently I have even thought I soon will be unable to work at all. So far I can though
Do you think things get worsen since 2010 or russian just become more and more open minded since then ? Because i do feel like there aren't just changes in the social/political aspect but people's mentality change as well
The same in the west and U.K.. I can pin point a huge decline here since 2010. There is a war on the common people. It may look different on a surface glance but hearing this video, it’s obvious the goal of totalitarian control is the same everywhere. It’s just tailor fit to bring down each country because we are different people with different histories
@@hanhbuik15hl2 hard to say. I don't know. People here have "short memory", they believe current propaganda and easily forget the promises and claims made only several months ago. That is the state of mind of most people who watch TV. They just don't think and analyse at all. The day the propaganda disappears and is replaced by real news, they will change their mind just as quickly. If they aren't dead by that point
"as long as I live, this country that I was born is hopeless, without expectations of improvements." I came to this conclusion and because this, I gave up and I'm going out. I'm leaving, I'm done. I feel the same sadness. All the "poor countries" is the same feeling. I'm Soo Soo sorry for all this shit happening.
I am 71 years old and I remember how excited I was in the early 90s about Russia joining the free world. I wanted to go to Russia and see the changes. Over the years, I felt that nothing really changed except the Soviet ideology. The Soviet authoritarianism had just morphed into extreme capitalism but not true democracy and friendship with western countries. But that dream is now 100% dead. I am sorry for you and others like you whose hopes and dreams have been dashed. I wish you well.
It's crazy how much I can relate to this. Roman is a year older than me but I have a similar background, being from the regions(Rostov), a working class family, also became fully political/oppositional in 2014 for the same reasons(I also watched tvrain before and saw the 2012 Bolotnaya protests thanks to it and supported them). I hated seeing Putin's face even as a little kid because he seemed so condescending, and when Medvedev came I felt like there was a bright future ahead of Russia, all this development and foreign programs were happening, so many opportunities. The internet was full of freedom! Roman is right there was zero online censorship, it's crazy to think about that now. And he's right there were red flag back then too, when they destroyed NTV and took control of the press for example, that was early 2000s. But after 2014 it went full on crazy, that's when the respressiins towards tvrain, an independent TV channel, happened when only a few years before that Medvedev himself was visiting them! Insane. Even with all this bullshit there was still hope that at the very least Putin will die someday and leave behind a shitty but still functioning government, nothing too bad that can't be fixed and certainly better than him but he decided to destroy not only Ukraine but also Russia's potential for developing, maybe precisely because he feels like he's running out of time like Ekaterina Shulman said, he didn't have to do it but he still chose to. These last few years I supported the opposition and I still have hope that things can change, I believe that one day they will, I have to believe but the pain I feel not only for Ukraine but for my own country, a country I love and want the best for, for so many bright young people I know who brought so much good to it from better urban planning to business to human rights organizations, is so deep. Our generation and the generation after us doesn't have a future anymore it was robbed from us, so many Ukrainians have died, been injured, traumatized or had to become refugees, and none of it had to happen if one man didn't choose to start this pointless war. Roman is also right in that most Russians don't seem to realize just how much of a tragedy this is, which is a normal psychological reaction, sociologists like Gregory Udin say that most people are in denial and try to pretend everything is fine to protect themselves from the truth and being in the opposition and knowing the truth now feels like seeing a tsunami from afar and knowing it's gonna destroy everything.
you are despicable, you talk about ukranians but nothing about the russians living in ukraine being killed. It's better for people like you to move to the US and work at Mcdonalds, and better for russia.
You guys need yourself a proper American revolution. You guys go through a revolution every century to just to replace your dictator with a new one. The federation was designed to basically be the USSR in a hidden/weakened form waiting to establish itself as a domineering power again.
I was born in 1999 in Moscow (which is already a filtering factor) and then moved to Europe in 2004, so I haven't lived in Russia for most of my life. I definitely remember the hopeful feeling of it seeming like things are getting better. I mean, here my Russian family was, we're doing well, living in Europe, visited Russia every year. Things seemed like they were improving. I'm obviously isolated from some of the experiences here since I didn't live in Russia for most of my life, but I can still relate to the change in views as time went on and I noticed the shift in culture online. Watching from the sidelines, it's pretty terrifying to watch how things are developing.
You were born later than the Yeltsin era and practically did not live in Russia, only came to visit. And even so, you've seen improvements. Now imagine those people who were born in the 80s of the last century and in earlier years. All these people lived in the dashing 90s. And for these people, all these improvements were even more noticeable because of the contrast with Yeltsin's rule. That's why Putin has so much support among Russians. And many people aged 35 and over still believe in Putin. To all my fears in connection with the current situation, my mother replies that she will not be worse than in the 90s.
I was born in 98’ in Omsk but left for Canada in 2004, and I’ve only visited again once in 2009. I remember it being good and people being happy, even though it was kind of weird to me that we still had the same person in power, but I didn’t get it as much back then as I do now. Seeing all this happening now from afar and being able to read the Russian sources which are saying the polar opposite of what everyone else is saying, denying everything and dumping the blame on literally everyone else is heartbreaking. I’m the only person in my family that doesn’t believe everything being reported is a coordinated attack on Russia and it’s people. The only thing I can hope for is that it will be over soon and Ukrainians can be safe in their own country again 💔
@@Naschira it's the truth the west doesn't see, Russians are doing well enough. Putin and the oligarchs know well enough. What the youth to middle aged people can do if they are mad enough. Sigh. I fear all this propaganda from our side is going to cost lives but I'm also aware at what Russia is doing, I get it. But man it is quite painful to imagine my self, getting drafted to war because nato and the east cannot coexist. I wish Russia would just ally with us against China.
@@Naschira yeah exactly, that the 90s especially were a clear trauma for a good chunk of the population explains why people prefer stability over anything else, and Putin is seen as that stability (though I can't imagine he can still retain that reputation now)
Honestly as a Finnish person the current development of Russia is really frustrating to watch, because with a different political culture and right policies Russia could have become one of the wealthiest and best countries to live.
Corruption fucks up everything. Which ironically is somewhat _good_ right now, as it has also fucked up the Russian military. If Russia's defence, well, offence budget wasn't spent on yachts and mansions, Ukraine would be even more fucked now
@@divx1001 Don't worry lad, Putler has his other foot in the grave already. I think after Putin the leaders are gonna improve at least somewhat, though for an actual good leader you got a long way to go. I believe in you lads, it's terrifying to live in the worst case scenario
@@aurin_komak it kinda reminds me of something I heard about the Falkland war, if the Argentine government was competent enough to win the war they would have never had started it.
Stumbled on your channel by chance, watched a fair few videos. Thank you for what you do. I have a friend from Russia who fled in 2019 and it's very validating for other Russians living abroad to see that their experience is not that unique. Speaking as a westerner, I also find your perspective super insightful, and it helps understand the mindset of Russian people, where it comes from and that nuance exists. Thanks man. Hope you'll continue to be safe.
Not to be negative, but dont forget you did not "stumble on this by chance." TH-cam put in in your feed out of the millions of videos out there, and there was a reason.
This really is the most open Roman has been on russian politics while its brave I hope it doesn't get him into trouble regarding going home eventually.
@@mememaster5748 Most who leave will not come back. The sanctions will make existing in Russia impossible in the long run. Those who left will have established great things abroad in the meantime.
@@LS-Moto yeah, and once they start families and businesses overseas they have even more to lose by going back. The longer they're gone, the less likely they will ever return.
Hi, Roman. I was born in Russia in 2000, and moved from there in 2013 to the United States. It is very painful for me to watch how the people in power are slowly destroying this culturally rich country. I hope that one day I can return to this country again and visit my old friends and relatives.
I mean USSR was pretty much that in time of Stalin up to 1989. And Putin grew up and reveled in those times. Seems like a matter of leadership wanting to cling to past nostalgia for a worse time. Hopefully one day, Russia can reach it's actual potential as a power and not just succumb to corruption.
i mean russia was basically meant to be a breeding ground for fascism at some point: old and indoctrinated part of population that is xenophobic towards foreigners, traditionalistic views in culture and religion, country ruled by totalitarian leaders that gave awful things that still influence this country, vatniks having the feeling of returning „lost lands“ to russia. its very sad
so true. but i think its different than nazi germany because in nazi germany they actually believed the idea of hitler, but in russia its kinda they are force to believe the views of putin out of fear and stockholm syndrome
As someone located in Florida, in the USA, our state as well as most conservative states, are more like Russia every day. Including feeling WTF happened to my country?!?
BS. Law is law. Either you are for government or not supporting views. If you have NO problem with Chick-Fillet you have NO problem with Disney. Otherwise it is just - oh if I am OK with your view then no one can touch you. Sounds like the MOB
I understand what you mean by Russia having its best years in 2006-2012. I'm from Finland and was born in early 90s. The first vivid memories I have of Russia are rather positive and innocent: t.A.T.u., Russian emo rock fans (that share the same music taste as I), interesting Eurovision entries, animations of Russian history etc. I've never been the biggest fan of Putin (because of his macho man image) but did not have anything particularly bad to say about him either. However, whenever I would say smth positive about Russia to an older acquaintance, you could sense them having a deep, frustrated sigh internally. For them, Russia in 70s-90s was still a vivid memory whereas for me, a 90s baby, that felt like a blast from the past, and I could not believe that in near future, comparisons to Soviet Union would become topical again. I've even accidentally called Russia Soviet Union a couple of times in the past few weeks...
Man, I have watched many if your videos and it's pretty crazy how relatable they are generally to the the life in my country, Syria. We have been on a similar path. The soviet-style propaganda and rooted fear in elderly, the brief moment of "relative" prosperity filled with hopes for a better future, then the huge disappointment as the country went miles backwards. I live in Germany now. Honestly, I have lost any hope in tge current situation, so I can totally understand what you are going through.
Syria will be great again one day bro I promise , I’ve gotten to know a lot of Syrians since the civil war and it seems far away sometimes but they all have hope that Syria one day becomes free and beautiful again🇸🇾 ❤️
@@TheZEROpointTHREE And thereafter We said to the Children of Israel: 'Dwell in the land. When the promise of the Everlasting Life comes We shall bring you all together.
As an American who grew up in a very, very conservative religion that doesn’t love dissent (Mormonism), I totally felt that when you said you were brainwashed. It is brainwashing! I share your worldview, your beliefs, and your opinions. Hopefully we can stop this silliness and we can all come together.
About to watch this video right now but I just want to say I can’t imagine what your going through Roman but just know we support you and your true fans and supporters know the real you, never stop enjoying your life and speaking/standing up for what you believe in. I love your videos so much man and they really make my day sometimes to see different places and perspectives. Love and peace from Ga, US -colin
Losing not only your home but also the hope of a future life in a democratic Russia that has freedom and prosperity has to be so depressing and discouraging. I’m so sorry that you and other Russians have to go through this. 🙏❤️☮️🇺🇸
Most Russians are not even aware of what is happening and what has to offer for them in the future. And those who do don’t‘t care as they are indifferent about what is happening. Very sad 😞 but very true, based on what I experience.
thats BS mate, country who start such war must suffer. I hope more and more sanctions will be implemented till we reach the point that millions of "average russians" goes to the streets :)
Я вообще родилась в 91 и помню немного больше, даже тот же дефолт 98ого.. было тяжело но, как ты сам говоришь - все могли критиковать власть, говорить свободно, в моей школе никогда не было ни портрета путина ни политической пропаганды.. она появилась где то к 2010 году. сама наблюдала это мракобесие и думала что хуже быть не может, однако стало...
@@robshepherd3782 As an American exclusively educated in American schools (except for a single school year in the UK) up through a Masters degree, I can confidently state that your assertion is false.
Your attitude reminds me of a young Russian I met in India in maybe 1986. He'd gotten completely disillusioned with life in the USSR, managed to get on a flight to Kabul (this is during the Afghan War), slipped out of Kabul and walked from there to Pakistan, and from there traveled to exile in India. He had exactly the same rage against the machine you have. I sure hope he didn't head back after the fall of the Soviet Union, just to re-live the entire experience as a middle-aged man.
That's right, the country we grew up in doesn't exist anymore. It saddens me. I associate myself with Russia because I was born here. That can't be changed. You identify with the people of your country even if you don't agree with certain things. But I've been feeling lately that all the connections that I have with my homeland are starting to break, one by one, like some tight guitar strings. I realize that I kind of identify with what has now become a thing of the past. My soul rejects everything that happens now while some people go with the flow, and even though I love Russia very much, I do feel that when I leave it, I'm going to lose all the remaining connection with the country and the people, because that's where our futures will REALLY start to develop in opposite directions. It's absolutely sad. People - not all people, but those whose voices "matter" more in this situation, because they go with the official version of what's going on - don't want to live a good life. They're much too bothered with ridiculous, pointless things and discussions, like who is "on our side" and who isn't, they need to have rivals and they need to have supporters. And that matters more to them than the level of life. Many people now shit on the Russians that leave to other countries, or those that miss living in comfort. But you have to realize that your average, brainwashed, Z-supporting Russian has never lived in comfort nor he strived for classiness. If a Russian wants to leave, he's probably sane enough to at least - at very least - understand just how low the level of life in Russia is going to fall very soon. I live in a big city that is quite close to Moscow. It used to be a nice city when I was growing up, now it turns into such a shithole you can't recognize it. I had to go to a different neighbourhood, very close to the historic and cultural centre of the city, but slightly away from the main street where I mostly go when I need something. I was SHOCKED. Just walk a few meters - and you'll step into puddles of wet dirt and dog shit and see how littered is the lawn. It kind of opened my eyes a little bit. Now I want to go there again and clean it by myself. Not because I want to act like I'm a good person or something. More like because I just FEEL like I have to do at least something. Something little to resist this indifference and blank stares. Do it for myself, if you will, because I can't take that no more. Our society is going backwards, and it's NOT because of the brands leaving - it's in the heads of the people that don't give a damn about their own future and even their present. They only care about the glory that (they believe) they had in the past.
It's very sad. I'm not from Russia but i used to always be in favour of closer ties between our country of Norway and Russia. I thought to myself "Why should we be enemies? Why can't we work together?" But now i realize that is impossible, the current propaganda being spouted by Russia is too shocking, too evil. I cannot tolerate it. And so i now hope Russia will stay as far away from our country as possible. But for the longest time i was always so interested in Russian culture, the Russian people, the food and lifestyle they had there. I even learnt some Russian in high school as an extra language. I only hope Putin will lose some day soon, and that somehow Russia will save itself from the Authoritarian path it is rapidly going through. But this is an very faint hope. With what i have seen Russian people are being rapidly radicalized and absolutely convinced that Ukrainians are Nazis and that they are on the "right side". The missile strike that hit Ukrainian civilians in a train station just a while ago, with the writings "For our children" tells everything you need to know. An combination of evil and ignorance has taken over Russian society. And that sort of evil doesn't go away easily, Nazi Germany and WW2 proved that.
@@norwegianboyee If you want a feeling of the slow decline into crap visible in Russia, try visiting some of the towns in Finnmark where nothing outside the center of town has been refurbished since 1946. Just rusty crap and rotting houses. While in those parts of Norway it is mostly due to people moving away as a result of low opportunity and overfishing, in Russia it is a result of collapsing public works budgets and rampant corruption. Largely, what little money there is goes to glitzing up Moscow, Petrograd, occasionally some other big city like Volgograd or Vladivostok. Everywhere else is slowly just becoming the Fallout version of the Soviet Union, half-collapsed old buildings and rampant poverty. And that’s nothing compared to the cultural damage done through the opression of the people. It is a tragedy. I spent years living in parts of Norway where tons of Russians worked and it was so nice how everyone got along after the Soviet Union fell. Now it seems we are all going right back into the shit and the two countries will be divided by an iron curtain again, along with Poland, the Baltics and Ukraine, not to mention everyone west of there. Just awful. EDIT: (I meant St. Petersburg, I just wrote an article on the Russian Revolution recently and wrote the old name Petrograd without thinking)
As an Estonian, thank you for writing this. I have a few Russian-speaking Estonian friends and I have a proper Russian friend who lives in St. Petersburg. It's people like these that I fee bad for during this whole situation. I always liked to believe that Russian people are misunderstood & they're not as brainwashed as the West portrays them to be. Boy was I wrong. Of course there are Russians who aren't hardcore Putinists, but what's currently going on & watching Russian people speak about Ukraine war BEFORE & AFTER it started - I'm just speechless. But the worst of the worst are these who live here but talk how shit Europe & the West is and how Russia is so much better. Why won't they move then? Because deep inside they know they have more opportunities here. It's so frustrating because these people are so hopelessly manipulated that it's hard to "show them" reality. But I never lose hope because I used to be a bit like this as well. Thought that refugees are a huge threat to the West and blablabla. Now I see that all this hate & bullshit is to keep us divided and easily controlled, instead of living in harmony and prosperity. Sad!
