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> From both a humanitarian and a strategic perspective, embracing Russian defectors is the very most important thing that we can be doing right now that we aren
by Mikeb85 5y ago
> From both a humanitarian and a strategic perspective, embracing Russian defectors is the very most important thing that we can be doing right now that we aren't already doing. The only reason not to do so is hate.
No, the most humanitarian thing to do is end a war in which civilians are actually being killed.
Not embracing those who supported Putin get to this point but suddenly flee when they're personally inconvenienced.
- lolinder 5y agoHow does persecuting Russians who flee Putin's regime help end the war sooner?
- ericmay 5y agoTo make it fair why not have them renounce citizenship and publicly disavow Putin or something? State their full name, former address, etc. Just to make sure they don’t support Putin and never have.
- hutzlibu 5y agoI think many would, if they can find a state who gives them papers instead. Being stateless is no fun.
- ericmay 5y agoYea I can't imagine. The whole situation is just shit and it is all because of one guy. My wild hope for this situation is that somehow Putin and his gang are ousted, and we can Marshall Plan Russia into a successful, prosperous European democracy. Even make them a partner with NATO like we tried to do before. Admittedly the Russian people would have to want that, so that's a precondition, but I'm hopeful.
- Etherlord87 5y ago> it is all because of one guy. It's not. There's many ways in which you can get in contact with russians. And many of them actually support putin. Yes, you can say people are indoctrinated. But maybe so is putin - that's the problem with determinism. hitler was not one guy. putin is not one guy. I'm against lifting sanctions when putin dies. Much more has to be done.
- ericmay 5y agoYea you’re right.
- utrack 5y agoNorth Korea imprisons friends and family of their defectors, btw.
- ericmay 5y agoYep. And to take this further this would be like someone strongly supporting the North Korean regime and then when they faced the consequences of their actions just skipped down to South Korea and lived happily ever after while millions have suffered for the regime you actively supported. Sorry no sympathy.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Mikeb85 5y agoPutin is persecuting them. I just said we shouldn't embrace. There's a lot of middle ground. Ask someone like Alexei Navalny or Mikhail Khodorkovsky why they stayed to fight and be jailed instead of fleeing. Fleeing doesn't help. Russia hasn't been conquered since the most recent Russian Empire was formed. But regimes have fallen from within...
- gspetr 5y agoStayed? Khodorkovsky hasn't stayed after he got out. And Navalny overplayed his hand. It appears he really thought it was about him, not the movement he had created, otherwise he'd have had his wife run for office, which is what wives of those arrested in Belarus did.