Russians are suffering enormous losses in Ukraine. At least two thousand were killed just in the battle for Debaltseve.
I’ve seen the photos of their dead, mangled bodies, and I feel sad for them. Not for their families because those will just celebrate getting a bigger payout for a dead soldier and use it to get massively drunk.
But these boys – why did they have to die? Why did they have to come all the way to Debaltseve to kill and be killed? There is no reason for them to be there other than that they are superfluous human beings their country has no use for. Russia spits them out into Ukraine where they will be ground up by the war.
They could have made something of their lives, created something. But nobody taught them anything but how to hate everybody and sacrifice themselves on the altar of that hatred. What a waste. What a horrible waste.
Clarissa's Blog 
“Not for their families because those will just celebrate getting a bigger payout for a dead soldier”
God, I hope you’re exaggerating. This is not human.
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Do you know what was the only reaction we ever got out of N’s mother to the news her grandson was dead? A rant against evil Americans. That’s it. Absolutely nothing since then.
And she’s one of those rare Russians who don’t touch alcohol.
I’ve also never seen or talked to N’s sister who lives here in the US. Not once, in all these years. And these are not exceptional situations. People in Russia have simply lost all familial attachments.
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How the hell can that even happen in a culture?
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And it’s not like she has any other grandchildren so she’s jaded. Eric was her only grandchild.
I also have a friend who is Russian. Her parents just threw her out (after robbing her of her grandmother’s inheritance) because she’s seriously disabled. They just kicked her out and concentrated on their other child who is healthy.
These are all very highly educated people, completely sober, lovers of Russian poetry, etc. But when it comes to familial relations, it’s like they have a gene missing.
I know quite a few stories like this.
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Why do you think this is the case? And when did it start happening in Russian culture?
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They’ve had a century of very conscious and concerted efforts to destroy familial relations. And the efforts worked.
Make 3 generations of family members live in one small room their entire lives,,and soon they will welcome the death of one or two of them.
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The latest thing is wealthy westerners going on safari in the Ukraine but instead of hunting big game, they’re bagging human trophies using sniper rifles so they can brag to their friends back home. War tourism is a growing phenomenon on both sides of the conflict.
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This is Putinoid propaganda. Let’s not take it seriously. Russian TV channels are releasing tons of these completely ridiculous stories to scare their own population. If you come across the one about the crucified boy or the raped epileptic retirees, we can laugh over them together. (These are the most notorious ones.)
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A couple of things from the international values survey (which measures frequency of attitudes in different countries)
Russia scores extremely high in Power Distance (acceptance of inequality by those with less power).
Russia scores very high in Uncertainty Avoidance (degree to which innovation and/or the unknown are felt to be dangerous)
As far as I can tell no one’s gotten figures for Ukraine.
Also, there tends to be a correlation. In countries where “family values” are heavily promoted as an ideology, people are far more likely to express dissatisfaction with their own families.
In countries where “family values” aren’t pushed very heavily people tend to have more positive attitudes towards their families.
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