An important correction, Roman: even though some guys like me and you have left Russia, we’re a minority. A rather vocal one, but still a minority. Most people have neither a desire nor any means to leave the country. Yerevan and Tbilisi obviously aren’t big enough to accommodate everyone who wants to do it, and even if they were, not everybody is ready to just throw 20-30-40 years of their lives down the toilet (that includes their careers which many people would need to start from scratch). So while it’s important to share your perspective, please don’t fall into the flawed assumption that after 2022 Russia is going to be full of Putinists and everyone who has other views is going to GULAG; the history doesn’t repeat itself THAT BLATANTLY, the reality will be similar but not exactly the same as the early years of the Soviet Union. It’s important to look at things realistically: 2024 and further are still important years and Russia’s path isn’t set in stone even though the damage is obviously devastating; there are still independent political movements in Russia though (Yabloko, Vesna, probably there are others), many movements and media are being reborn right now in exile (Navalny’s ACF and their TH-cam channels, Novaya Gazeta, Dozhd, etc.). Let’s have some hope, man ;)
What is your comment on the assessment that 70-80% of russians actually support putin, don't speak any other language and most of them also has never been anywhere outside of russia? If such assessment is accurate, do you think independent movements stand any chance?
@@vaidotasdarulis many people support Putin, but they'll support anyone after him just as willingly if the propaganda is right. These are not the people you should jusge a whole nation on - they were turned into sheep over the years. They follow, but rarely ever act.
There might be time for that later, but these are dark days now; and it's not an error for Roman to feel as he does, and express as much. No one you can take seriously will lump all of Russia into the Putinite category after this; there's way too much evidence of the disgruntlement of large sections of the Russian populace even before this latest episode of UR Party aggression, and that's only likely to grow as this "operation" gets more punishing to ordinary people, while the oligarchs remain untouched. The opposition parties you mention are not themselves fully free of oligarch influence; and their messages of moderation may not save them from the same fate as UR as it falls. The "operation" may not be the sole cause of the fall, but may serve as one of the final straws over time with many ordinary "non-vatniks". In sum, folks like you and Roman "voting with their feet" will do a lot more towards the fall of UR than Yabloko or Dozhd ever will; because the country outside Moscow will feel the loss of your presence in a way the oligarchs and preachers and vatniks cannot minimize, however hard they try. I wish you both the best in your arduous journeys.
Again, as a Ukrainian, I can definitely empathize. In fact, if Russia was the country you described in your hopes, we wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. Thank you for reassuring me that there are still a lot of people in Russia who do not support this, because the polls people were conducting officially and just on the streets are not reassuring at all.
Most younger Russians doesn't like the direction their country is heading into. Most of Putin's supporters are from older generations. Which is probably why Putin is sending young kids to die in Ukraine.
Unfortunately, there are many brainwashed zombie in Russia and it really scares me, you know? As a citizen of Russia, all I want is just peace in the whole world but these zombie want to bomb your country. I hope, it will end soon and Ukraine will be happy and Russia will be free.
The polls are not accurate. Why they continue to publish them I don't understand. There are Russian journalists who speak to this yet they are not widely publicized. Perhaps it is for their safety.
Hi from Ukraine. I knew about the existence of this channel for a long time but I believe I am just not the target audience. I know a lot of people from Russia who I can speak to and get the gist of what has been happening in their country, so this channel didn't give me any valuable insights. But now feel like we should be protecting this bridge of something that we have in common, something which should be the basis of the future relations between Russia and Ukraine. Many of the things like the need to double-speak and the authoritarian power are unfamiliar to me and I have to admit I had been saying "why don't you just protest" - I was wrong and I feel sorry for it. Sure, people have this fear of getting fired, jailed etc. but at least they should not be openly supporting what's happening in Ukraine. I was conducting my teaching practice as a student of a pedagogical university at a school in central Ukraine when Russia began the invasion. I typed in the Viber group "send me your homework, we are not studying in the nearest future". It hurts so much to see the kids in the Russian schools walking with the "Z" signs, and teachers supporting this violent fiesta. I hope everyone in Russia will make their choice based on the common human values and not on some geopolitical ambitions of a madman.
50 дней полномасштабной войны, 8 лет войны, сотни лет угеетения нашей культуры, нашего языка и традиций, но ты все ещё веришь в не таких русских 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
This contribution to the conversation IS helping Ukrainians. If we know nothing about Russia, what has happened their, the people, their thoughts and feelings, then how can we expect to have a real picture of what's going on? Thank you for sharing.
As an American who is researching both Russia _and_ Ukraine, I would agree! After all, this channel provides a perspective on Russia that I haven't heard too much elsewhere: a Russian who _doesn't_ work for or support the government!
@@Hand-in-Shot_Productions its incredibly sad how europeans and americans take freedom of speech for granted and complain about twitter and facebook. it means a lot for roman to speak up about anything regarding russia.
@@oneslavman6491 there's no freedom of speech in the USA and Europe. their lack of freedom of speech is different from the lack of freedom of speech in Russia tho
Ukrainian here, who is getting bombed right now. It's interesting how, we are pretty much the same age (I was born in the year 2000) and our grandparents lived in the same Soviet Union, but I've never felt scared of speaking my mind and we have never had anti-russian propaganda either. Honestly, pre-2014 I didn't care about Russia whatsoever. I was just happily hiking through the mountains of Crimea every summer. Pre-2014 I have never heard words like "hohol" and "kotsap"(the first one is a derogatory term for Ukrainians, the second one is a derogatory term for Russians). I listened to russian rap, watched russian videos and have never seen any anti-ukrainian sentiment. I have a vivid memory of our post 2014 relations though. At the time my family and I were aware of russian annexation of Crimea and were understandinbly upset about it. But we harbored no hate towards russians, we thought that their government is at fault, not the regular people. It was summer and we went on a trip to Thailand (I should mention that I can freely speak Russian, Ukrainian and English, and we speak Russian as our day to day language). This is also the time when Russian propaganda activated and started spouting whatever crazy lies they could think of about Ukrainians. So, while we were on a boat, as part of our tour to see some scenic isles off the coast of Thailand, I noticed a family of people staring at us intensely. I saw fear in their eyes. This family of people, not unlike our own, mom, dad and a son, all Slavs just like us, were scared of us, because I assume they have overheard how we spoke Russian with Ukrainian pronunciation. It was like they really believed that we were eating fetuses or something (a Russian propaganda line at the time). And it is only now that I understand why all of this is happening. That country you speak of, that "dream of worldly Russia" that you have - that's Ukraine. I think people in power in Russia just don't want regular citizens to see that a free, western-leaning, post-soviet country can exist. And the situation being as it is right now, I would advise you and anyone who has a more "European" world-view to leave Russia. The "situation" I refer to, can be seen in poll results which show that 80% of russians are supporting the ongoing war in Ukraine. I always knew that dumb people exist everywhere and they are inevitable. But for them to comprise 80% of a country's population... I don't think there's hope for Russia. P.S. I don't know if I even have to say this, but any propaganda that you might see about Ukrainians being nazis that want to eradicate russians and their language is false. We never had any secret chemical labs, gave up nuclear weapons and would never attack any of our neighbors. When the government made Ukrainian a mandatory teaching language, most teachers and students didn't care and just continued lecturing and studying in Russian. The no hate towards Russians policy is going to change though. But only because 80% of regular Russian people support the war that turned cities into ruins and killed thousand of civilians and kids. I have seen burning buildings and bodies of dead children on the streets of my city with my own eyes. That's something that I can't just forgive and forget. I'm sure millions of people who had to flee their homes and millions more whose homes were destroyed, families that lost people dear to them, will never forgive. Even open-minded peaceful people like me just can't see any good in Russia or Russian people anymore.
my perception of russia has always been that it could be one of the greatest countries in the world.i studied russian at school , i read russian novels and after qualifying as a professional tour guide back in 1991 , guiding predominantly in german i guided russian tour groups either in english or through an interpreter and found the people to be some of the most kind , humourous and cultured that i had ever met.young people like you and some of your fellow youtubers like eli and natasha , to name but two were the future of russia. and as you say , yours and their futures , along with millions of others has been destroyed.stay strong roman and good luck.
Russia was always doomed to be the least of the great powers, at least in terms of economical and social values, it's a massive federal republic, which has a very centralised inner society, the fertility rates in Russia and Siberia are, and have always been, unsurprisingly very low, they suffer from population decay, and they lost grip of their brightest minds, people who are the best students in a Russian school don't go to Moscow to study, they go to the US or Germany instead.
@@LaVaZ000 Every single time a country tries to be a great power it just leads to nothing but misery and failure. Even the USA pursuing and attaining world power became an evil empire with more in common now with Russia and China than it an actual free functioning nation. Countries that look inward to the needs of their own populations are countries that end up becoming actual good places to live. Unfortunately in the age of neo imperialism few countries actually do this.
@@LaVaZ000 In the 50's, the Soviet population was on par with that of the USA. The thing that doomed the fertility rates in Russia is the consequences of WW2.
@@Chujoi0 No, the thing that doomed all of Russia and Eastern Europe's fertility rates was the politics of how the party treated its people and the unnatural urbanization which was result of the forced collective farming and the massive state-run industrialization (again poorly planned). These processes shouldn't have been forced.
Caro Roman, ti auguro di poter realizzare i tuoi sogni e che il tuo paese torni ad essere felice come tu speri. Nella vita non bisogna mai arrendersi ai violenti. Un abbraccio di cuore da Italia.
Dude, this was as good as it gets on TH-cam. People have no idea how brave you have to be to say any of these things and to be so honest about it. You’re a very bright young dude, love your channel and keep being a fair minded voice.
I was born in 1990 in Russia, one year before the collapse of the Soviet Union, but lived my whole life in Poland afterwards. Half of my family from my mother's side is Russian. I hold within me deep love to Russian culture and people, and used to dream about moving to St. Petersburg some day. And now I feel like I'm being crushed from the inside, seeing as the country of my childhood is turning into a totalitarian fascist regime.
I have had similar in one way as Russian name i wanted go check out place but things went more down during years... and then finally now this aggression all happened. Gonna wait things changes in there in one way or other which could love or feel comfortable to go to say honestly just.
Totalitarian regime? So Russia should allow traitors to roam around and do anti Russia propaganda? Um not gonna happen. Russia will crush NATO 🦮s like Ukraine and Poland. You will beg your masters to save you but they wont
You are Russian, but think of all the nations enslaved by Russia. I grew up in Poland and my childhood was ruined by the fact that we were under Russian rule. It was only in '89 that I started to live and that is why I am so scared that Russia wants to destroy us again. Russia is like a cancer. This state should be divided into small states, without an army or weapons. You could be the richest country in the world, but you have wasted it all.
@@bitterballs356 Ihre Meinung erinnert mich irgendwie an Nazi-Deutschland! Was ist denn Russland? Russland ist ultra-nationalistisch, extrem militaristisch und sogar imperialistisch. Russland gehört nicht zu Europa und es wird auch nie dazugehören. Weil die Russen sind, was sie schon immer waren: slawische U************.
This is my first video of yours I'm seeing (which just came up in my recommended videos) and its incredibly insightful and moving. I teach history in the US and sadly some of my students have trouble separating what the Russian government does from the people from there (thankfully not most of them) and I see it even more from older people who were alive during the Cold War and I might have to recommend this to them. I want to have hope for Russia and other countries, my own included, that we can move away from this xenophobia and prejudice. Thank you for sharing this
This hits home. I’m Chinese and I’m in my fourth year in college in Canada...things are really going downhill back home. It’s terrifying to think that I’m only a temporary resident as an international student here and I still need to go back to that mad world if i can’t find a way to stay in CA.
I love China and its people. But i don't like darth vader and its minions. Sadly it gets worse by the year. In 2010 i was believing that China will open up more and more. But now i see the opposite.
To be honest I think even if this ever calms down in Russia, for the near future I would recommend you stay in Georgia. You fit in much better there and you are safe. Also you are absolutely allowed to voice your sadness and pain about how your own home country is fucked up.
I went to Moscow Russia during the World Cup. One of my fondest memories was being outside of a bar at 4 am with 15 Russians and only one spoke English and how we talked to each other so curious about our lives. I always wanted to return so I can visit St. Petersburg and once all theses recent events started occurring I felt gutted because I know I wouldn’t have that opportunity. Thank you for your videos Roman we all prey peace be restored.
It's amazing how so much of what you say is exactly the same as how a lot of people in the US thought, including in our government. Initially, we were so happy and excited that Russia would modernize, become more free and healthier for its people, and join the rest of the world as a strong, valued partner. And a lot of people here also ignored red flags because we wanted so much to believe that Russia would finally join the modern world and leave the autocratic medievalism of its past behind. Your generation may be the only one in the entire six-century history of Russia that can imagine a free Russia, and that's a tragic statement. :-(
We in the USA do not possess the moral authority to tell Russia, China or any nation on earth how to live. Our nation is the most evil, corrupt entity on earth. That's saying a lot because Germany is very evil and good for nothing. I'm sure they will show their evil hand in time since its been allowed to reunify which will prove to be a catastrophe of major proportions. The U.S.A will not prevail to rule the world nor will it conquer Russia. GOD will never allow a one world government. Satan will be destroyed he will only get 3 1/2 years not that the U.S will be around to benefit from any of it.
It's truly said. That said, one must never give up hope that Glasnost and Perestroika rises once more with the younger generations. The old guard will slowly die out eventually and then there will be a chance. I wish the Russian people, Ukraine, Eastern Europe and other folks in backslid countries the best.
I felt the same hopefulness during Medvedev's reign. I'm a Finn and I would love to see and travel Russia, know more Russian people, and have Russian culture to be added to the peaceful community that is modern Europe. I'm sad you can't all join us, not for a good long while yet it seems. I hope you all the best Roman, be safe and persevere!
Well hopefully Europe has hope because for the U.S. worshippers who think that the U.S. is on some kind road to greatness and peace and prosperity you’re wrong..I’ve also seen the U.S. completely change over the last 15 years and definitely not for the better..just because a government says the accept certain lifestyles it doesn’t mean it’s some great nation and I don’t know why so many people are obsessed with this nonsense but we are equally going down as bad a road as Russia.
”the peaceful community that is modern Europe” Hahahaha, what is wrong with you? The future of Europe is utter chaos, european citizens under twelve are majority african and arab. Get your head up from the sand. Modern Europe is not peaceful.
@@iFartMoreThanAverage exactly what I am saying...why they keep going on about how great the west is when in reality we are on a steep decline..just because a gov supports other lifestyles doesn’t mean it’s this great moder society..we will be a 3 world nation in less than 50 years.
Cold War kid here. Literally. Have you ever listened to Billy Joel’s “Leningrad”? Almost strikes a tone on what I’m hearing from you from an American perspective. I was happy to have lived through the peace that included Russia from Yeltsin to the better Dmitry Medvedev, even loving things that came out of Russia that time. That being said, the new Russia is not one that will survive. I hope you can return one day to a better Russia, one that isn’t being ran into the ground by an ex-KGB nut.
I'm so sorry, man. Literally I have some tears in my eyes. What I can say is THANK YOU for speaking honestly. It's all you can do, and you do it well, and it really does matter. I don't like what my country does and is either - and you even used the same words I said back then - this country has SO MUCH potential, but the idiots just keep dragging us down . . . so I left 20 years ago and have been moving ever since. So come be a global citizen, man. We will live and work and move from country to country to try to stay one step ahead of the fascists and the totalitarian regimes.
![[UNCUT]"ตุลามรณะ"ย้อนฟังคำทำนาย หมอดูทุกสาย ดวงเมืองร้อน (หมอปลาย ฟองสนาน อ.โอเล่)I คนดังนั่งเคลียร์](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lE5az5VvT9M/mqdefault.jpg)
This is an incredible, moving video. Everyone should watch it. You are such an important ambassador for Russians of your generation to the wider world, Roman, and I hope you continue to use your platform to speak out. You're very young, but you have such insight and awareness of the world around you (and beyond you) and you communicate it so clearly to the rest of us. There are not many TH-camrs that I can say have become "essential watching" the way your channel has.
Good vids btw
An amazing comment from an amazing TH-camr...
Well said J.J.
Spot on comment.
A video with one of my favourite youtubers talking and another of them commenting, what a great day.
Roman, I am here in Ukraine fighting. Today has been relatively quiet but we are sure this battle will get very intense. We will fight to the very end, but your videos help me to know that not every Russian is our enemy. I hope you are well and we can all live in peace and freedom. It’s strange, we are about the same age and I am now a soldier and you are far from home because an old man wants to be a tzar. But don't worry, we will stop him. What a crazy time to live and die. тримайтеся, брати українці. слава україні!
2 May Update: привіт to all. I forgot I made this post, and wanted to say: We are still alive! I am shocked in a positive way. My unit was first near Kyiv and now in the east (this is all I can say for our security). We are planning something big for them in the next few weeks, so stay tuned... I have seen such courage in our entire nation, I am honored to be born Ukrainian. Thank you for the kind words, we are holding on! до перемоги!
10 June: well friends, I think this is my last hours. My unit has taken losses here in Luhansk Oblast. I think we are completely surrounded, but we will fight to the very end. I must say I feel totally at peace, I made a lot of mistakes in my life but it has been an honor to defend my country for these months. I feel free and calm. It was an honor to live 25 years as a free Ukrainian, maybe the next generation will live their whole life as one. We will defend to the very end. слава Україні
Godspeed
Godspeed! Don't give up. Russians are not the enemy, the regime is - don't forget that. ♥️🇭🇷🇺🇦 Good luck🤞
🙏💙💛
Slava Ukraine
May you and your family stay safe. Slava Ukraina!
