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Current Time, a joint media project by RFE/RL and Voice of America, asked Russians on the streets of the cities of Perm and Vladivostok to comment on photos of the destruction in Ukraine brought by the Russian troops with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine that started on 24 February 2022.
A few days into the war, on 26-28 February 2022, a survey showed that about 60% of Russians support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Thus, it came as no surprise that almost all of the Russians to whom Current Time posed questions in two Russian cities fully support the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s policies in general.
Here is what an elderly man told Current Time:
Man telling Current Time that Russia’s war against Ukraine is justified.
“Well, my opinion is that [Putin] did the right thing. Because the West has already gone berserk. The devil knows what they’re doing, telling all sorts of lies about Russia. In order to somehow eliminate it, pacify it …”
“Therefore, is it necessary to mock Ukraine?”
“It is not necessary to mock it, it is necessary that they also behave in a normal way.”
“That’s why the war is needed?”
“If they had not bombed, shelled the Donbas, civilians who expressed their opinion. They don’t want to be in a nationalist state, a Nazi one.”
“Not Donbas, but Kyiv. What does Kyiv have to do with the Donbas?”
“No one is bombing Kyiv, I don’t believe it!”
Another conversation with an elderly woman is symptomatic as well:
“I support Putin” repeats the woman, saying that she isn’t going to look at photos of Ukrainian cities bombed by Russia.
“Putin sent troops to Ukraine, and they are now bombing Russian-speaking cities, Kyiv, Kharkiv.”
“I support Putin!”
“I want to show you…”
“I support Putin!
“I understand.”
“I support Putin! I won’t even look at pictures.”
“No, but tell us about your position.”
“I support Putin! I support Putin! I support him in everything.”
“We are ready to hear any point of view.”
“I won’t talk to you, but I support Putin.”
A man saying that civilians shouldn’t be killed.
Sound voices are rare, an elderly man said in what is known as “Caucasian accent”:
“I think it’s very bad! Of course, civilians should not be killed, shot. It’s a disaster, it’s going to be a disaster.”
Another man says that he was shocked by the full-blown invasion,
“Despite the fact that the official position says that it is a special operation, I regard it as a military invasion. Basically, war.”
However, the opinions of common Russians in Current Time’s video show that most of them have been living in an alternative reality, created and maintained by the Russian propaganda machine. Most Russians believe in the false narratives that the war is justified because Ukraine was going to attack Russia and because Ukraine is a Nazi state.
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