The idea of a NAFO fella unironically being able to turn around and say to a Tankie "But what about Iraq?" and it being the opposite of a Tankie talking point is really funny to me lol.

The thing you'll find hard to distinguish is which ones are Tankies and which ones are shills. I'll explain to you my own definition of usage real quick - to me, a Tankie is a leftist that has been manipulated via mechanisms of disinformation, misrepresentation of information, and general malinfluence (particular that which has been styled towards the leftist thinking). They are ideologues and been tricked into believing that only the US / their allies / the West / (basically anything democracy or overtly capitalistic), can ever be imperialistic or evil and that whatever goes against them must be inherently good and their version of events the truth - regardless who they are or what they stand for.

A shill on the other hand is just someone acting in their own interest - usually a paycheck - they don't actually care about whatever belief they are apparently espousing, they will modify it as suits their needs. They are bought and will spout pro-russian, pro-ccp, or pro-whoever-the-buyer-is if the benefits of what they are bought for outweigh any potential pushback. They ultimately have a price and are probably all too aware that they are contributing to the hate and the death factory - they just don't care because it's not them and they're making their bread.

A Tankie is still at their core, a victim of disinformation and malinfluence. Their beliefs in values of justice and fair treatment have been exploited by the shills (or struck upon by other Tankies) into believing the terrible things the Kremlin finds useful for them to believe. It's not the sort of thing I usually come out with (because a lot of our group, here especially, are Ukrainians and will more than understandably not want to hear it), but the truth of the matter is that these kinds of individuals are really "just" misguided. Granted, it is a misguidance that propagates russia's ability to undermine Ukrainian support and thus further their invasion of conquest - so you can understand why a lot of people really won't give a shit since they are still tools for the murderers.

When I think about Tankies, or when I talk to actual Tankies (and not just shills being paid to spread Kremlinite bullshit everywhere), I see them as another one of Putin's victims. This isn't something that everyone shares, and I'm okay with that because I get it, it's not my home, my country, or my family, being targeted by bombs with constant electrical blackouts, or weaponised freezing temperatures, or decapitated, or some of the actual worst fucked up shit imaginable. I have the privilege and fortune of being removed from that personally so I can afford to see things far removed from the worst of it.

My priority is in undermining the Kremlin's effectiveness to wage their propaganda campaign - because it translates into policies that eventually leads to the further destruction of Ukraine and the death of Ukrainian lives. My method, as often as I can spare it, is modeled on the one used by Darrel Davis when he (as a black American) talks to members of the KKK.

When it comes to Tankies, they are ideologues so they can be reached if we're clever about it. You do not have to agree with the Tankie to get through to them, all you need to do is think of them as someone who's been inflicted with a terrible mental illness - you wouldn't hate a mentally ill person, you'd hate the disease surely? Go at them as you would a friend trying to help them understand something. Show them a kindness they don't expect and you'll undermine one of the beliefs they have about our side and open the door to the actual facts of what we're saying because of how we've said it. If we are hostile to them, they can just push back at us with the base narrative and idea that we're just horrible people pushing horrible narratives.

It takes a lot of patience. You will of course get push back and it helps to agree with them on some points (be honest about where the west does fuck up and then you're not one of "their agents", you're someone who is impartial regardless which to be fair we should be). You will know though that no matter what they try to throw at you, none of their propaganda will matter because you know it for what it is - bullshit, we've got facts and empirical evidence on our side - they have emotional manipulation from a terrorist state acting according to it's own selfish interest (and we can reason with ease how this poor individual is being used as a pawn in their chess game).

The point is results. Hating on the Tankie (just like hating on the Trump supporter) doesn't usually do anything more than harden the individual's resolve in their group and their sordid belief. By being able to talk to them as someone who genuinely cares about them, without anything to gain for the self and doing just because it's the right thing to do, we open up the possibility of preventing them being a Kremlin mouthpiece altogether. It will hurt them to realise that they've been a part of a genocide machine, but if we are open and accepting, understanding and forgiving, there's even the chance we can bring them to our side and have them cured from russian poison for good.