Hello there Roman. My name is Yarik, and until the middle of a last month I lived in Mariupol, Ukraine. The war hit my family very hard, we lost our house, we lost some of our pets, we lost our live savings and most sadly we lost some of our relatives and friends. Nobody that is sane and have brains that from our town supports what russian government did to us, to our home. But we still believe that they are some decent people in Russia left and that they will leading it soon, not the corrupted imperialistic psychos that now in charge
intresting please talk about what you have done to people of mariupol ?plese tell me about gobnzalo lira .kidnapped by sbu why ?what about azov batallion ?have they perpetrated crimes o not.i am glad my country india refused to support ukraine
@@robo__cop8154
Mariupol? Russians fucking destroyed it, when we left there was a lot of civilians on a streets in russian side, it was so fucking scary... Azov were the ones who gave the possibilities to safely go to Berdyansk and Zaporizhia
Gonzalo Lira? I honestly didn't know who the guy is, he might be dead due to russian bombs, he might be in a shelter with no Internet or sbu might have thought that he's an russian provocator (and honestly, from what I've read rn he had it coming).
Azov batallion from my point of view heroically protecting our city from the real nazis here (russian soldiers), when chechen marauders gived stolen food under mask of a "humanitarian help". Azov might have done some shit in the past, in 2014-15 tho, not gonna lie.
@@zarikvarik1177 what “shit” do they do in the past (2014-2015)?
@@zarikvarik1177 why didn’t Azov battalion, fight Russian soldiers outside the city. Why hide in the city? They deliberately used civilians as shields.
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 Why Red Army fought in the Stalingrad?
I was born in Moscow in 1996 and I can tell ya'll that Roman has described the experience of a whole goddamn generation in this video. Props to you man. I relate to everything you said. The state our country is in right now is soul-crushing. This is not the bright future we were promised as kids.
Still I'm praying for peace and freedom everyday, despite my severe depression even. Nothing and no one is eternal you guys. We will get through.
The only entity that is eternal is the Holy Trinity AMEN!!!
And also do you still live in Russia?
@@MrCreeperYT_Official I do.
@mail box "relatives" huh
@@XawiKrishna hows it going over there?
@@Nathsters not good. Gen X is mostly brainwashed by propaganda, there is an ongoing inner conflict in most families I know. The economic damage is mounting as well. People are being persecuted for the most insane shit. So yeah, it's not looking too good for us.
As a Finn, I remember how in the 90s there was hope that Russia would become a free country and there was a lot of trade and tourism between Russia and Finland.
Then Putin became president and everything changed. I did my military service in the navy in 2003 and remember how Russian submarines would regularly enter Finnish territorial waters to test our readiness, just like in the Soviet days (Cold War style). My job was to identify the vessels from their propeller noise (acoustic signature). This became an almost daily occurrence after Putin came to power and they've been even more aggressive since then.
Finland is now joining NATO, something it would not have even considered had Putin not invaded Ukraine. You're right, Roman. It's not the same country as before.
I guess even Finland is done trying to be cool with the bully
It never was. Since 1991 power in Russia was taken over by people, who value power and money more than well being of citizens. Alcotard Yeltsin was nothing but a puppet.
@@intellectualexperience7948 Russia has already responded with a threat that "joining NATO will lead to Finland's destruction".
Finland's leadership understands that Russia sees us as a threat whether or not we're in NATO.
A 2018 lecture about Russia by a retired Finnish intelligence officer has gone viral after the invasion of Ukraine. I highly recommend watching it, subtitles in English are available: th-cam.com/video/kF9KretXqJw/w-d-xo.html
@@TheMrPyatka You're right, it never was a free country. What you described seems to be a general theme in Russian leadership, unfortunately.
@@VNExperience its a general theme of any superpower. Until human consciousness will view governing as "power" and not as "responsibility" nothing will change.
I'm from Finland, and i sometimes talk about how amazing it would be if Russia was a peaceful country with my dad - such a separate culture and some amazing places to visit, a stones throw away, just over the border. I could go visit Estonia right now, the cruise ticket would cost me 20 euros and the biggest hassle would be finding a parking spot near the port, imagine if visiting Russia was the same! The economic benefits of that would be pretty decent too. Sadly the biggest thing Russia has ever provided Finland with is a constant, and at the moment, ever growing, threat.
Why can’t you visit Russia?
Because like they said Russia is just being a bigger threat and threatening them daily
Im half Russian and i also wish we were friends with Finland. I love Finland and admire all nordic countries. Keep up being civilized amid this fucked up world!
Omgg! This is so true. I visit Tallinn and Estonia many times a year. But I have never been to Russia and now it seems like I never will. Before covid it was the Russians who visited Finland and bought Finnish goods such as cheese and dish soap.
Astounding English mate.
Roman,
The Russia you’re talking about that once was finished for me in 2008. I’m half Georgian and the invasion of Georgia was a pivotal point for my family. We realized and had the foresight that it will only get worse. We left. Moved around. Then in 2018 I went to live with my dad in ukraine - with my dad who worked in Russia for 30 years in echo of Moscow and worked hard and honest and paid his taxes. Now the invasion happened.
My dad now is declared a foreign agent in Russia, lost his home, pension, everything. He is 70, he should be enjoying his life and instead sits in western ukraine thinking about how all he worked for went down the drain. Then I sit here bitter and sad. When I worked with an organization that tried to explain to western leaders the direction Russia was heading in, we were ignored and treated like paranoid loonies. I But now, second time in my 22 year old life, the same fucking president destroys and crushes completely everything. Kills my friends, neighbors, and so on. Bucha is 10 minutes away from what was my home - I can’t explain what the fuck kind of emotions it feels to see your neighbors killed like this. It’s so violating that my home was broken into and shit stolen. My uncle and older brother can’t even leave Russia - tied due to work and family members, and both ethnic minorities and against the war, meaning they’re even a bigger target. What’s worse is their fucking friends and other family members all support the war.
Unfortunately this is just where Putin was heading and whether due to our ignorance or something else we didn’t stop him. We all thought that “he will go away” or “he is just bluffing” and now all of us collectively eat shit.
Now that you’re in Georgia I hope you enjoy your time. My mother’s land is welcoming but you WILL get fat from the food. I recommend you visit Keto and Kote (restaurant) on Zandukeli street. Go there when the sun sets. You’ll like it.
YOU attacked ossetia you got what you deserve!
im really sorry. I hope everything will get better soon...
@@fallsmaps651 I have faith it will! As shit as stuff is - negativity can’t consume us. We have better things to do.
Georgia kinda had it coming tho to be honest
Hard to imagine what your family has gone through. Stay strong, it will get better!
as a Russian, I can tell this is exactly how I feel right now. Thank you for this video, it gives hope that we can overcome this regime one day
The hatred for russia is like nothing I have known.
I am British Norwegian, my father used to tell me about how much the Germans were hated.
Now he says russains, russia and the putin regime are worse.
Our future generations might forgive this war, but don't expect it for 80 years
Russia had so much potential , it was on the rise to become a sort of liberal country. Now those dreams are destroyed by one megalomaniac man. His power needs to be revoked and that of many surrounding him. I have hope for the future of Russia but it will be a long and painful endeavor
@@the_uglysteve6933 Do you personally think this is good tho? I believe that hating people only for their nationality/place of birth is never the right thing. We never know what a person thinks and stands for, and assuming anything without talking to them is a pejudice
@@Лапша-ш5ж there will be a lot of shortsighted hate for a while. People with brains that function know that people are people, and Russians are usually friendly and cool to talk to.
Как русский, скажу что ты куколд)
as a chinese kid born in 2000, I share so much of these complex feelings with you - had a brief taste of what the country could have become during my childhood (although the environment wasn't even that good with all the censorship), and then having to watch everything just went downhill day by day. so sad.
Are you actually from the PRC?
yeah bro i feel you. china's social credit system must suck
Did you leave the country or decided to stay anyway? I'm especially interested in it cause the crazy quarantine measures going on in certain areas
I couldn't agree more....I'm from the US and so much of this is how my own generation is. I'm thankful for the time we had to see it doesn't have to be like this. I hope we can one day go back to that but I know it's a long shot. Though it is nice to know that there are similar hopes among many of us!
@@deepfried2304 yeah credit systems suck in general
As a Ukrainian I never understood what people who sounded like they were mad at Roman for being Russian wanted him to do about the whole situation, but this is a reflection video I was hoping Roman would make. Excellent job !
I don't think they hate him but they reflect Russias politics onto him
This is the first video ever where he criticizes Putin and the war. Before, he never did.
@@martinn.6082 Would love to see what you would have done in his situation.
@@martinn.6082 and that is a bad thing. The pressure from the ignorant pigs like you who think they have the moral high ground are influencing what Roman has to say to appease these fools which ultimately is putting him in danger. Truly sad and I hope your kind of lacking empathy ceases to exist
@@martinn.6082 Do you realize that he had to move out of the country to sound it out without the consequences which were explained a few videos earlier.
I’m Russian and I couldn’t hold back my tears by the end of this video. The country I was born in had everything to become equal to other modern European countries. Until a madman, a psychopath, a monster decided that he is a chosen one and he can become a monarch. And now the country I was born in doesn’t exist anymore. I can’t calm down because that’s my personal tragedy as well
UPD: thanks to everyone for your support, I really appreciate it ❤️
💔
I feel the same, even though I am out of the country, I feel like part of my cultural identity was being destroyed by the system itself. I also can't accept it or understand it neither with my mind nor with my heart how the majority of the population of my people actually genuinely support the regime. It's the greatest tragedy of my people.
Interesting how Russians say Putin is a monarch/dictator yet keep voting for him. Last time he got elected with 63% of votes... It's pretty close to a loss
I feel horrible. I am 27 and now I understand that my entire life was useless from the start. no matter how you were born or what you do with your life you was fucked from the beginning. I understand that I never gonna have children, that all my efforts don’t matter.
@@devrusso I personally, and my family and friends never vote for him. Interesting how you believe that the elections in Russia are actually proper democratic elections. Do you honestly not think they are not rigged?
Born in Russia in 1993.
I feel EXACTLY the same. This is what is really happening to our generation right now.
Just let it be known that despite all the patriots calling you an invader and hater of Ukraine, there are still people like me who can see the bigger picture. I am with you 'till the end!
It's absolutely insane. I work in software development in Czech, and I've met many Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs etc through my work. Just as you are saying, they are amazing people, both brilliant and eager to learn, and very respectful. While nobody can deny that the atrocities happening in Ukraine are hard to even comprehend, the fact that an entire generation of Russian youth have been robed of hope for good future is also very saddening.
I have studied art and history in Czechia and tons of my friends were from all the corners of the East; girls from Yakutia who drank kumis, roommates from Ukraine, doctors from Kazakhstan, classmates from Russia proper and photographers from Tatarstan. All extremely talented people who spoke multiple languages and were gifted artistically and technically, people who formed a large part of who I am today and upon whose photos with me I look and tears come from my eyes.
So many content creators I follow are from the Russian Federation, amazingly talented people who other countries cannot match. I'm so sad it has come to this. It's such a worthless war - none of us will gain anything by it, not the European common person, not the Russian common person, and not even the European nor the Russian leadership.
And Ukraine, caught in midst of things, again suffering? Holodomor, WW2, Chernobyl, the tough 1990s and now another war? This land is the worst afflicted in the last 120 years.
I just want for us all to sit down by the campfire once more, read Gogol aloud and act in Chekhov's plays while we listen and sing the very same songs Viktor Tsoi sang.
Группа крови - на рукаве,
Мой порядковый номер - на рукаве.
@mail box I do not agree. For those who kill innocent people there's a term - killers. Murderers, if you wish. Regular people don't kill another innocent people. Holy heck, regular people can only kill roaches in their houses, that's literally maximum level of physical harm. And those who did war crimes (also I think naming a war as "special operation" is a war crime too) are killers and murderers
@mail box he didn't say - every man in Russia is innocent, but he did basically say that there are many people in Russia who are innocent and do not support war
@mail box sadly it's the minority, it seems. Older people mostly support all actions of the current emperor, while younger - condemn
@mail box Everyone know that this war was created by the russian government, not by the russian people. Also, the propaganda is definitely a part of the problem, but the root is still the Russian government.
I'm 20, born and raised in Russia, and I can't even convey how much I relate to Roman's words. My country is dead, and everything is worse now.
Rise up
Fantastic and powerful use of that Bojack Horseman quote
@@cparker7992 I was hoping someone would catch that reference
Hey, your country might be bad, but at least brave orthodox Serb warriors support you.....
You have no idea what you have. Come to Europe or the U.S. or Canada and see for yourself the horror that is modern day western values that have turned once thriving cities into open air zoos.
As a German citizen who's parents came from Chelaybinsk in '98. Seeing them support Putin and talk badly about the entire population of Ukraine honestly makes me sick to my stomach, I strongly feel with you Roman. Best of luck Brother.
me too. I support Roman and will help him and people like him any way possible. All are welcome and safe at Fort Calgary. This is my part for Truth and Reconciliation!
entire? im eastern ukranian and i support russia for example,this war isnt black and white you know. its as if you picture the whole ukraine united or something which is false.
do you freaking aware how the current ukranian goverment treated ukranians who pro russian civilians in the last years? for you " whole ukraine" is west to the dniper. tired of this western propoganda bs tbh. russian too but the loudest is the western, do you aware that they arming neo nazi militants? ffs....
All I know as an American, somehow people here forget about all the war crimes we have committed. They only do or feel what the TV tells them. We have our own brainwash here. I do not support Russia, but Americans should stop being hypocrites.
@@svarog8253 wait are you saying that you support Russia for invading a country for no reason
Even though we're on completely opposite sides of the world and from completely different cultures the idea of "this country had so much potential and now it's all going to shit" resonates with me so much.
Greetings from Brazil.
Impossível não concordar...
I heard that with the new president things might get better in Brazil, is that true?
@@pezvonpez Just like the USA, Brazil is a very polarized country right now and people are going nuts over politics. Some people see recently elected president Lula da Silva as the Antichrist himself, others see him as the savior of the poor and weak. No matter what i say, chances are another Brazilian will come around, say the exact opposite and call me a communist or a nazi because that's how things are right now.
That being said: i think Lula da Silva is a lesser evil than the former president Jair Bolsonaro. But i don't see things getting much better. Even though he's not an anti-vaxxer / pro-military dicatorship / Donald Trump's little b1tch, Lula was very recently sentenced and imprisoned for corruption and could only run for office because the whole criminal process was deemed null in very shady circumstances. To add insult to injury, in many ocasions he showed public support for left leaning dictators such as Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and pushed for agendas that are very questionable in terms of democratic stability.
His past is also very controversial. Lula served as president for two consecutive terms (2003-2010). Even thought he gathered appraisal for his relative success in reducing extreme poverty, his government was stained by corruption scandals and wasted opportunities. So there's a love/hate relationship towards him depending on who you ask. So some people will say that now everything will be fine, some people will say that Brazil is going to hell. I don't see things changing too much to be honest and that's terrifying.
@@pezvonpez Yes, things are slowly getting better now with our new president Lula da Silva
@@BREmpire1 i did vote for him also but i keep thinking, is it?
Reminds me of the phrase "The world you were born into no longer exists."
This is an incredible video and hearing your perspective is always enjoyable and educational.
old values , old culture.....identity......everything that was from last century, they will try delete it with censorship .....so once al the kids from 1900s are gone......it will be mission accomplished for them. Didn't think it would happen so soon but damn man...they're moving at the speed of light....just look at how society was in 2010 compared to now.....you kinda miss it......
I'm afraid we're looking at a Peter Pan kind of situation here.
Great title to a book for Roman to consider regsrding his generation in Russia: The World you were born into, no longer exists...👍❤🤗
"The past is another country." as the saying goes.
True for Americans as well unfortunately.
As an Iranian I relate to this so much... I'm also 23 (about to become 24 in a week) and I feel like my youth and a chance to have a happy life has been taken away from me and my generation by an oppressive regime.
For us who live in these kinda countries daydreaming is all we have. future aspirations and hopes are nothing to us but a reminder of our misery and pain, a reminder of our lost life, nothing but fuels for depression.
I don’t have a future anymore
Hahahah just relax, its the same in America as well.
@@balocharyanwarrior5020 Except it isn't, Mr. Putin Bot
And a country with an unmotivated youth does not grow
@@balocharyanwarrior5020 dude it’s not
It's such a sad acknowledgement not only for Russia but for all Eastern European countries that went through wars, famine and serfdom that left scars and pain to this day. Love from Romania, keep strong
@ניקאָלאַי ברומאָווסקי what ?
oh man i dropped my walle- where did it go, oh my god a romanian person
Russian political system has always been terribly authoritarian and regressive. They were ones of last European powers to abolish the serfdom, and when the time of modernization came under Tsar Alexander II he was assassinated and replaced with his son, who was a brutal and oppressive autocrat. Then after all those tsars when there was place for Russia to modernize again they chose a different path of socialism, which along with many things it solved still didn't bring Russia any democracy and kept extreme authoritarianism and censorship. And finally, when the socialism collapsed the liberalization of Russia ended in a disaster with private sector being seized by a few wealthy individuals, causing an everlasting poverty and misery for the majority of people.
Some people just aren't capable of democracy yet, it's the sad truth.
toate tarile din Europa de Est au suferit din cauza Rusiei :) si-o merita din plin, sper ca sanctiunile sa o distruga atat de tare pana o sa ajunga sa se manance intre ei.
