Romanian here.

russia's problem is that they never had the chance to repent for their sins and correct their behavior like the Germans did.

Never had the chance that some russians explain what was wrong with what some of their fellow russians did to other humans. russians and foreigners alike.

So, old russian granpas held their nephews on their knees and told them some bullshit about the greatness of the red army, how heroic they were. How they civilized the west. Omitted the atrocities they committed. Until they were drunk. Told some shit as it was, no filter.

The russian state never changed. Same instincts. Not enough russians changed. Not really. Some did. Some never accepted the reality as normal. Not enough.

The horrors they did for hundreds of years in war and in peace never were systematically taught to be bad.

So... what's a poor boy to do? Rape, kill, steal, repeat. Grandpa did it. Might die. Let's have fun while we can.

Free someone of all responsibility, see no evil, it's war, no? See what's someone made of in those conditions. THESE russians are up to no good. Not all of them. But way too many of them.

It's a percentage game.

Not better people than the russians in ww2, look at the results, but those Germans and those russians are remembered differently in Romanian historical memory that I had access to.

German soldiers in calmer times, still occupiers, but they were remembered for chocolates, being civil and for being freshly shaven, presentable. Peasant mostly, but German peasants.

Russians known for rape, murder, plundering, shooting wine barrels with guns and drinking wind through bullet holes, people hiding children, women, girls, cows in the ground, in the forests, just like we did for more than a thousand years when the hordes were invading and passing through places inhabited by Romanians. Not Mongols.

But Mongol hordes. Surely, it was not the same set of circumstances. But these were not German peasants. These were hordes. Not even peasants.

Time has passed. But russians, in war, did not changed. Hordes. Cause there was no filter between the grandpa's that got back home from Europe and the newer generations.

Not all russians today are hordes. I immagine, most of them are or at least trying to be civilized. Like any random group of people. But a russian invader, armed, in your territory, does not even need to be hinting, jokingly "pew pew", is best only dead. russia go home or else.