How Russians Went from Outrage at Putin’s War in Ukraine to Not Caring – and Why Those Feelings will Outlive his Presidency

The attitude of liberal-leaning Russians to Vladimir Putin‘s war in Ukraine has shifted in recent months, with many now acting like they just don’t care.

While during the early days of the invasion, Russians felt like they too were suffering at the hands of their president, by August – some two-and-half years since the “special military operation” got underway – the mindset morphed into something closer resembling Donald Trump‘s ‘America First’ stance, with Russians seeking easy targets to blame.

While the shift started a long time ago, it wasn’t, initially so jarring.

The nation was initially paralysed with shock, fear and guilt. Only the most repugnant ‘Z-patriots’ directed death threats to Ukrainians, as it wasn’t socially acceptable to think like that.

Then, it was.

People who had been glued to their phones— doom scrolling through the news of yet another Russian attack—instead, got caught up in their own problems with their own lives eclipsing broader concerns.

And in this shift, the chasm between their daily experience and the genocidal war grew bigger, and the narrative changed.

Sympathy shifted to “we need to focus on ourselves” and feelings that everything beyond the border was bad and dangerous. And as those feelings bloomed, so to did the Trumpian-like belief that Russian’s, like the former US President, is the victim of a “global conspiracy”.

Those feeling of persecution and alienation exacerbated by those who had fled to Finland, Latvia, or Estonia, learning that Russians were not welcome. These nations, with a long history of oppression by the Union, did not see Russia as an in international super Jesus.

The pseudo-conspiracy, it seems, was global enough to make Russians miserable, but not strong enough to make people question their innocence.

And, every day it grows. Russians proud of hating Ukrainians, even those who fled the war. And Putin’s opponents, repeating the same genocidal talking points, that the West and Ukraine don’t deserve to exist.

Showing solidarity with Ukraine, or, god forbid, ZSU, is perceived as a weakness, as intrenched in the psyche as the belief that boys don’t cry; that Russians don’t bend.

When present in a conspiracy, the desire to help the oppressed, is evidence of a hidden agenda.

I hear this a lot.

People who avoid Russia like wildfire, even call me out for being brainwashed by the West, despite the fact I am in Moscow now. But perhaps, by their logic, only distance from the motherland, exposes the truth.

This is not just a story about the degradation and collapse of humanity on a national scale. It is also about people being caught up in something they feel they had no influence over, but feel like they’re supposed to act like they did.

From this perspective, this entire war is the act of almighty gods, the hurricane, the disaster way out of our control. And all the hatred, all the sanctions, everything that happened later is unjust and cruel.

But now the motivations of Bucha murderers intertwine with the mindset of the most liberal:

But, this ‘No REASON’, is the reason.

Because behind the blinkers the evidence was always there in the way Russia painted the world and its people. Slow Estonians, stupid Americans, barbaric Chechens, friendly, yet alien Finns, our little-brothers, Ukrainians.

What was not there, were the Winter War, two Chechen wars, famine in Qazaqstan, violence in Latvia and Georgia, and generations that were drained, and generalised and sovetised and destroyed by the country I am supposed to be proud of.

For me, suddenly, the war was not an act of god, but a natural fallout of all the denial and casual cruelty. The realisation was dreadful. The world created, collapsing under the weight of new information.

And it will continue. I was born and brainwashed in this culture, so the purge is a process that will take some time.

I am poisoned. Most of us are poisoned. We have very little time to experience at least a fracture of normal life and we won’t if we keep lying to ourselves.

All the “we are one nation”, “we were better together”, and all the “it wasn’t that bad”. It was. And we made it worse.

That’s the reason why Russian opposition has issues reaching the pro-Ukrainian/decolonisation minority. The popular stances like “Putin goes and Russia thrives” completely ignore the fundamental, inherent errors and superstitions rooted in our culture and provide meaningless hope for a quick and easy solution.

Imperialism is not a state of mind, or brief sickness, but a toxic addiction that will deliver unexpected consequences for years if not generations to come. 

I don’t expect a happy ending.

But the key to any positive change is to show what we are and what we bring with our culture, heritage, and actions.

But for now, I only see that denial is just getting worse.