@@juhannusruusu Oameni atat din Rusia cat si din Romania nu au alegeri bune si drepte cu candidati competenti, Rusia poarta blestemul dictatorului cum noi purtam blestemul politicienilor incompetenti si opulenti. Pot toti, si ai lor si ai nostri sa se ia de manute si sa moara in foc.
Спасибо тебе за это видео. Пересмотрел его наверное раз 10 уже. Сам свинтил из россии еще в 2016м году. Живу теперь в Канаде. Стремился уехать как можно дальше от богоспасаемого отечества еще с 2008го. А после крыма все стало понятно. Аналогии бросались в глаза. Аншлюс австрии фашистской германией... Всем говорил что это 1937 год и скоро будет 1939й. Но никто не верил. Думали что я поехавший или предатель (я не шучу. Работал на заводе инженером и как крым захватили там такой патриотичный угар был что я не мог перестать охреневать). И вот пришел 1939й. Скинул твой ролик моим канадским знакомым и коллегам чтобы примерно понимали что происходит изнутри. Спасибо.
As a person from Hong Kong, I can relate to all the things you said, that pain of watching our homeland sinking beneath our feet, and being utterly powerless to do anything. Roman, thanks for speaking out, that was a powerful video.
As a person from the United States, I can relate to all the things you said, that pain of watching our homeland sinking beneath our feet, and being utterly powerless to do anything. Roman, thanks for speaking out, that was a powerful video.
Lol @ your hope and optimism in HK. No one was naive enough to believe that HK would continue to get special treatment and mainlanders would be 2nd class citizens.
@@gamingenius I dunno bro, I like being able to financially invest in my own government mass surveillance via Palantir.
05海外港人 有同感
As a person from Sweden, I can relate to all the things you said, that pain of watching our homeland just sink between our feet, and being utterly powerless to do anything. Thanks for speaking out Roman, that was powerful stuff.
As a young Russian, I can't say that my life has ever been boujee. I've always seen it as depressing before (was optimistic for the future though) but it's straight up dead now.
Being surrounded by people who support this mess of a regime is scary. Like even my parents.
I'm studying to be a foreign languages teacher (English, German, Swedish) because I wanted to help the new generations understand the world and be understood, foreign languages have changed my perception of the world and life itself forever and I want to share this.
I wanted to help my country be this open, friendly and cool place. But idk if that'll happen anymore. At least in this lifetime.
Peace to you all. With Russia from love I guess.
I feel your pain. However, please do not give up your dream, your hope, it is so beautiful. The older generation that is holding the power now will be gone in a decade or two and your generation will take have the power then. The change will take long time and this is a difficult phase now. We must persevere. Peace and love from Helsinki!
It might seem like an individual can't make a difference, but I think you choosing to study languages to share knowledge is so admirable. Please don't loose hope, the best weapon against misinformation is education!
I'm from Finland and I would have loved to visit Russia before this situation. It's kinda crazy to see how our neighboring country can be so different. I wish you all the best even though the situation may seem grim right now.
Stay safe, but keep the faith. I am from the West, so I do not truly know what you are going through, but I believe in people like you. I believe in you. If you need hope for your future please take some of mine. People like you are with you heart are indispensable.❤
Very feminine to want the priority for your nation to be a place that's cool and liked by everyone else. That's why women shouldn't lead.
I'm never someone to suggest that a good person leave their country behind, I generally believe that struggling nations need their best and brightest to change things. That being said the future of Russia looks bleak on just about every level and at this point Putin leaving won't likely change that.
I'd hate to say it but you should think about an exit strategy, if you can speak English and German that puts you at a pretty good advantage.
I am 21, and a few days ago I caught myself thinking that I was deprived of my motherland. The feeling that Russia has been captured. In fact, it is. I see that my generation is mostly against this war, but most of them are just trying to live as if nothing happened. It is like living under occupation.
Did you get the fuck out of country yet? If you didnt, expect another tianaman square, but this time in russa.
...and from what history teaches us, it will only get worse. Unless people realize it is their country, their lives ad their fate. Until than, the conditions will mostly only be deteriorating
Silence means consent.
@@FaronPL silence means fear
It feels just like that. It's ridiculous how they say on TV that Russia is "saving" Ukraine, while it's us regular Russians that feel occupied by the regime... I swear it's so scary sometimes. Thank God we have Internet nowadays and we can actually compare the points of view, see where the actual freedom is.
Роман, я родилась в 1979, почти вдвое старше тебя. Могу добавить, что мое поколение ещё застало конец афганской войны, Развал СССР, войну в Чечне, криминальные 90-е и примерно с 2000 года жизнь стала налаживаться и как-то очень быстро нормализовалась. Страшно смотреть, как так же быстро все полетело в пропасть. Главное отличие между нами 20 летними и вами - мы были абсолютно нищие, но с огромными возможностями и перспективами. Сейчас у молодежи отобрали и то, и другое. Каждому поколению наше правительство ставит подножку. Доколе?
Я помню середину конец девяностых, я был в России и учился в младших классах. Тогда денег не было совсем, и еды иногда не было. Но жизнь ощутимо улучшалась каждый месяц, и это было очень приятное чувство - знать и чувствовать, что дальше будет только лучше.
Сейчас жизнь намного сытнее и обеспеченнее, но того чувства, что чем дальше, тем лучше - нету.
@@gandibaat3637 Мы с мужем поженились очень молодыми, в 21 год. Оба поступили в аспирантуру, мы биохимики. С 2003 года муж начал активно работать в Австрии, он выиграл грант на три года. Я тоже с ним немного поработала и в 2011 мы по работе поехали в Канаду, и тут остались, уже гражданство получили. У нас была масса возможностей по трудоустройству. Молодых ученых из России охотно брали во все университеты Европы и Северной Америки. Визы и разрешения на работу выдавали без каких-либо проблем, ограничений и проволочек. Я все ещё поверить не могу, насколько все поменялось за каких-то несколько месяцев.
I care. Thanks for sharing. I left the Soviet Union as a kid, my family came to America as refugees. And I can tell the indoctrination our parents had is real. And it’s so sad to see it go back to that. Because you’re right. A ton of potential!
Russian Jews?? 😃😃😃😃
yes John Doe there are many Russian Jews many where killed in W.w.2 .. remembering the past is how it can not be repeated!!
The west started everything by organising coup d'etat in Ukraine
It seems as if Roman has already experienced America, his heightened awareness unfortunately means that like you, he'll need to move on.
actually the things happening now are rooted in that indoctrination, a lot of now old people were ready to be brainwashed again
Roman, I'm a bit older than you and visited Russia in the year 2000 when Putin was in power. I was 17 and studying Russian history as part of my A-levels. Russia was in a bad way, pensions were not being paid and old people were begging in the streets. We had a really lovely tour guide called Galina who was probably in her 50s, but obviously had a hard life and looked older. All the students and teachers put $10 each in an envelope and bought her a bunch of flowers. I'm guessing she got something like $250 which in the year 2000 was a lot of money (and still is) she broke the f**k down and was crying so much with gratitude. I'll never forget it. I understand why Russian people think Putin has done an okay job because he bought stability. He hadn't, oil prices bought stability. Russia should be in a way better position than it is if it were not for massive corruption and Putin doing deals with his mates to build stadiums in Sochi for the Olympics for example. Before Putin was president he was considering driving a taxi and now he is one of the richest men in the world on a salary of $150k a year!! Do the math!!! How has he achieved this without stealing billions from the Russian people. It's so obvious, I just don't understand how the Russians don't see it. Look at the drip he was wearing in his stadium talk!! That coat was worth more than the average Russian earns in a year. Peace
Great comment
He let his mates build stadiums to host the olympics, why does that come at a detriment to the russian people? Didn’t he get a lot of his wealth from doing deals with oligarchs (50% of wealth given to him or prosecution from the courts for crossing Russia).
He was taxi driver - for mafia... So now he is capo di tutti capi...
Spot on comment
Putin is estimated to be worth $200 billion, by Forbes magazine, making him one of the richest men in the world! And it was all dirty money, as Putin and the oligarchs stole millions from his people and had the journalists and dissidents who exposed him literally killed! This has been going on since 1990 or so, when Putin became Prime Minister. Look up the Moscow Apartment Bombings--Putin allowed hundreds of people to be killed in the bombing of three or four apartments in Moscow, as a distraction against the corruption of the oligarchs. He wrongfully and deliberately blamed Chechnyan terrorists, and then had thousands of innocent Chechnyans killed when he invaded their country! But the distraction worked, and he had any investigative journalists that tried to expose him "dealt with"! And from then on, he exerted heavy control over the media.
My wife (Russian) feels the same. This turned her from wanting our son to have the Russian citizenship to her wanting to get naturalised.
Part of her identity got simply crushed.
Dont think she had much of an identity if she already mixed
America keeps destroying nations its a problem saction them immediately
@@persianguy1524
*-100000 IQ logic*
@@persianguy1524 Your comment doesn't make any sense at all
@@persianguy1524 what
My thoughts exactly. Thanks for sharing this. I'm also Russian, I'm also born and raised in Chelyabinsk, I'm also leaving to Georgia pretty soon, and I'm also dreamed about free Russia, opened to the World, with equality, acceptance and cultural connections, with some bright future, now we haven't any. In addition I'm a gay guy and a protestor, so it's even more dangerous for me to be here, still it's so hard to leave my friends and family. Awful feeling, my only hope is that I can be useful there in Georgia, I hope I could find some volunteer work to help Ukraine and Ukrainians.
How’s it like living as a gay Russian? There was news of Russian hooligans luring Gays and humiliating them on video. Concentration camps on Chechnya as well.
How does day to day life, live?
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 It really depends on lots of factors. Mainly your location and appearance. Chechnya is hell, with few other Islam South regions, but Moscow, St.Petersburg, some Ural cities and Novosibirsk are better. Young people mostly tolerant, older generations mostly homophobic, also police and army culture extremely homophobic. There are many misunderstandings. Western homophobia comes from religion, Russians basically lived under 70 years of atheism, so here homophobia comes from prison culture and it's a bit different. For example being top is not so bad as being bottom, hate mostly comes from perception of being gay is like being a woman, not from some concepts of sin. So if you are feminine, you'll at the same time face much more hate, but also more attention from "straight guys" who are want something. And if you're like me - cis masculine bearded guy, people usually don't believe you're gay, they assume any signs as jokes, but if you do something "not manly" the s**t will got real. I told some of my co-workers many times that I like guys, they just laughth, but when I dyed my beard in blue and came to corporate party holding hands with my bf, some of them called it f**et s**t... Fun part, not my relationships, but my dyed beard. Still I'm masculine, big and tall, and I live in big city, most hate I face is verbal. Lots of guys and girls and fluid people face much more hate. It's not mean that I feel free and safe, I'm out only for my friends and co-workers, I can't hold hands with my bf in public places, I live in apartment building where some neighbors asking why are two guys live together, when I went to protest against the war I was afraid more than hetero allies, because if police will find out that I'm gay, violence towards me will increase drastically. There was cases of raping and murder of LGBT+ people in police. And there are many other problems, gangs, who using date apps to blackmail or bite people, hateful movements, discrimination laws. It's not like Iran or Saudi Arabia, no death sentences or something like that yet, but it's much worse than any EU country, even if it's homophobic in a way. The bright part was that things getting better, Western and Japanese cultures made younger generations more accepting, some organizations helping LGBT+ people, in 10 to 15 years we could become free European country with equality, but putin start this horrible war, so now young generations have no future. I think this is part of the reason why he did it - because he lost young people to modern culture, and he afraid that future generations not interested in him and his values from 1950s. Anyway, thanks for asking, I need to talk about it with someone. We, gays afraid even more than straight people who stands against the war here, we forced back in closet, we afraid that anyone now can tell on us to the police and they can ruin our lives, because if you're different means you're enemy now. From the beginning of the war putin few times mentioned "gender equalites" and other LGBT+ thing as Western flaws in aggressive way, in the way that "we" here can't accept such things, so we're are special target now.
Бро я не буду пытаться тебя переубедить от переезда, но хочу рассказать, что я жил на западе в нескольких странах и там далеко не во всех городах лояльно относятся к геям. Скорее всего только в крупных, да и то чаще всего в центральных районах. В США например убивают трансгендеров, почитай об этом в интернете. ЛГБТ представителей мало где принимают, многие люди не испытывают положительных эмоций когда слышат, что ты гей.
@@FayFromGallifrey Stay safe and be happy, best regards from Poland🇵🇱
Now that you made the decision to leave, more tranquil life could be ahead.
Spain and Canada are the most lgbtq tolerant countries. 80% of Spaniards supports lgbtq people, so that’s an attractive option. You could probably ask for asylum.
Russian airplanes are banned from EU airspace, not Russians.
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 Thank you! I dream to visit Poland one day, love the language, studied it a bit, not enough to have courage to speak, but quite enough to watch Netflix Polish series without translation :) As for leaving, I have no other option, my company relocates to Georgia, and I can't find new job here, also I can't properly help Ukraine from here, If police finds out that I've sent some crypto to Ukrainan funds, I'll be sentenced for 20 years. Georgia also not that much LGBT+ frinedly, but they have great police, nice food and freedom to speak what I think. As for asylum - it's hard, I'll can't back to my family if they need me, plus I want to work and be useful, not to take place of someone's who's life is in greater danger, until I'm ok. My one and only concern is that I can't get Shengen visa in Georgia, it's especially hard now anyway, but my dream is to visit different EU countries as tourist, especially Poland, Slovenia, UK and Austria, and one day, when this war ends, I hope to get to Ukraine to help rebuild, even if I would cry every single day there from understanding what was done.
Oh my.... I grew up in Moscow in the Soviet Union era. I came to the US in the mid 90’s as an exchange student and my gut feeling back then told me to hang on and stay no matter what. Thousand visas, college loans and 20+ year road to a green card and then citizenship later... I sit here and listen to Roman’s perspective as if it was my own but almost 20 years prior to his birth year.
Salute✌🏽you’re a hustler
@@ioiaxopanel3652 had no choice but become one, thanks 👍
I support Putin
You made the right call.
I was finishing law school during 2006/2008 and I remember meeting international students from Russia and Ukraine during this time, extremely smart and educated. Law school was kicking my ass, but this girl from Moscow told me what a piece of cake studying American law was, saying it was a thousand times harder in Russia, especially for ORAL EXAMS!! And even if you "passed", if you didn't bribe your teacher with an adequate amount of money, you still failed. So yeah, law school was a breeze for her, but she DIDN'T WANT TO GO BACK RUSSIA. Her plan was to get a PHd in something hard, and defect. I met students from Iran who had the same plan.
Being a 90s kid in Lithuania (ex-USSR), we had the exact same vibes in the years between 2004 and 2010 - it seemed that Russia is going to be an awesome country we would be partnering with. Its really sad that went the drain... A really relatable feeling, Roman. Good video.
But Vytautas Landsbergis was right all along :D Rusai puola.
Honestly, I would’ve loved to see Russia become actually democratic and becoming a first world country, however seems like this ain’t gonna be a thing any time soon. I am also Lithuanian if you’re curious.
Indeed. Russia was actually crazy liberal back then. A time when Tatu, openly lesbian group, was crazy popular in Russia, did tours and nobody batted an eye.
A time when we were actually looking forward to start a partnership with Russia.
What the fuck did you do, Putin.
Oh yeah, it was especially cool when "awesome liberal potential partner russia" attacked georgia in 2008!
as an Estonian, it was more like 90s up to 2007. They instigated a riot in our capital and next year invaded Georgia. After that we were like "yeah, fuck Putin and fuck Russia", turned towards west even more and never looked back. We were the first ones to realize how fucked that country is, even though the world should have seen that coming after what they did in Grozny...
I am from Siberia (Russia) and I agree with Roman. I was born in the USSR in 1990 but grew up in modern Russia. My Russia, my country died when Putin came to his third term. In Russia, you cannot be president more than 2 times according to the constitution.
So how come he got in for a third term???
@@glendanielson9006 if I remember correctly, when Medvedev was president they changed the constitution to remove term limits so Putin becane president again
@@glendanielson9006 he and other people in the State Duma (government): okay, you can’t be president for more than two terms in a row, but with a break, you can do some shit like that
@@stuart4341 What a drag! That is unfortunate. The world could sure do without Putin's kind of ruthlessness.
@@Zluka366 What a drag! I sure wish for different leadership as I am sure so many now do!
24 year old hungarian here. I cant believe how relatable you are to me. Hungary is right now became russia's"light" version sadly :/. I can feel your pain because i fear we will go down the same path as russia.
th-cam.com/video/8veOzd39VWI/w-d-xo.html Toys for Poroshenko / War Ukraine (English subtitles)
Leaders wanted, in the classified.
Growing up during the cold war, when the Hungarians rebelled against Russia (Soviet Union) in 1956, Hungarians were heroes to us. It's mind-boggling for me to think that now that Hungary is led by a pro-Russian president with little regard for freedom of speech.
I went to Budapest a couple of days ago and it was in NO STATE of war or anything, in fact i actually ENJOYED my excursion there.
@@chasesstuff6010
I didnt mean that we will go to war xd
The corruption and the goverment build up is what is similar that of russia.
I was born and raised in Turkey. I feel EXACTLY the same. word to word. year to year. it crushes me inside how our identities have been stoled by the dictators. I wish I couldn't relate to you...
