A Message from Russia

This was written by I.S. in Russia, I am not posting his full name because I don't want to cause anyone any problems.

It was posted to FB by D.V. and I received it from Rahel.

Most of you probably know that 8 months ago we relocated to Russia. Like everyone else, I am following the instructions on the situation in Ukraine and reading the news in Russia, USA, Europe and of course also Israel. In recent days I have received quite a few requests to explain the situation in Russia as someone who lives there in these complicated days. 

First of all, it's important for me to clarify three things: the first thing is that I do not support any of the sides regarding the war, not Putin, not Zelensky, not Russia and not Ukraine - for the simple reason that it is impossible to really know the full picture that led each of the sides to their political decisions and actions. Sea. [sic]

The second thing is that I'm against wars and definitely against innocent civilians that unfortunately get killed these days from both sides for nothing. I wish such disputes were resolved in talks around the table instead of going to war. 

The third thing is that the reason I'm writing this post is to present the story from the other side as well (again, not because I'm for or against the other side) so that people can understand a little more the considerations that led Putin to war (at least according to the data I've seen) and the current state of Russia in terms of sanctions that is not a match to the lies that I have seen that appear everywhere in the international news. 

So like that, first of all I can tell you that already a month and a half ago I saw on the news quite a few times Putin asking Ukraine not to allow NATO to enter Ukraine because this will allow an enemy country to deploy its forces right on the border of Russia. The answer Putin received time and time again is "They will only train here, it's something temporary". Because NATO is a toy of the United States and because the political situation between the United States and Russia is 'nothing' - it began to bother Putin a lot, and rightly so. Imagine that Jordan, which is on good terms with Israel , but at the same time a company of "enemy countries" will suddenly allow Syria to enter Jordan and place Syrian troops and bases along the Jordanian border with Israel.

I am sure that Israel would have gone out of control even in less time. Putin took at least a month and a half if not more. I wonder what would have happened if he had obeyed his demands and not allowed NATO forces to connect to Ukraine. It is possible that this war never happened at all. But someone decided that it was okay even if war happens, and this person must have a lot of interests behind this decision. 

Within Ukraine there is a split that has lasted for many, many years. One side wants total disengagement from the rule of government and wants a state of its own (one side supports Russia and is even happy that Russia entered Ukraine), while the other side takes an extreme approach of 'purification of Ukraine' in methods very reminiscent of the dark period of pre-WWII: neo-Nazi groups that call for the purification of the state and even banned Citizens to speak inside Ukraine in Russian language. The conflict between the two sides resulted in a fierce war in the Donbas in 2015 when western Ukraine bombed eastern Ukraine. In these bombings many civilians were killed, among them about 300 children whose memory was established the "Alley of Angels". 

When Russia entered Ukraine a little over a week ago, Putin stated that he was simply 'tired up' of the racism of the neo-Ukrainian nazi that is happening in Ukraine against those who are not Ukrainian at all and against Russians in particular, as well as the 'innocence' that Ukraine plans to allow Russian enemies to disperse along its border with Russia. And these are the reasons why he decided to enter the country. Apparently, in addition to these reasons, he has other reasons that we may find out later. 

From the moment the war started the whole world stood with Ukraine. Behind this support is a worldwide marketing propaganda that has only one goal: to present Ukraine as the "good and poor" and Russia as the "bad and cruel". 

This reminded me of what happens to us in Israel every time there is an operation in Gaza. People all over the world are protesting against cruel Israel and "horrible war crimes", waving Palestinian flags, burning flags of Israel and more. Each time anew we explain to our friends abroad that "it's not exactly like that. It's complicated. This is different from how they put it on the news. "And indeed, our story is complex. There are really no innocents on either side: both on the Israeli side and on the Hamas side. Although the media presents Ukraine as a weak and poor victim, nevertheless, it is the country that has been the most cruel to Jews in the second time, that received the views of Nazism with open arms and did nothing to eradicate this evil from its country. 

What is sad is that the one who pays a high price is always the ordinary citizen who has no desire for wars. So are hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from Ukraine these days and so are Russian citizens who lost their jobs and businesses due to the harsh sanctions imposed by many countries in the world on Russia, kindergartens that are closed due to a terror alert and shopping centers that are all asked to go out because of a suspicious object. D. A. 

But no one talks about this - although it is citizens who are not connected to the war, most of them are also against the war and all they want is to live in peace with their Ukrainian friends. Why don't they talk about it in the media? Because it contradicts the agenda that Russia is the "bad". 

In the last two days, articles in the news began to come up: "The Iron Screen has come down on Russia", and "Facebook and YouTube were blocked to Russia". However, it seems that the world itself has dropped its own iron screen: the fake news screen. 

I can tell you from personal experience that most reported sanctions on Russia are false or leaked. I am writing you this post from my Facebook from Russia.

Swift transfer option was blocked only in 5 specific banks in all of Russia. In the rest of the banks Swift works as usual. 

Oh, yes, I also continue to pay in stores with Apple Pay! At the same time, everyone here knows well about the situation from all media outlets (Russian and world alike) and most citizens are shocked by what is happening in Ukraine. Many Russians have Ukrainian friends and they don't know how to look them in the eye. A lot of people here are sad about everything that is happening. 

While all of Europe is blocked in terms of flights to Russia, there are direct flights from Israel without problems and there are even flights from... Wait for it... U.S.A  !!! With Boeing company that refused to impose sanctions on Russia. 

On the other hand, while the media reports on the shutting down of all flights to and from Russia, it's about sanctions only on Russian airlines. Other airlines operate as usual and there are flights to and from Russia like every day of the year. 

Here's another piece of truth that I haven't seen on any news channel in the world: about 100,000 Ukrainians fled the war and crossed the border to... Wait for it... RUSSIA! 

Let's just say that when Germany turned into a Nazi in the Russian Federation and attacked the Jews, the Jews fled to the other side of the world. My family for example fled to Argentina. The last place Jews thought of as a safe place was Germany itself. 

Now, admit it's strange that such a number of Ukrainians fleeing the war to Russia, received from the Russian government 10,000 rubles at the border crossing so they could start getting settled, clothes, food and transportation from the Russian volunteers just like in the other border crossings in other countries - and no one is covering it on the news. Why? 

And if Russia is the enemy - why do Ukrainians seek shelter with it? The answer is that it is much more complex than the world understands, and as we do not like to be judged easily in the world when it comes to our dispute in Israel, so maybe we should not easily judge the dispute that is now taking place between Ukraine and Russia, and certainly not give room to the baseless hatred of citizens of both countries. Sides not directly related to war This one.[sic] Give space to independent thinking and don't "swallow" everything as the real truth. 

Understand that everything they show you on the news is well planned for a certain agenda, and there is a deeper reason why the whole world is suddenly pro Ukraine and against Russia. Someone out there has planned this black propaganda campaign well and I don't think I want to know what the reason is, but something tells me that we will soon know...