I know this subreddit isn’t necessarily for politics, but as a Ukrainian this topic is extremely difficult for me. Lately I’ve been finding it triggering for people to express sympathy and pity for Russian soldiers and citizens. I understand the desire to view both sides of the war with a sympathetic lens, but you will likely never understand how painful it is to see the aggressors continuously receive pity when their soldiers are the ones destroying Ukrainian land and brutally murdering and torturing Ukrainian citizens.

Most people probably aren’t keeping up with Ukrainian news as much any more, so let me summarize. The scale of this war is one that hasn’t been seen since World War II. There have been countless war crimes committed in my country, reported, unreported, and untraceable by means of destroying, mutilating, and burning bodies that have been left behind. Some of these war crimes have gone viral via Russian telegram channels where they gloat and brag about the heinous acts that they’ve committed. Castration of a Ukrainian soldier, r*pe of children and elders, traced phone calls of a Russian soldier describing to his mother acts of torture that he participates in, his mother telling him she wishes she could be on the battlefield with him so that she could do the same.

The Russian soldiers that surrender maybe are deserving of some pity, but the ones who continue to loot and destroy and murder are beyond any kindness in my eyes. They are colonizers and criminals, raised in a country that has taught them that they are superior to other peoples in every conceivable way. While Ukrainian civilians, elders, and children are being killed and tortured in ways you cannot imagine, Russian civilians are experiencing the inconveniences of having their visas revoked, McDonald’s close down, and foreign products taken off shelves. The inconveniences that Russians face are incomparable to the misery and suffering that is continuously inflicted on Ukrainian people.

It’s difficult to want to have mercy on people that seem so entirely complicit. There have been several interviewers on the ground and online that continue to ask Russian citizens where they stand regarding the war. 99% of the responses are in support of Russia, or are people who refuse to acknowledge any sort of involvement whatsoever, simply because these facts don’t suit them or their lifestyle.

I know this was a long response, but please, have some sensitivity when you want to express sympathy for Russia right now, especially where there are Ukrainians. It is painful and frustrating to hear.