I suspect Turkey is not that far gone yet. I ran from Russia to Istanbul and when I landed I felt like a heavy weight has been lifted from my shoulders. It felt great to be able to use internet without VPN etc.
I don't know inner working of the country though so I'm not making any conclusions, just sharing my observations.
I’m glad I got to visit your country in 2014 before this latest madness started. It’s painful to see the road Turkey is on but I’m afraid the US isn’t far behind in terms of super religious people taking over the government. I felt very welcome as an American and even though I don’t speak the language at all, I never felt like a stranger.
Turkey was never really a free, democratic country. I don't support Erdogan, but saying that before him things used to be better from freedom, democracy and economy point of view is just extremely ignorant.
@@seeyouchump Definitely not saying it is or ever was really, but it seemed to be democratizing then, albeit VERY slowly. I had met several students from places that were tighter controlled, like Indonesia and Iran that told me how much freer they felt in Turkey, even some who were LGBT relieved to be in a place that even though it isn’t accepting, didn’t feel in danger. Obviously that safety is more questionable outside big cities and further east in Anatolia. I would be hesitant to go back now, though especially given the strict security I imagine there is in Istanbul now.
@@DiveTheseClips Welcome to Istanbul!! I'm glad things have been working out for you here. I think in general you feel the influence of the government as much as you are a threat to their continuity. For example I study in one of the oldest uni's in Istanbul and last year they appointed someone as the head of the uni. and a strong resistance sparked in all universities in the country. Since then, hundrends of my friends have been arrested, our academicians are getting fired etc. my dorm room is surrounded by heavy armed police right now and we are regulary beaten up etc. Last year I didn't felt this much of a pressure because I wasnt a significance "threat" to the regime. Russian minority is not a concern for them rn but I am really concerned about your safety in the future. I'm not even mentioning about the hyperinflation that threatens our basic needs right now. Most of us now cutting meals to survive and it seems that it will be getting worse. I mean welcome with my all heart but I wish we could have provide you guys better standards and hopefully you can find a more reliable place in the future.
I am an old American who has lived through these dramatic changes, albeit from afar. I have been interested in all things Russian for 40 years. I saw the positive changes and felt comfortable traveling to Russia in 2018. I have traveled a lot and Russia was my favorite trip by far. It was better in every way than I expected! Now this. I am crushed. Of course I am just an outsider lookin in but my heart bleeds for people like you and the other Russians and Ukrainians who are directly affected for one man's ego. So sad.
You mean for _"many peoples ego"_ who sit in Brussel, call themself the EU, use the NATO to further use the Azov Nazîs and those Criminals murdered over 20.000 people since 2014 and nobody cares cause the EU & Nato want Russia to become another vassal or die... and people are too stooooopid to understand.
Yeah what a world to live in.
so bombing iraq, serbia, afghanistan, dead palestinian children is not sad at all, american?
One man’s ego? This conflict has been engineered for years against Russia when Putin tried to set up independent financial systems in the country. Simple as that, no other reason. You know how I know that? You and everyone else didn’t give 2 shits about the war in Georgia.
yeah should of doen what gorbachove said
Recent Russian polls have shown that 90 percent of Russians approve of a fist nuclear strike on USA and Europe for no other reason than making them feel bad. I'm serious, Russia today is a totally, I mean TOTALLY fascist state, with zero independent media, total police/KGB control over everything. In 2022 There are more political prisoners in Russia than in 1970 USSR years! Incredible
As someone from Georgia, you and few other Russians prove that there’s still hope that something might change in Russia and there are Russian people who I can be friends with. I can’t stand brainwashed Putin supporter Z crowd, but lately I see many Russians like you and it gives me hope that one day we can live in peace.
Huge respect for you and hopefully one day we can get drunk af together somewhere in Tbilisi if you stay here :D
I hate when they use little kid hold Z sign to support their narrative. Those kid don’t even know what exactly happen on that special operation.
Seeing Russians like him genuinely gives me some spark of hope for Russia. There's still hope for Russia. Younger generations will one day replace the older generations. There is still some hope left.
There are a lot of people that don't support all of this z nazi bullshit, trust me as a Russian.There's just a very loud part of the people who do support it that overshadows us.
@@mnivvy yeah, sadly, most annoying people are usually loudest ones. And I wasn’t even talking about Russians only, even we, Georgians, have people who are brainwashed by Putin’s propaganda and support him and his actions for some freaking reason.
@@crunchymix Imagine if those children grow up in an environment where the West is viewed as a source of evil to be despised... what will happen when they are, say, 20 years old... They'd make Goebbels proud...
Hey Roman, just found your channel and was really touched by this video. I'm an American born in '93, learned Russian in school. I've been visiting Russia almost every year since 2011. It's not my country and I don't have any family ties there, but it always welcomed me like a second home. When I first started going, there was something in the air that was really exhilarating and it felt much freer than my own country in so many ways. What you said about younger people is right - you guys were always so scrappy, resourceful, insanely astute. I always admired that and probably would've been intimidated by you all if you hadn't also been such genuinely kind people as well. Most of my friends have fled to other countries or gone completely quiet on social media. I really miss and worry for them. I also worry for my friends in the older generation for the reasons you mentioned. I worry for your country as much as I do Ukraine. It feels like a heartbreak, I think about it pretty much every day.
As long as Russia has people like you, there is still hope.
Russia doesnt has him because he, you know, not living in Russia any more
Lol good luck with that
Unfortunately the Russians are not bulletproof
The last normal people are now fleeing Russia so no there is no hope
he literally left Russia
When I was a kid, my Father would yell how shitty our prime minister was all the time. I would ask him :" If our leadership is so bad why did you move out of russia?"
My Dad said: "because its so good that we can shit on our leadership and not sit in a cell or lay in a grave, be greatful for democracy."
Now there is no democracy in Russia lol
my respect to your father
th-cam.com/video/8veOzd39VWI/w-d-xo.html Toys for Poroshenko / Ukraine (English subtitles)
As a Russian who was born in the 1990 I can say that I feel exactly the same. I never payed a lot of attention to politics until I graduated from the university in 2012, but I remember a lot of "kitchen talks" from my parents from Listev's death in 1995 (though I was small at that time I felt by people's reaction that something terrible happened) to present day and each time it was one terrible thing after another. Though, only when I became older I understood all the horror of the situation and made the decision to leave the country, I never assumed that something like full scale war can happen (I had thoughts about the inevitable fall of the economy, or the border closure, but not something like what happened). And several months ago I woke up in the morning and my country of birth was no more.
Thank you for speaking up your mind, Roman! It means a lot for me that there are people who think the same about the hole situation! I do hope for this war to end as quickly as possible and for you I wish to stay safe!
Say sorry for Bucha
@@Chiboza buchery for bucha, putin wants to have put in, but i'm sorry you draw weird conclusions
Я такая же как ты но до сих пор в России:( жаль что не открыла глаза раньше… а куда ты уехал?
I'm a Canadian just a few years older than you.
This is like the most significant thing since the fall of the USSR, this is huge. We're flying into another coldwar faster than the hypersonic missiles!
Our generation is going to be a true anomaly, with a perspective not shared by the old or the young. We lived in a golden age and didn't really know it
@@Chiboza the thing is. In war there are no rules. I already know 2015 that war will Happen soon. It was from my point of view very logic,because of strategic reasons. Ukraine has a lot of oil under the bottom of black sea and russia wants that europe is more dependent on russian gas. In crimea thanks to putin is a lot of emergency because of the drinking water.
As an indian...i feel my nation is under this transitional phase you described...not there but on this path...sigh.
More power to you and take care
the closest India has ever been to being a dictatorship was under Congress and Indira Gandhi during the Emergency
@@defaulter264 certainly, but the BJP is trying to do it slow mo
@@defaulter264 Its quite clear to me that India is now an electoral autocracy with fascist tendencies
@@nadlax5920 lol ok dude
Thank you, Roman! Being a 25 years old Russian I can relate to each and every word you say. Thank you for being a voice of our generation (that is actually pretty small in number but we still do exist)
Yeah, the number of Russians in their 20's now is about half of the number in their 30's, it's crazy! Apparently with the chaos of the USSR collapsing many people didn't want to have babies in the 90's.
i feel the exact same way about occupied Turtle Island north (canaduh).
You guys are very important right now. Try to spread the truth to the people in ways you dont get yourself in to much trouble! Be safe
@@TheCBC1984
Forget Turtle Island, Hans Island is the true geopolitical conflict of our day!
@@luxborealis way to ignore genocide.
As a Lithuanian I had a similar experience given my father and grandfather had to live through the USSR and lost many family members and friends to Russians. The attitude and perception of the future was so different back then.
That Soviet mentality of fear and oppression still persists, which I understand why so many older people worry about the aggression of Russia
Once I did a mini interview of my great grandma regarding Lithuanian partisans and she was afraid to talk. In free Lithuania!
Kai kurie pensininkai iki šiol lygina Sovietmetį su dabartimi.
I watched a TH-cam video from Peter Santanello not long ago and he was talking to Russian-Americans in South Florida and everyone spoke freely about everything, except for two elderly women (probably in their 70s) that wouldn’t say anything about Russia and you could literally see the fear in their eyes. I’ve heard that this is very common with people who lived during the Soviet era.
@@MisKristalful my Lithuanian grandma will be 96 this year, and she still doesnt really talk about the war or partisan resistance or any of those things. I believe it's not fear, its just not that easy to relive moments like running to the forest to escape getting raped by russian soldiers who came to their small village. She was 15 at the time, oldest of 4 sisters.
Lithuanian here: my grandparent was a partisan intelligence officer (partizanų ryšininkas) but unfortunately died of prostate cancer before i had the chance to ask him anything.
I do remember, thought, that he was a great and caring person. My other grandpa is still alive and he was in the Soviet army for a while and told me some bits about the past but not much.
One thing in particular he told me was that when the borders opened all russian cars became scrap metal just because western cars were so much better.
Corruption was a career decision and vodka was a currency. If you wanted a rebuilt engine for your Volga you could just walk over to the military barracks and hand them two jugs of vodka.
He said that people who say that "it was better in USSR" are ungrateful idiots and he would not want to go back to the olden days.
I admire your insightfulness, Roman! I'm a 30-yo woman from Finland, and my generation had a front-row seat to the Russia of the '90s and early 2000s. There were times Russia was really progressing, at least seemingly so; especially during the Medvedev administration. A large chunk of us Finns thought that we had pretty good relations with Russia as it were, we had our cooperation and agreements. I visited Russia in 2008 for a long while, I had learned the language before and loved St. Petersburg. I would've loved it if things had stayed that way. For the record, I am so sorry for what has happened to the dreams of most Russians your age. I hope when this all ends, there can be a better era, founded on truth rather than lies. And I believe you can all contribute to that by being courageous and speaking the truth if you are a Russian outside of Russia. In Russia, well, Vladimir Kara-Murza was courageous and was just arrested. I respect that, but I hope he calculated right on this one. The calculus is, if you want people to know the truth within the walls of an oppressive regime, you would want to use covert measures because in this case, overtness will land you in jail.
Crimea happened, but Europeans still thought that they could keep the oil/gas trade up. That there was no need to bolster armies or anything. In Finland, though, we always kept a conscription army. We had been attacked by Stalin once and paid a painful price for it. We kept good relations with the US, bought NATO-compatible fighter jets - just in case, but as the will to join NATO wasn't there, we didn't want to ruin our "relations with Russia" without a reason. We thought we had our EU membership, our cooperation, our agreements.
But Finland, along with Ukrainians, most Russians of your age group, and many other people around the world realized on that faithful Thursday of 22nd February that the agreements of the current Russian regime, the Putin regime, mean nothing. The words of our president Niinistö were: "Now, the masks are finally off."
I found this heartbreaking for Ukrainians who had to choose whether to fight or flee, whom to get out first, what to do with their pets - imagine that, the pets, who feel as much as we feel, suffering for humans' mindless deeds. I saw this girl, who could've been someone going to school with me. I saw these families shot in their cars, their dog shot beside them. And the worst was somehow, is still somehow yet to come.
I also felt bad for the ordinary Russians, whose only route out from what was increasingly an Orwellian nightmare, but also still their home, was to go to Georgia or through our train Allegro from Sankt Peterburg to Helsinki.
I feel that Ukraine is fighting for the whole of Europe now. I know our government is helping them, sending weapons, ammunition, and other kinds of help. I know it is going to get worse in Ukraine, the general whom Putin has chosen to lead the war is responsible for leveling Aleppo. So they are probably going to use the Syrian playbook. Ukraine is fighting first and foremost for its future, but also for the future of European democracy, for the future of all of us. Finland is already helping Ukraine however it can and will join whatever treaty organizations there are to keep Bucha and Mariupol from happening here, or if we want our own examples, to keep the "Mainila shots" or Mainilan laukaukset, a red flag operation with which the USSR started the Winter War, from happening. So much for NATO "expanding". We never would've joined if that aggressor would've kept within his borders. So when the trolls, propagandists, or whoever says this, it is very much a moot point.
NATO is a group of sovereign countries that have legitimate fears and concerns that their country and their democracy would be destroyed if they were alone. They are right. The Winter War taught Finland, that being alone against the Soviet giant is a dangerous game. We got away when Stalin decided the costs were too high, he told us the terms for peace and we had to capitulate and through that, lose a lot of ground, but we got to keep out from the Soviet Union. There is a lot more, including the continuation war, but the lessons of the winter war apply here. I'm happy Ukraine actually gets the help it was promised. We didn't, back then. I wonder how this whole clusterf*ck will end.
Stay safe, Roman! You are doing the correct thing here. Keep your channel up, and discuss what you can within the limits of the situation. And, just try to take time for yourself, so that you don't become consumed in this war. This update of yours was really important. To me and to many others.
Perfectly said.
Your fundamental misunderstanding of the entire situation is astounding given the absolute endless fire house of bullshit here. But I’ll address just a few things... 1. NATO is a group of sovereign countries? That is laughable, these governments are all controlled by the same western financial systems/IMF/ NGO’s receiving carpe Blanche and fnding to push foreign ideologies and laws on their people. 2. Finland would’ve never wanted to join NATO had Russia not invaded Crimea? Crimea was part of Russia nearly all it’s history, calling it is hostile takeover is ridiculous. The legitimate Ukrainian gov was overthrown in a US/EU backed coup in 2014 and many eastern regions declared the gov illegitimate and declared independence. Crimeans overwhelmingly supported separation from Ukraine. 3. Vladimir Mursa was caught on videotape in a Moscow cafe conducting covert activity with a US CIA officer. In America that person would’ve been locked up and the key thrown away. These so called opposition leaders like Navalny never had any serious public support in Russia. As an American who lived there for 4 years I can tell you this for a fact, and you should know better. Yeltsin presided over tremendous suffering, crime, abuses by authorities and was beloved by western diplomats as they helped up carve the Soviet Union’s resources for oligarchs bought off by outside international business interests. Putin was adored and the Georgian war was ignored until he started removing western financial dominance in the country. You have a lot of experience and zero wisdom unfortunately.
Very well written and expressed.
Finland enjoyed peace with the Soviet Union/Russia ever since the end of WW2, when it in fact should have been annexed after all the horrible crimes it committed with the Nazis.
Most people of his generation would be more than ready to protect Russia from NATO expansionist into Finland, an OFFENSIVE military organisation that gangs up, steals and plunders.
I can assure you that there is much better future for Russia with China than with the west, and the guy in the video speaks for an overwhelming minority (including those of his generation).
Putins approval rating has now sky-rocketed among all demographics.
Thank you for your informative post. Despite the fact that at the time Finnish were greatly outnumbered, they resisted for an extraordinary amount of time. They deserve huge respect for their resistance.
I completely agree that today Ukrainians are fighting for peace and democracy for the rest of us. They are already the moral winners.
In order, this was probably thought n. 4 that I had the moment the war started: even if _somehow_ Putin were magically able to _somehow_ conquer and effectively annex the entirety of Ukraine to the Russian territory, Russia lost this war the moment it began regardless. Not only did this war kick Russia back to the USSR time within its borders, but also without. After the end of the cold war, it was taking _years_ for Russia to make itself a new name in the world (particularly in Europe and the US), but after 30 years, I honestly had the feeling that we were all on the good way there. I was discussing the thing with a Finnish friend, who told me that people who had seen the cold war were not exactly the most trustworthy towards Russia, but most of them were slowly but surely on their way to change their views, whereas basically the entirety of newer generations didn't have a single qualm against Russia. Now, older generations were thrown back to their original views and newer generations don't trust anymore, and this is what's going on in so many other countries as well. It will take *decades* for the Russian reputation to build back to the level it had in January. And who's gonna pay for this? The young. The people who _could_ have helped Russia to further develop into the intertwined reality of today's world, and instead will have to deal with a broken reputation that will take the better part of half a century to cleanse. And this was one of the first things that hit me of this whole thing, because I'll see the consequences of it probably for my whole life, and this is just not fair to Russians.
Ironically, Yeltsin's rule was the worst
This is a territorial war, if Russia annexes Ukraine, that is an automatic win, even if they suffer more losses. Sadly.
I am from Russia and about the same age as Roman. I have exactly the same thoughts and I have buried my life in Russia, it will never be the same and in foreseeable future it can only get worse.
I am going to move to EU asap, but I hope I will be able to see the new/better Russia within my lifetime and will come back.
Good luck to all of us!
Good luck and Godspeed.
@@fractiousperson303 thanks mate.
how do you plan on moving to the EU? Goodluck my friend
It seems hard to believe... I was born in 2006, so now I can do almost nothing against the shit happening, I had a perfect childhood thanks to my parents, that's why I always loved Russia and hoped for the better future of my country. But now... Guys who wanted and could change the regime are escaping the country or being sent to prison, while Ukrainians and Russian soldiers are dying for some random reason from mr. Putin's head. Other people are supporting this because of the lack of knowledge or because of the fear. And... It seems for me, for a fifteen years old Russian girl, that regime won't change without people. And the fact that people are leaving country so hard is depressing. I don't blame anyone, I can understand why people escape this nightmare.
I would like to do something. But I have no political rights yet(it seems like no one else here has, but others have it at least written in Constitution) and no recognition or respect. I can just wait what those grandpas in power will decide, observe the information and try to understand what can I do in the future if there won't be nuclear war or if I survive it. And it sucks. I wish you good luck, mate. Hope you will be ok
Lol please stay where you are.
My mother grew up in Finland and she worked as a tour guide on the trans-Siberian railway during her time off from university. While I was growing up she often told me how beautiful Russia was and what interesting people she had met on her travels. She would always sneer at older Finnish people who were generally very distrustful and disparaging against Russia. But in the last 8-10 years she’s mostly stopped doing that. I hope that one day Russians can be free and hopeful for the future again, and that one day the Russia you loved can become a reality.
Yeah, these last years changed a lot of perceptions. When I was a kid, everyone hated russians for occupying us. But after 1990 I thought that we should all give them a break, clean slate, especially my parents. Big mistake in retrospect and whatever chance russians had with my generation and my kids, that's hard gone.
Those older people know what Russia did to Finland in the past. Any country with a border with Russia should not trust them
@@skiguru99 Interestingly, the popularity of Finland's NATO membership is highest in the older age groups. (It is pretty high in all age groups, but highest in the older age groups). Finns have always been pretty reserved regarding Russians and suspicious of them, but I wouldn't call it "russophobia" as such. Finland is an individualistic society and we treat people as individuals.
@@joojoojeejee6058 , it’s not Russophobia if it’s true. Phobia-an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something. It’s ok to fear Russians, they’re not humans ( I am not talking about people like Roman) just those who support Putin and his regime. You can’t support Putin and not be responsible for what his barbarian hordes are doing.
Ah yes, so your mom liked Russia when it was poor and weak. Got it.
Man, here in Lithuania we would love to have a neighbouring country that's open, democratic and friendly. Export would be so much easier, no political tensions, more beautiful places to travel to and explore! It really is a tragedy.
You still have some, with Latvia and Poland. Sadly I cannot recommend Belarus for obvious reasons. 2 out of 4 is not a great ratio.
@@pavook Absolutely! Just having some utopian thoughts here, that the big one (and Belarus) could be just as good.
Don't forget your water borders! Finland, Sweden, Noway, Denmark, Poland and Germany are right in your back yard too :P
I had the good fortune to train "exchange" soldiers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the mid to late 90s here in Denmark. You guys are level headed practical people with balls of steel. I wouldn't hesitate a second to call you brothers in arms.
Imagine lithuanian, polish, belarusian, ukrainian federation, God i wish this would happen ;v
@@zombie2356 You mean like Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1569 to 1795? It's gone and belong to history. It woudn't last anyway and break up like Yugoslavia. It's not a realistic dream.
I was born the same year as you and that's crazy how almost identical our experiences are. I wish we could just build a country of young people, the country that we believed in and that was taken from us
And yet we are people born in the years of demographic crisis. There are more Russians in their 60s living now than there were us ever born. A red-book generation with forbidden values and views. Heartbreaking.
Thank you for speaking out and giving this feeling of community, it was really important to feel understood
Always remember that the young will be around longer, and the older ones won't be long for this world. They'll slowly die out.
I must emphasize that this is not about hating old people and not all old people are retrograde. I'm just sharing a hopeful message with regard to demographics.
Настолько точное описание моих мыслей и восприятия происходящего, что даже становится жутко. Спасибо тебе большое за то, что озвучиваешь эти вещи. И спасибо за то, что даешь веру в то, что мы все не одни в этом тяжелом моральном состоянии
Google Translate: Such an accurate description of my thoughts and perception of what is happening that it even becomes creepy. Thank you very much for voicing these things. And thank you for giving faith that we are not all alone in this difficult morale.
@@Ramian1 it literally says translate to English below his comment 🤦♂️
@@thedislikebutton7754 Not for me
Да, главное помнить, что вокруг все еще много понимающих людей, и не терять собственную человечность и культуру...
@@Евгения-ь6и1с всем нам надо держаться вместе, к сожалению, очень многие люди в связи с войной предстали в совсем неприятном свете.. как будто мир встал с ног на голову
When I watch these videos, I feel like Roman is speaking for me, that's how much I can relate. We're just about the same age and share a similar industrial regional city/working class family background. All the hopes and wishes for the future, the way he talks about it rings home so much it hurts. I also moved to Saint Petersburg not long before Roman did and even randomly ran into him at a supermarket haha.
The whole situation breaks my heart. A friend of mine from Kyiv, who I have known since 2013 and talked about music with is now posting pictures of himself in military uniform, defending his homeland and his 5 month old son's future from an invasion being waged by a country that happens to be my home. My best friend is American, my girlfriend has family in Estonia. The music I make speaks of the universal human experience. I'm an English teacher. I want to connect and empathise with people, help them, build relationships. Unfortunately, I now feel stuck, facing the reality of living in an increasingly repressive regime or fighting an uphill battle of trying to make my way out of it.
Alex, over here (Netherlands) media says currently 4 out of 5 Russians support Putin and its war in Ukraine. Is that really true?
@@maakwatherrie I can’t possibly confirm or deny this with any statistical certainty, I can only tell you that among all my friends or acquaintances, but more importantly, among my 15 or so students (all of various ages, occupations and geographic location) none are pro-war. At the very least 5 of them have already left the country, more, like me, are considering their options abroad. The only people I know to be sort of pro-war or on the fence are my grandparents and my deadbeat uncle who has no job and lives with them. My dad is just lazy, doesn’t go much on the internet and is conflicted about the situation. It’s clear it doesn’t feel right with him but the only (or just about) information he gets/seeks comes from state TV. There is a million more nuances in determining and studying someone’s attitude and a assessment of the war beyond the fact that someone is Russian, such as age, occupation, media preferences etc. You’d do well to find someone who’s more against this war than those Russians who are actively leaving the county or are trying their best to do so, though. I personally believe it is the ultimate protest.
Почему вы все переезжаете в СПб из пердей? Вместо того, чтобы развивать что-то у себя
@@AlexPigin won't you get into troubles discussing this publicly on TH-cam while you're living in Russia?
@@maakwatherrie I hardly think I’m saying anything controversial here and I tread with enough consideration in my day to day life as it is. I’m not gonna hold myself back engaging in civil and honest discussion in the comments here, stating what is simply my personal observations and experiences
It's so surreal right now to be a Russian. I'm a student and came to Poland as an exchange student a week before the war. Everything doesn't feel real anymore. Russia froze in my imagination and now I don't know what I'll come back to. I hope there is something to come back to.
might not be a good idea to go back... ?
@@barbarusbloodshed6347 yeah, I know. But what choice do I have? I have no money, and I've been told that Polish universities stopped accepting new Russian students for the time being. I'd love to, but from what I can tell there's no way of staying here :(
It's not like this was just sudden and out of nowhere, discounting the weeks of border posturing, discounting even the mess of Crimea and eastern Ukraine that Russia caused starting in 2014, this happening was no surprise to any of us that live in bordering countries.
@@scottscottman8354 A lot of young Russians have been leaving your country already, it is impossible for me to imagine the situation they are going through. But is it right to leave? Even if your country is becoming less the way you want it to be, shouldn't they at least try to make it better? I don't know what i would do if my country became embroiled in war or turned evil. But i at least think i wouldn't want to leave.
Again, it's an difficult situation for you and i am sorry. Though you should be careful just in case Russian state is monitoring your comments online.
Hate to say it, but the smart thing to do is not go back.
I'm from Russia, was born in 2000, feel the same
I'm a 22 year old Belarusian. I never had any hope for my country, and basically understood that for as long as our president stays president, nothing will change and things will keep getting worse. But when I say worse I don't mean a full-on fucking war. It's still unbelievable to me how we're basically perpetrators for a war on Ukraine in everything but name. Even while following the news leading up to the invasion I kept thinking, no shot Putin is actually insane enough to start a war, right? Well, he was.
Every day I'm thankful that I moved to Czechia to study (and now work) a few years ago. Don't know what I'd do had I stayed home. I miss my family though, I haven't seen them since early 2020 because it's been genuinely unsafe for me to return to my country since the summer of that year. I really hope this insanity will end soon but at this point, who the hell knows when and how that will happen.
I became obsessed with the situation in Belarus when the everyday protests went on and on after the last election. People of Belarus gained so much respect, risking a lot everyday. At a point Lukashenko was really visibly afraid and walking with a rifle at all times.
I really hope you can put an end to his regime. And I hope in my country we will put an end to Erdogan's regime. Stay strong.
Students in eu will get an "humanitarian visa" to stay if they want and are under political pressure. The eu is preparing this right now for students from russia and belarus. it is not out yet but will come soon.
Hey GW, really glad you made it. As dire as everything looks right now, I am pretty confident, that these regimes run on outdated ideas mostly supported by generations that will eventually die out. Lukashenko is not immortal, in fact, he has like 10 more years of life maximum? It will be very hard for anyone else to continue in the same way. Be patient but never stop pushing against authoritarian regimes. Greetings from Brno!
On the positive side, the war in Ukraine has shown that Lukashenko doesn't have much control over his army or over anything really. Hopefully he will at some point be overthrown
That Belarussian president and Russian president stay in power, because the guards always ready to do what they say and stand with their opinions, so nothing changes in the dictatorial country then.
Роман, спасибо что даёшь людям зарубежом понять что происходит в нашей стране. Ты лицо нашего поколения в западном мире. Нам всем придется сильно потрудиться чтобы возродить нашу страну. Соболезнования семьям погибших Украинцев и Россиян. Слава Украине! Жыве Беларусь! Россия будет свободной!
in cha allah
Проблема в том что в 90е люди тоже трудились потом впали в пропагандический гипноз и разрушили все свои достижения. А те кто проснулись, проснулись медлено и поздно. Уйдет путин. Будут 90е 2.0 потом немного демократии и оптимизма, ваше поколение потрудится потом замечтает о величии и опять та же херня.
>жыве беларусь
Понял, принимай защеку.
Тут самое страшное это читать сколько иностранцев, многие из которых даже русский не знают, поддерживают путинский режим хотя бы чтобы мы жили в говне, думая что им будет хорошо. То есть они поддерживают войну и все прочее потому что им не надо ни от солдат убегать, не из оружия стрелять. Сидят у себя дома чешат себе яйца и говорят что нам надо делать в восточной Европе(
@@behemoththekitty За всю историю России было несколько периодов где 5-10 лет было норм, а потом опять пиздец😕
My hearts out to you man. I feel similarly about my country too. I live in Hungary, and it’s such a sad site to see how our corrupt government steals the tax payers money and the EU funds. Although I know that we have much better here than the average Russian people, but it’s heartbreaking to see the amount of potential going to waste, just because people are corrupt and flawed.
Hi, I want to ask some questions about politics in Hungary. Everything I hear from Hungary is mainly about how bad the EU is. Is that a more recent development or was it already a long time because why even join the EU if you do not care about the core values? and why stay in the EU if it's that bad? Or won't Hungary leave because of the EU funding? Because I wonder if a politician is always saying how bad the EU is, but doesn't do anything in the direction of leaving the EU, then why believe him that the EU is that bad? Do hungarians mainly read state news and don't trust other news? Are other parties also so anti-EU or is orbans party really the best of what's available? Just trying to understand the current mindset of hungarians and how it became that way
@@drag0nfi5t I'm a hungarian too. The EU is bad stuff mainly comes from the goverments side. Most people in the opposition mostly like the EU and want to be a part of it still. The problem here is that the oppsition parties suck badly (a bunch of politicians are in oppsitional parties that used to be part of the previous government before 2010, which everyone hated basically - but thats a longer story), and the government basically brainwashes the poor rural population. The poor people in the rural areas get shit like a bag of potatoes or 10000 Fts (roughly 30 euros) for christmas from the government and shitty minimum wage jobs like road building and stuff, so they vote on the government, because they fear that if the opposition wins they wont even get that.
The other problem is old people, who grew up during the communist times and they hated it. So all the government has to do is to convince them that everyone on the left and in the eu are just as bad as those communists were back then and they will vote for them.
Also the only free TV channels (which you dont have to pay any subscription for) are controlled by the government and oligarchs around government people.
What they do basically is steal money, but give back just enough so that they get reelected.
If you know enough about the russian situation its basically the same, just on a smaller level.
Lol Hungary steals from EU you wanted to say
@@BigB848484 Thank you for your explanation. I live in Finland and we always wonder how the hell hungary gets away with complaining about EU and seemingly just want to fuck with us regarding common challenges and values. We have this feeling that we should ask for you to be kicked out, but then it´s better to have you inside in case orban wants to go dictator and screw the innocent people.
@@drag0nfi5t Woah, that's a big question. To summarize as much as possible -> The EU is mainly a trade union in which a LOT of financial gains can be made by the member states IF they abide by the rules laid out by the "constitution" so to speak of the EU. This includes things like not wasting money on corruption, accepting gay rights, and such.... in recent years there has been a rise of some right wing or autocratic movements (which we now know has likely been influenced by Putin over many years, sounds like tinfoil hat nonsense but there is actually enough evidence in the Trump elections and the Brexit that he's been mucking about, but nothing's been done with it). Ummm... long story short -> Orban is becoming an autocrat, is using propaganda to make the EU look like an enemy to scare the Hungarians so he can stay in power, and yes he's still in the EU because of aaaaalllll the money he get's from the EU (but that might change now).
Russian here, I relate to many of the things you've said. Waiting for acceptances from Canadian unis currently, let's hope I get that student visa and leave in 3-4 months. All we can really do at this point, is leave.
Might not happen. Russia might close the border then. Their losing a lot of young talent.
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 I've gotten my acceptance letter and applying for a student permit already so I'll be fine lul.
@@cardinal9009 Удачи вам! I'm an american born Ukrainian with many Russian friends here in NY and I think it's good many russians and ukrainians are coming to the west to experience a more free world and perspectives. Russia will become a better place when our generation become leaders in the world.
I hope you do. Our neighbor to the North can use the talent. If you got good grades, come down South. We need bright young people.
Canadian here. Hopefully you get accepted! We largely understand that the Russian people have nothing to do with the war. We are a welcoming country I would say, mostly! And I believe you would be feeling quite at home with our miserable weather as well 😆
I can't imagine the pain of losing my home country to an armed conflict, or to an immoral, corrupt government. You are doing God's work Roman, thanks to you, I know what young Russians must feel like right now.
What country do you live in?
Really is your country sanctioned ?
Immoral corrupt government? Name one that isnt, i will wait.
@@Tripleexel I didn't say I am losing my home bro
@@RaptorTroll360 Czech Republic
I am 28 and live in Russia all my life and things have been steadily getting worse and worse since at least 2010. Nothing new. I expected one day it could be this bad I just didn't think it would happen so soon
Get out while you still can.
@@taterkaze9428 I can't. Or rather say that I am too scared. My social anxiety is huge, as well as regular anxiety and depression. Due to my mental health problems I won't be able to adapt somewhere new where I am alone. Recently I have even thought I soon will be unable to work at all. So far I can though
Do you think things get worsen since 2010 or russian just become more and more open minded since then ? Because i do feel like there aren't just changes in the social/political aspect but people's mentality change as well
The same in the west and U.K.. I can pin point a huge decline here since 2010. There is a war on the common people. It may look different on a surface glance but hearing this video, it’s obvious the goal of totalitarian control is the same everywhere. It’s just tailor fit to bring down each country because we are different people with different histories
@@hanhbuik15hl2 hard to say. I don't know. People here have "short memory", they believe current propaganda and easily forget the promises and claims made only several months ago. That is the state of mind of most people who watch TV. They just don't think and analyse at all. The day the propaganda disappears and is replaced by real news, they will change their mind just as quickly. If they aren't dead by that point
"as long as I live, this country that I was born is hopeless, without expectations of improvements."
I came to this conclusion and because this, I gave up and I'm going out. I'm leaving, I'm done.
I feel the same sadness. All the "poor countries" is the same feeling.
I'm Soo Soo sorry for all this shit happening.
Good luck to you. Be safe.
I am 71 years old and I remember how excited I was in the early 90s about Russia joining the free world. I wanted to go to Russia and see the changes. Over the years, I felt that nothing really changed except the Soviet ideology. The Soviet authoritarianism had just morphed into extreme capitalism but not true democracy and friendship with western countries. But that dream is now 100% dead. I am sorry for you and others like you whose hopes and dreams have been dashed. I wish you well.
It's crazy how much I can relate to this. Roman is a year older than me but I have a similar background, being from the regions(Rostov), a working class family, also became fully political/oppositional in 2014 for the same reasons(I also watched tvrain before and saw the 2012 Bolotnaya protests thanks to it and supported them). I hated seeing Putin's face even as a little kid because he seemed so condescending, and when Medvedev came I felt like there was a bright future ahead of Russia, all this development and foreign programs were happening, so many opportunities. The internet was full of freedom! Roman is right there was zero online censorship, it's crazy to think about that now. And he's right there were red flag back then too, when they destroyed NTV and took control of the press for example, that was early 2000s. But after 2014 it went full on crazy, that's when the respressiins towards tvrain, an independent TV channel, happened when only a few years before that Medvedev himself was visiting them! Insane. Even with all this bullshit there was still hope that at the very least Putin will die someday and leave behind a shitty but still functioning government, nothing too bad that can't be fixed and certainly better than him but he decided to destroy not only Ukraine but also Russia's potential for developing, maybe precisely because he feels like he's running out of time like Ekaterina Shulman said, he didn't have to do it but he still chose to. These last few years I supported the opposition and I still have hope that things can change, I believe that one day they will, I have to believe but the pain I feel not only for Ukraine but for my own country, a country I love and want the best for, for so many bright young people I know who brought so much good to it from better urban planning to business to human rights organizations, is so deep. Our generation and the generation after us doesn't have a future anymore it was robbed from us, so many Ukrainians have died, been injured, traumatized or had to become refugees, and none of it had to happen if one man didn't choose to start this pointless war. Roman is also right in that most Russians don't seem to realize just how much of a tragedy this is, which is a normal psychological reaction, sociologists like Gregory Udin say that most people are in denial and try to pretend everything is fine to protect themselves from the truth and being in the opposition and knowing the truth now feels like seeing a tsunami from afar and knowing it's gonna destroy everything.
you are despicable, you talk about ukranians but nothing about the russians living in ukraine being killed. It's better for people like you to move to the US and work at Mcdonalds, and better for russia.
вы просто тараканы ведомые которых легко купить кредитными печеньками, пожинайте плоды посеянного друзья, вы обосрались
You guys need yourself a proper American revolution. You guys go through a revolution every century to just to replace your dictator with a new one. The federation was designed to basically be the USSR in a hidden/weakened form waiting to establish itself as a domineering power again.
I was born in 1999 in Moscow (which is already a filtering factor) and then moved to Europe in 2004, so I haven't lived in Russia for most of my life. I definitely remember the hopeful feeling of it seeming like things are getting better. I mean, here my Russian family was, we're doing well, living in Europe, visited Russia every year. Things seemed like they were improving. I'm obviously isolated from some of the experiences here since I didn't live in Russia for most of my life, but I can still relate to the change in views as time went on and I noticed the shift in culture online. Watching from the sidelines, it's pretty terrifying to watch how things are developing.
You were born later than the Yeltsin era and practically did not live in Russia, only came to visit. And even so, you've seen improvements. Now imagine those people who were born in the 80s of the last century and in earlier years. All these people lived in the dashing 90s. And for these people, all these improvements were even more noticeable because of the contrast with Yeltsin's rule. That's why Putin has so much support among Russians. And many people aged 35 and over still believe in Putin. To all my fears in connection with the current situation, my mother replies that she will not be worse than in the 90s.
I was born in 98’ in Omsk but left for Canada in 2004, and I’ve only visited again once in 2009. I remember it being good and people being happy, even though it was kind of weird to me that we still had the same person in power, but I didn’t get it as much back then as I do now. Seeing all this happening now from afar and being able to read the Russian sources which are saying the polar opposite of what everyone else is saying, denying everything and dumping the blame on literally everyone else is heartbreaking. I’m the only person in my family that doesn’t believe everything being reported is a coordinated attack on Russia and it’s people. The only thing I can hope for is that it will be over soon and Ukrainians can be safe in their own country again 💔
@@Naschira it's the truth the west doesn't see, Russians are doing well enough. Putin and the oligarchs know well enough. What the youth to middle aged people can do if they are mad enough. Sigh. I fear all this propaganda from our side is going to cost lives but I'm also aware at what Russia is doing, I get it. But man it is quite painful to imagine my self, getting drafted to war because nato and the east cannot coexist.
I wish Russia would just ally with us against China.
@@Naschira Putin has so much support because if you dont support him you might get poisoned. Opinion polls in Russia are as good as dog excrement.
@@Naschira yeah exactly, that the 90s especially were a clear trauma for a good chunk of the population explains why people prefer stability over anything else, and Putin is seen as that stability (though I can't imagine he can still retain that reputation now)
Honestly as a Finnish person the current development of Russia is really frustrating to watch, because with a different political culture and right policies Russia could have become one of the wealthiest and best countries to live.
Corruption fucks up everything. Which ironically is somewhat _good_ right now, as it has also fucked up the Russian military.
If Russia's defence, well, offence budget wasn't spent on yachts and mansions, Ukraine would be even more fucked now
@@aurin_komak so true. I don't know if we can ever hope in a good government when it's run by imperfect humans :(
@@divx1001 Don't worry lad, Putler has his other foot in the grave already. I think after Putin the leaders are gonna improve at least somewhat, though for an actual good leader you got a long way to go.
I believe in you lads, it's terrifying to live in the worst case scenario
@@aurin_komak it kinda reminds me of something I heard about the Falkland war, if the Argentine government was competent enough to win the war they would have never had started it.
@@andrewlynch4126 true
Stumbled on your channel by chance, watched a fair few videos. Thank you for what you do. I have a friend from Russia who fled in 2019 and it's very validating for other Russians living abroad to see that their experience is not that unique. Speaking as a westerner, I also find your perspective super insightful, and it helps understand the mindset of Russian people, where it comes from and that nuance exists. Thanks man. Hope you'll continue to be safe.
Not to be negative, but dont forget you did not "stumble on this by chance." TH-cam put in in your feed out of the millions of videos out there, and there was a reason.
This really is the most open Roman has been on russian politics while its brave I hope it doesn't get him into trouble regarding going home eventually.
This video feels like he has given up on going back
I hope he never has to go back. Don't think he will.
@@castorchua that’s f**ked up it’s his home ffs, Georgia is not is home and you can tell he doesn’t consider Georgia his home
@@mememaster5748 Most who leave will not come back. The sanctions will make existing in Russia impossible in the long run. Those who left will have established great things abroad in the meantime.
@@LS-Moto yeah, and once they start families and businesses overseas they have even more to lose by going back. The longer they're gone, the less likely they will ever return.
Hi, Roman. I was born in Russia in 2000, and moved from there in 2013 to the United States. It is very painful for me to watch how the people in power are slowly destroying this culturally rich country. I hope that one day I can return to this country again and visit my old friends and relatives.
It's incredible how similar this sounds to a turkish friend of mine.
It's incredible how similar this sounds to a turkish friend of mine.
What was the reason for you to move to the United States?
@@carmansi8623 as a fellow Russian American I’m guessing for better quality of life and education, that’s the reason most of us move to America
@@roronoazoro2970 is it so easy to move to America?
It's crazy to see how we are seeing a nation turn fascist in front of our eyes in modern day.
Besides the 90s and maybe some very small part of 2000s Russia was always fascist..
Yup
I mean USSR was pretty much that in time of Stalin up to 1989. And Putin grew up and reveled in those times. Seems like a matter of leadership wanting to cling to past nostalgia for a worse time. Hopefully one day, Russia can reach it's actual potential as a power and not just succumb to corruption.
i mean russia was basically meant to be a breeding ground for fascism at some point: old and indoctrinated part of population that is xenophobic towards foreigners, traditionalistic views in culture and religion, country ruled by totalitarian leaders that gave awful things that still influence this country, vatniks having the feeling of returning „lost lands“ to russia. its very sad
so true. but i think its different than nazi germany because in nazi germany they actually believed the idea of hitler, but in russia its kinda they are force to believe the views of putin out of fear and stockholm syndrome
As someone located in Florida, in the USA, our state as well as most conservative states, are more like Russia every day. Including feeling WTF happened to my country?!?
Desantis has been trying to stop Disney's grooming of children. Please dont support their specialization and warp their minds!
BS. Law is law. Either you are for government or not supporting views. If you have NO problem with Chick-Fillet you have NO problem with Disney. Otherwise it is just - oh if I am OK with your view then no one can touch you. Sounds like the MOB
@@uselesscause3178 well, I see everyone here has fallen for moral ambiguity.
I understand what you mean by Russia having its best years in 2006-2012. I'm from Finland and was born in early 90s. The first vivid memories I have of Russia are rather positive and innocent: t.A.T.u., Russian emo rock fans (that share the same music taste as I), interesting Eurovision entries, animations of Russian history etc. I've never been the biggest fan of Putin (because of his macho man image) but did not have anything particularly bad to say about him either.
However, whenever I would say smth positive about Russia to an older acquaintance, you could sense them having a deep, frustrated sigh internally. For them, Russia in 70s-90s was still a vivid memory whereas for me, a 90s baby, that felt like a blast from the past, and I could not believe that in near future, comparisons to Soviet Union would become topical again. I've even accidentally called Russia Soviet Union a couple of times in the past few weeks...
Man, I have watched many if your videos and it's pretty crazy how relatable they are generally to the the life in my country, Syria.
We have been on a similar path. The soviet-style propaganda and rooted fear in elderly, the brief moment of "relative" prosperity filled with hopes for a better future, then the huge disappointment as the country went miles backwards.
I live in Germany now. Honestly, I have lost any hope in tge current situation, so I can totally understand what you are going through.
Excellent post.
salam alikum, What did you learn about Israel growing up in Syria ?
Syria will be great again one day bro I promise , I’ve gotten to know a lot of Syrians since the civil war and it seems far away sometimes but they all have hope that Syria one day becomes free and beautiful again🇸🇾 ❤️
@@shlomo_1984 What did you learn about the land and its people you are trembling on, growing up in a stolen land?!
@@TheZEROpointTHREE And thereafter We said to the Children of Israel: 'Dwell in the land. When the promise of the Everlasting Life comes We shall bring you all together.
your videos are part of history. your story and perspective is important.
As an American who grew up in a very, very conservative religion that doesn’t love dissent (Mormonism), I totally felt that when you said you were brainwashed. It is brainwashing! I share your worldview, your beliefs, and your opinions. Hopefully we can stop this silliness and we can all come together.
About to watch this video right now but I just want to say I can’t imagine what your going through Roman but just know we support you and your true fans and supporters know the real you, never stop enjoying your life and speaking/standing up for what you believe in. I love your videos so much man and they really make my day sometimes to see different places and perspectives. Love and peace from Ga, US -colin
what is Ga
@@ffls2706 Georgia the state in US
Losing not only your home but also the hope of a future life in a democratic Russia that has freedom and prosperity has to be so depressing and discouraging. I’m so sorry that you and other Russians have to go through this. 🙏❤️☮️🇺🇸
thank your for the Proxy war against Russia
Most Russians are not even aware of what is happening and what has to offer for them in the future. And those who do don’t‘t care as they are indifferent about what is happening. Very sad 😞 but very true, based on what I experience.
@@maximmatiyuk5240 What? The Ukraine conflict? The U.S. is not at all involved with that
thats BS mate, country who start such war must suffer. I hope more and more sanctions will be implemented till we reach the point that millions of "average russians" goes to the streets :)
@@maximmatiyuk5240 thanks for the bounties on US troops in Afghanistan. What goes around comes around
Я вообще родилась в 91 и помню немного больше, даже тот же дефолт 98ого.. было тяжело но, как ты сам говоришь - все могли критиковать власть, говорить свободно, в моей школе никогда не было ни портрета путина ни политической пропаганды.. она появилась где то к 2010 году. сама наблюдала это мракобесие и думала что хуже быть не может, однако стало...
Every classroom in the USA has a picture of the president and a flag in it.
@@robshepherd3782 only classes that do is our history class you bum
а сейчас по наследству/предкам в германии ? судя по фамилии или эт прост псевдоним ?
@@robshepherd3782 As an American exclusively educated in American schools (except for a single school year in the UK) up through a Masters degree, I can confidently state that your assertion is false.
@@robshepherd3782 American here. There’s always a flag but never a picture of the president.. i dont know where they do that.
Your attitude reminds me of a young Russian I met in India in maybe 1986. He'd gotten completely disillusioned with life in the USSR, managed to get on a flight to Kabul (this is during the Afghan War), slipped out of Kabul and walked from there to Pakistan, and from there traveled to exile in India. He had exactly the same rage against the machine you have. I sure hope he didn't head back after the fall of the Soviet Union, just to re-live the entire experience as a middle-aged man.
Having family from Russia and Ukraine is challenging 😥 talking to them is crushing everyone is hating each other
That's right, the country we grew up in doesn't exist anymore. It saddens me. I associate myself with Russia because I was born here. That can't be changed. You identify with the people of your country even if you don't agree with certain things. But I've been feeling lately that all the connections that I have with my homeland are starting to break, one by one, like some tight guitar strings. I realize that I kind of identify with what has now become a thing of the past. My soul rejects everything that happens now while some people go with the flow, and even though I love Russia very much, I do feel that when I leave it, I'm going to lose all the remaining connection with the country and the people, because that's where our futures will REALLY start to develop in opposite directions. It's absolutely sad.
People - not all people, but those whose voices "matter" more in this situation, because they go with the official version of what's going on - don't want to live a good life. They're much too bothered with ridiculous, pointless things and discussions, like who is "on our side" and who isn't, they need to have rivals and they need to have supporters. And that matters more to them than the level of life. Many people now shit on the Russians that leave to other countries, or those that miss living in comfort. But you have to realize that your average, brainwashed, Z-supporting Russian has never lived in comfort nor he strived for classiness. If a Russian wants to leave, he's probably sane enough to at least - at very least - understand just how low the level of life in Russia is going to fall very soon.
I live in a big city that is quite close to Moscow. It used to be a nice city when I was growing up, now it turns into such a shithole you can't recognize it. I had to go to a different neighbourhood, very close to the historic and cultural centre of the city, but slightly away from the main street where I mostly go when I need something. I was SHOCKED. Just walk a few meters - and you'll step into puddles of wet dirt and dog shit and see how littered is the lawn. It kind of opened my eyes a little bit. Now I want to go there again and clean it by myself. Not because I want to act like I'm a good person or something. More like because I just FEEL like I have to do at least something. Something little to resist this indifference and blank stares. Do it for myself, if you will, because I can't take that no more. Our society is going backwards, and it's NOT because of the brands leaving - it's in the heads of the people that don't give a damn about their own future and even their present. They only care about the glory that (they believe) they had in the past.
It's very sad. I'm not from Russia but i used to always be in favour of closer ties between our country of Norway and Russia. I thought to myself "Why should we be enemies? Why can't we work together?" But now i realize that is impossible, the current propaganda being spouted by Russia is too shocking, too evil. I cannot tolerate it. And so i now hope Russia will stay as far away from our country as possible. But for the longest time i was always so interested in Russian culture, the Russian people, the food and lifestyle they had there. I even learnt some Russian in high school as an extra language.
I only hope Putin will lose some day soon, and that somehow Russia will save itself from the Authoritarian path it is rapidly going through. But this is an very faint hope. With what i have seen Russian people are being rapidly radicalized and absolutely convinced that Ukrainians are Nazis and that they are on the "right side".
The missile strike that hit Ukrainian civilians in a train station just a while ago, with the writings "For our children" tells everything you need to know. An combination of evil and ignorance has taken over Russian society.
And that sort of evil doesn't go away easily, Nazi Germany and WW2 proved that.
@@norwegianboyee
If you want a feeling of the slow decline into crap visible in Russia, try visiting some of the towns in Finnmark where nothing outside the center of town has been refurbished since 1946. Just rusty crap and rotting houses. While in those parts of Norway it is mostly due to people moving away as a result of low opportunity and overfishing, in Russia it is a result of collapsing public works budgets and rampant corruption. Largely, what little money there is goes to glitzing up Moscow, Petrograd, occasionally some other big city like Volgograd or Vladivostok. Everywhere else is slowly just becoming the Fallout version of the Soviet Union, half-collapsed old buildings and rampant poverty.
And that’s nothing compared to the cultural damage done through the opression of the people. It is a tragedy. I spent years living in parts of Norway where tons of Russians worked and it was so nice how everyone got along after the Soviet Union fell. Now it seems we are all going right back into the shit and the two countries will be divided by an iron curtain again, along with Poland, the Baltics and Ukraine, not to mention everyone west of there. Just awful.
EDIT: (I meant St. Petersburg, I just wrote an article on the Russian Revolution recently and wrote the old name Petrograd without thinking)
My heart felt hug. U deserve better.
@@puraLusa Thank you.
As an Estonian, thank you for writing this. I have a few Russian-speaking Estonian friends and I have a proper Russian friend who lives in St. Petersburg. It's people like these that I fee bad for during this whole situation. I always liked to believe that Russian people are misunderstood & they're not as brainwashed as the West portrays them to be. Boy was I wrong. Of course there are Russians who aren't hardcore Putinists, but what's currently going on & watching Russian people speak about Ukraine war BEFORE & AFTER it started - I'm just speechless. But the worst of the worst are these who live here but talk how shit Europe & the West is and how Russia is so much better. Why won't they move then? Because deep inside they know they have more opportunities here. It's so frustrating because these people are so hopelessly manipulated that it's hard to "show them" reality. But I never lose hope because I used to be a bit like this as well. Thought that refugees are a huge threat to the West and blablabla. Now I see that all this hate & bullshit is to keep us divided and easily controlled, instead of living in harmony and prosperity. Sad!
An important correction, Roman: even though some guys like me and you have left Russia, we’re a minority. A rather vocal one, but still a minority. Most people have neither a desire nor any means to leave the country. Yerevan and Tbilisi obviously aren’t big enough to accommodate everyone who wants to do it, and even if they were, not everybody is ready to just throw 20-30-40 years of their lives down the toilet (that includes their careers which many people would need to start from scratch). So while it’s important to share your perspective, please don’t fall into the flawed assumption that after 2022 Russia is going to be full of Putinists and everyone who has other views is going to GULAG; the history doesn’t repeat itself THAT BLATANTLY, the reality will be similar but not exactly the same as the early years of the Soviet Union.
It’s important to look at things realistically: 2024 and further are still important years and Russia’s path isn’t set in stone even though the damage is obviously devastating; there are still independent political movements in Russia though (Yabloko, Vesna, probably there are others), many movements and media are being reborn right now in exile (Navalny’s ACF and their TH-cam channels, Novaya Gazeta, Dozhd, etc.). Let’s have some hope, man ;)
...it is upon the people... to reclaim their faith, lives and country
Lets hope you are correct. A lot would have to happen before the world will let this go though. I question if that will happen any time soon.
What is your comment on the assessment that 70-80% of russians actually support putin, don't speak any other language and most of them also has never been anywhere outside of russia? If such assessment is accurate, do you think independent movements stand any chance?
@@vaidotasdarulis many people support Putin, but they'll support anyone after him just as willingly if the propaganda is right. These are not the people you should jusge a whole nation on - they were turned into sheep over the years. They follow, but rarely ever act.
There might be time for that later, but these are dark days now; and it's not an error for Roman to feel as he does, and express as much. No one you can take seriously will lump all of Russia into the Putinite category after this; there's way too much evidence of the disgruntlement of large sections of the Russian populace even before this latest episode of UR Party aggression, and that's only likely to grow as this "operation" gets more punishing to ordinary people, while the oligarchs remain untouched. The opposition parties you mention are not themselves fully free of oligarch influence; and their messages of moderation may not save them from the same fate as UR as it falls. The "operation" may not be the sole cause of the fall, but may serve as one of the final straws over time with many ordinary "non-vatniks". In sum, folks like you and Roman "voting with their feet" will do a lot more towards the fall of UR than Yabloko or Dozhd ever will; because the country outside Moscow will feel the loss of your presence in a way the oligarchs and preachers and vatniks cannot minimize, however hard they try.
I wish you both the best in your arduous journeys.
Thank you for posting this.
Again, as a Ukrainian, I can definitely empathize. In fact, if Russia was the country you described in your hopes, we wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. Thank you for reassuring me that there are still a lot of people in Russia who do not support this, because the polls people were conducting officially and just on the streets are not reassuring at all.
Most younger Russians doesn't like the direction their country is heading into. Most of Putin's supporters are from older generations.
Which is probably why Putin is sending young kids to die in Ukraine.
Unfortunately, there are many brainwashed zombie in Russia and it really scares me, you know? As a citizen of Russia, all I want is just peace in the whole world but these zombie want to bomb your country. I hope, it will end soon and Ukraine will be happy and Russia will be free.
The polls are not accurate. Why they continue to publish them I don't understand. There are Russian journalists who speak to this yet they are not widely publicized. Perhaps it is for their safety.
People will always want to live in peace and freedom.
Always.
It's just human nature.
Do not trust any "official" poll who says otherwise.
Hi from Ukraine. I knew about the existence of this channel for a long time but I believe I am just not the target audience. I know a lot of people from Russia who I can speak to and get the gist of what has been happening in their country, so this channel didn't give me any valuable insights. But now feel like we should be protecting this bridge of something that we have in common, something which should be the basis of the future relations between Russia and Ukraine. Many of the things like the need to double-speak and the authoritarian power are unfamiliar to me and I have to admit I had been saying "why don't you just protest" - I was wrong and I feel sorry for it. Sure, people have this fear of getting fired, jailed etc. but at least they should not be openly supporting what's happening in Ukraine. I was conducting my teaching practice as a student of a pedagogical university at a school in central Ukraine when Russia began the invasion. I typed in the Viber group "send me your homework, we are not studying in the nearest future". It hurts so much to see the kids in the Russian schools walking with the "Z" signs, and teachers supporting this violent fiesta. I hope everyone in Russia will make their choice based on the common human values and not on some geopolitical ambitions of a madman.
50 дней полномасштабной войны, 8 лет войны, сотни лет угеетения нашей культуры, нашего языка и традиций, но ты все ещё веришь в не таких русских 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
This contribution to the conversation IS helping Ukrainians. If we know nothing about Russia, what has happened their, the people, their thoughts and feelings, then how can we expect to have a real picture of what's going on? Thank you for sharing.
As an American who is researching both Russia _and_ Ukraine, I would agree! After all, this channel provides a perspective on Russia that I haven't heard too much elsewhere: a Russian who _doesn't_ work for or support the government!
@@Hand-in-Shot_Productions its incredibly sad how europeans and americans take freedom of speech for granted and complain about twitter and facebook. it means a lot for roman to speak up about anything regarding russia.
@@oneslavman6491 there's no freedom of speech in the USA and Europe. their lack of freedom of speech is different from the lack of freedom of speech in Russia tho
@@Kitulous Agree. And let's not forget some people in Europe lost their heads(not literally) for making fun of religion.
@@Kitulous Hate speech isn't freedom of speech period
You have my respect ❤️👍
Love from Sweden
Much love for NFKRZ and fans! Hopefully we can live to see World 🌍 Peace!
Ukrainian here, who is getting bombed right now.
It's interesting how, we are pretty much the same age (I was born in the year 2000) and our grandparents lived in the same Soviet Union, but I've never felt scared of speaking my mind and we have never had anti-russian propaganda either.
Honestly, pre-2014 I didn't care about Russia whatsoever. I was just happily hiking through the mountains of Crimea every summer.
Pre-2014 I have never heard words like "hohol" and "kotsap"(the first one is a derogatory term for Ukrainians, the second one is a derogatory term for Russians). I listened to russian rap, watched russian videos and have never seen any anti-ukrainian sentiment.
I have a vivid memory of our post 2014 relations though.
At the time my family and I were aware of russian annexation of Crimea and were understandinbly upset about it. But we harbored no hate towards russians, we thought that their government is at fault, not the regular people.
It was summer and we went on a trip to Thailand (I should mention that I can freely speak Russian, Ukrainian and English, and we speak Russian as our day to day language). This is also the time when Russian propaganda activated and started spouting whatever crazy lies they could think of about Ukrainians.
So, while we were on a boat, as part of our tour to see some scenic isles off the coast of Thailand, I noticed a family of people staring at us intensely. I saw fear in their eyes. This family of people, not unlike our own, mom, dad and a son, all Slavs just like us, were scared of us, because I assume they have overheard how we spoke Russian with Ukrainian pronunciation. It was like they really believed that we were eating fetuses or something (a Russian propaganda line at the time).
And it is only now that I understand why all of this is happening.
That country you speak of, that "dream of worldly Russia" that you have - that's Ukraine. I think people in power in Russia just don't want regular citizens to see that a free, western-leaning, post-soviet country can exist.
And the situation being as it is right now, I would advise you and anyone who has a more "European" world-view to leave Russia. The "situation" I refer to, can be seen in poll results which show that 80% of russians are supporting the ongoing war in Ukraine.
I always knew that dumb people exist everywhere and they are inevitable. But for them to comprise 80% of a country's population...
I don't think there's hope for Russia.
P.S. I don't know if I even have to say this, but any propaganda that you might see about Ukrainians being nazis that want to eradicate russians and their language is false.
We never had any secret chemical labs, gave up nuclear weapons and would never attack any of our neighbors. When the government made Ukrainian a mandatory teaching language, most teachers and students didn't care and just continued lecturing and studying in Russian.
The no hate towards Russians policy is going to change though. But only because 80% of regular Russian people support the war that turned cities into ruins and killed thousand of civilians and kids.
I have seen burning buildings and bodies of dead children on the streets of my city with my own eyes. That's something that I can't just forgive and forget. I'm sure millions of people who had to flee their homes and millions more whose homes were destroyed, families that lost people dear to them, will never forgive.
Even open-minded peaceful people like me just can't see any good in Russia or Russian people anymore.
my perception of russia has always been that it could be one of the greatest countries in the world.i studied russian at school , i read russian novels and after qualifying as a professional tour guide back in 1991 , guiding predominantly in german i guided russian tour groups either in english or through an interpreter and found the people to be some of the most kind , humourous and cultured that i had ever met.young people like you and some of your fellow youtubers like eli and natasha , to name but two were the future of russia. and as you say , yours and their futures , along with millions of others has been destroyed.stay strong roman and good luck.
Russia was always doomed to be the least of the great powers, at least in terms of economical and social values, it's a massive federal republic, which has a very centralised inner society, the fertility rates in Russia and Siberia are, and have always been, unsurprisingly very low, they suffer from population decay, and they lost grip of their brightest minds, people who are the best students in a Russian school don't go to Moscow to study, they go to the US or Germany instead.
It still can be after the older generations die off.
Boomers ruined the world but even moreso Russia.
@@LaVaZ000
Every single time a country tries to be a great power it just leads to nothing but misery and failure. Even the USA pursuing and attaining world power became an evil empire with more in common now with Russia and China than it an actual free functioning nation.
Countries that look inward to the needs of their own populations are countries that end up becoming actual good places to live. Unfortunately in the age of neo imperialism few countries actually do this.
@@LaVaZ000 In the 50's, the Soviet population was on par with that of the USA. The thing that doomed the fertility rates in Russia is the consequences of WW2.
@@Chujoi0
No, the thing that doomed all of Russia and Eastern Europe's fertility rates was the politics of how the party treated its people and the unnatural urbanization which was result of the forced collective farming and the massive state-run industrialization (again poorly planned). These processes shouldn't have been forced.
Caro Roman, ti auguro di poter realizzare i tuoi sogni e che il tuo paese torni ad essere felice come tu speri. Nella vita non bisogna mai arrendersi ai violenti. Un abbraccio di cuore da Italia.
Dude, this was as good as it gets on TH-cam. People have no idea how brave you have to be to say any of these things and to be so honest about it. You’re a very bright young dude, love your channel and keep being a fair minded voice.
I was born in 1990 in Russia, one year before the collapse of the Soviet Union, but lived my whole life in Poland afterwards. Half of my family from my mother's side is Russian. I hold within me deep love to Russian culture and people, and used to dream about moving to St. Petersburg some day. And now I feel like I'm being crushed from the inside, seeing as the country of my childhood is turning into a totalitarian fascist regime.
It is not turning into a totalitarian fascist regime, it was never something else!
I have had similar in one way as Russian name i wanted go check out place but things went more down during years... and then finally now this aggression all happened. Gonna wait things changes in there in one way or other which could love or feel comfortable to go to say honestly just.
Totalitarian regime? So Russia should allow traitors to roam around and do anti Russia propaganda? Um not gonna happen. Russia will crush NATO 🦮s like Ukraine and Poland. You will beg your masters to save you but they wont
You are Russian, but think of all the nations enslaved by Russia.
I grew up in Poland and my childhood was ruined by the fact that we were under Russian rule. It was only in '89 that I started to live and that is why I am so scared that Russia wants to destroy us again. Russia is like a cancer. This state should be divided into small states, without an army or weapons. You could be the richest country in the world, but you have wasted it all.
@@bitterballs356 Ihre Meinung erinnert mich irgendwie an Nazi-Deutschland! Was ist denn Russland? Russland ist ultra-nationalistisch, extrem militaristisch und sogar imperialistisch. Russland gehört nicht zu Europa und es wird auch nie dazugehören. Weil die Russen sind, was sie schon immer waren: slawische U************.
You’re incredibly brave for making this. It’s sad how the actions of one man can have such a devastating impact on so many people.
This is my first video of yours I'm seeing (which just came up in my recommended videos) and its incredibly insightful and moving. I teach history in the US and sadly some of my students have trouble separating what the Russian government does from the people from there (thankfully not most of them) and I see it even more from older people who were alive during the Cold War and I might have to recommend this to them. I want to have hope for Russia and other countries, my own included, that we can move away from this xenophobia and prejudice. Thank you for sharing this
This hits home. I’m Chinese and I’m in my fourth year in college in Canada...things are really going downhill back home. It’s terrifying to think that I’m only a temporary resident as an international student here and I still need to go back to that mad world if i can’t find a way to stay in CA.
Yeah we rerely hear about China from positive angle
没关系，回国你就变粉红战狼了。中国人没救了。
best of luck brother, hopefully you can find a way to avoid going back
Good luck, don’t give up!
I love China and its people. But i don't like darth vader and its minions. Sadly it gets worse by the year. In 2010 i was believing that China will open up more and more. But now i see the opposite.
To be honest I think even if this ever calms down in Russia, for the near future I would recommend you stay in Georgia. You fit in much better there and you are safe.
Also you are absolutely allowed to voice your sadness and pain about how your own home country is fucked up.
Stay away from people with umbrellas bro
@@jasonb6315 people with umbrellas?
Now I want Roman to come Poland ( my country). He's my favorite youtuber.
......I know it's trite to mention someone's PFP but is that GaaLee in the year of our lord 2022?????
I went to Moscow Russia during the World Cup. One of my fondest memories was being outside of a bar at 4 am with 15 Russians and only one spoke English and how we talked to each other so curious about our lives. I always wanted to return so I can visit St. Petersburg and once all theses recent events started occurring I felt gutted because I know I wouldn’t have that opportunity. Thank you for your videos Roman we all prey peace be restored.
Where are you from, buddy? :)
It's amazing how so much of what you say is exactly the same as how a lot of people in the US thought, including in our government. Initially, we were so happy and excited that Russia would modernize, become more free and healthier for its people, and join the rest of the world as a strong, valued partner. And a lot of people here also ignored red flags because we wanted so much to believe that Russia would finally join the modern world and leave the autocratic medievalism of its past behind.
Your generation may be the only one in the entire six-century history of Russia that can imagine a free Russia, and that's a tragic statement. :-(
We in the USA do not possess the moral authority to tell Russia, China or any nation on earth how to live. Our nation is the most evil, corrupt entity on earth. That's saying a lot because Germany is very evil and good for nothing. I'm sure they will show their evil hand in time since its been allowed to reunify which will prove to be a catastrophe of major proportions. The U.S.A will not prevail to rule the world nor will it conquer Russia. GOD will never allow a one world government. Satan will be destroyed he will only get 3 1/2 years not that the U.S will be around to benefit from any of it.
It's truly said. That said, one must never give up hope that Glasnost and Perestroika rises once more with the younger generations. The old guard will slowly die out eventually and then there will be a chance.
I wish the Russian people, Ukraine, Eastern Europe and other folks in backslid countries the best.
I felt the same hopefulness during Medvedev's reign. I'm a Finn and I would love to see and travel Russia, know more Russian people, and have Russian culture to be added to the peaceful community that is modern Europe. I'm sad you can't all join us, not for a good long while yet it seems. I hope you all the best Roman, be safe and persevere!
FREE SPEECH TO EVERYONE
Well hopefully Europe has hope because for the U.S. worshippers who think that the U.S. is on some kind road to greatness and peace and prosperity you’re wrong..I’ve also seen the U.S. completely change over the last 15 years and definitely not for the better..just because a government says the accept certain lifestyles it doesn’t mean it’s some great nation and I don’t know why so many people are obsessed with this nonsense but we are equally going down as bad a road as Russia.
”the peaceful community that is modern Europe”
Hahahaha, what is wrong with you?
The future of Europe is utter chaos, european citizens under twelve are majority african and arab.
Get your head up from the sand.
Modern Europe is not peaceful.
Same here, I'm a Finn too and would've loved to visit Russia some day
@@iFartMoreThanAverage exactly what I am saying...why they keep going on about how great the west is when in reality we are on a steep decline..just because a gov supports other lifestyles doesn’t mean it’s this great moder society..we will be a 3 world nation in less than 50 years.
Cold War kid here. Literally. Have you ever listened to Billy Joel’s “Leningrad”? Almost strikes a tone on what I’m hearing from you from an American perspective. I was happy to have lived through the peace that included Russia from Yeltsin to the better Dmitry Medvedev, even loving things that came out of Russia that time. That being said, the new Russia is not one that will survive. I hope you can return one day to a better Russia, one that isn’t being ran into the ground by an ex-KGB nut.
th-cam.com/video/8veOzd39VWI/w-d-xo.html Toys for Poroshenko / War in Ukraine (English subtitles)
ex-KGB secretary nepotist, different.
I'm so sorry, man. Literally I have some tears in my eyes. What I can say is THANK YOU for speaking honestly. It's all you can do, and you do it well, and it really does matter. I don't like what my country does and is either - and you even used the same words I said back then - this country has SO MUCH potential, but the idiots just keep dragging us down . . . so I left 20 years ago and have been moving ever since. So come be a global citizen, man. We will live and work and move from country to country to try to stay one step ahead of the fascists and the totalitarian regimes.
You are sorry for him? Not for Ukrainians, who are being killed by russians? What is wrong with you?
i get it but tears? really?
you Americans are soft, very soft.
Thank you for your words of freedom!
...and you bring the hope for the future of Russia which should be a home for everybody!