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Last time I checked there was more than 1 million in internal forces (militia, rosgvardia, troops, probably some others). They are armed, trained specifically t

Last time I checked there was more than 1 million in internal forces (militia, rosgvardia, troops, probably some others). They are armed, trained specifically to suppress and loyal. I (looking from the inside) highly doubt that they will change sides unless they stop receiving paycheck. Of course, some regions are a bit special in this respect but they are not in the central Russia.

RivieraKid 4y ago
What is the mood regarding the war in your social circle? How often do they support it?
- andrey123 4y ago
  Zero war support across friends/colleagues but maybe up to 30% support on the streets (taxi drivers, cashiers, mechanics, neighbors, ...). In small cities there shall be more supporters (less Internet, more TV).
  - pshirshov 4y ago
    I really doubt it's "zero". I've quizzed many many people I had connections with and literally all of them support the war up to some extent. The most common opinion is "we shouldn't have started this but we should win this war and take over Ukraine and Poland". It would be really strange to count such opinions as "anti-war".
    - andrey123 4y ago
      > I've quizzed many many people I had connections with and literally all of them support the war up to some extent. I would have reconsidered my approach to making connections if that happened to me :)
      - miguelazo 4y ago
        If you’re on HN in Russia, writing perfect English, you are no doubt part of a certain class.
      - pshirshov 4y ago
        1) I'm an asperger and my ability to build social links is severely impaired 2) I'm not in touch with these people anymore though I've tried to reach everyone I was able to and get their opinions. My conclusion is: the propaganda is extremely effective. People there easily pronounce self-contradictive statements and easily turn to aggression.
        andrey123 4y ago
        Agree, propaganda makes wonders. But the people from "my circle" just don't watch TV (and that's not surprising given that ~40% of people in Moscow or Saint-Pete don't watch TV). I completely acknowledge that "my circle" does not represent general population and I wrote it in the original post.
    - andrewflnr 4y ago
      Poland too, huh? Have they thought through the implications of that one?
      - miguelazo 4y ago
        Did Poland think through the implications of hosting an AEGIS missile system (thanks to the US unilaterally withdrawing from an arms control treaty)? I’m sure the Kremlin was going to believe that was to protect Europe from “Iranian and North Korean” missiles. What a joke.
      - goatlover 4y ago
        War on NATO, Russia loses quickly or we all lose if nuclear war.
        pshirshov 4y ago
        That doesn't prevent their propaganda from saying what they say. The people are convinced that NATO won't hold up to its promises. Re nuclear weapons. I really doubt that this shit is still functional.
        gibspaulding 4y ago
        > I really doubt that this shit is still functional. Ohh how I wish I could believe that. Once you have the fissile material together my understanding is that it's not that hard to actually build a bomb. The success rate of countries that have decided to start a nuclear program is pretty damn high, and through all those years of nuclear testing, there weren't a whole lot of duds that I know of.
        andrewflnr 4y ago
        There are a lot of designs that are a lot trickier to set off. Do we know how many of each design Russia has in service? It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the simpler ones had been replaced by higher yield but more fragile ones. Ed: rockets, targeting, etc are also tricky failure points. Anyway, I agree it's not a great cause for optimism. It would only take a couple of them going off to give the world a bad time. If nothing else they're dirty bombs.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - RivieraKid 4y ago
      Don't they see how immoral it is to take over countries against their will? Are they just bad, immoral people?
      - leereeves 4y ago
        That's not entirely a fair summary of the situation. The Ukrainian separatists asked for Russian help: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-allies-step-up-sanctions-pressure-russia-over-ukraine-2022-02-23/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-allies-step-up-sanct... Some people have questioned the legitimacy of that request and of the breakaway governments, but a Washington Post poll in 2021 found that over half of the respondents from those breakaway republics wanted to join Russia and only 12% wanted to rejoin Ukraine: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/12/new-survey-ukraine-russia-conflict-finds-deeply-divided-views-contested-donbas-region/?itid=lk_inline_manual_23 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/12/new-surve...
        RivieraKid 4y ago
        I think it's an accurate summary. The separatists are under Russian control. The Russian army has been fighting alongside them since 2014, when they invaded Donbas. In the 1991 referendum, voters in Dontesk and Luhansk overwhelmingly voted against being part of Russia. Per your source, in the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donbas, 75% want to be part of Ukraine. In the Russian-controlled part of Donbas, 57% want to be part of Russia. First point, why such stark difference? I think it's because Russia is very good at propaganda and they exercise it heavily in areas under their control. Second point, this changes absolutely nothing about my claim that what Russia did and is doing is completely immoral, pure evil. They don't care about the people in the separatist republics, that's just a marketing spin that almost everyone can see through. It's about imperialism, revenge, power. Putin has been planing to absorb at least Belarus and Ukraine since a very long time. After all, Russia invaded the non-Russian controlled parts of Ukraine, which, per your source, are heavily against joining Russia. Even if some parts of Ukraine wanted to join Russia, it wouldn't give Russia the right to annex the territory. I'm curious why you have this view, what's your background - nationality, ethnicity, feelings about the West? (I'm from the Czech Republic.)
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

RivieraKid 4y ago

What is the mood regarding the war in your social circle? How often do they support it?

andrey123 4y ago
Zero war support across friends/colleagues but maybe up to 30% support on the streets (taxi drivers, cashiers, mechanics, neighbors, ...). In small cities there shall be more supporters (less Internet, more TV).
- pshirshov 4y ago
  I really doubt it's "zero". I've quizzed many many people I had connections with and literally all of them support the war up to some extent. The most common opinion is "we shouldn't have started this but we should win this war and take over Ukraine and Poland". It would be really strange to count such opinions as "anti-war".
  - andrey123 4y ago
    > I've quizzed many many people I had connections with and literally all of them support the war up to some extent. I would have reconsidered my approach to making connections if that happened to me :)
    - miguelazo 4y ago
      If you’re on HN in Russia, writing perfect English, you are no doubt part of a certain class.
    - pshirshov 4y ago
      1) I'm an asperger and my ability to build social links is severely impaired 2) I'm not in touch with these people anymore though I've tried to reach everyone I was able to and get their opinions. My conclusion is: the propaganda is extremely effective. People there easily pronounce self-contradictive statements and easily turn to aggression.
      - andrey123 4y ago
        Agree, propaganda makes wonders. But the people from "my circle" just don't watch TV (and that's not surprising given that ~40% of people in Moscow or Saint-Pete don't watch TV). I completely acknowledge that "my circle" does not represent general population and I wrote it in the original post.
  - andrewflnr 4y ago
    Poland too, huh? Have they thought through the implications of that one?
    - miguelazo 4y ago
      Did Poland think through the implications of hosting an AEGIS missile system (thanks to the US unilaterally withdrawing from an arms control treaty)? I’m sure the Kremlin was going to believe that was to protect Europe from “Iranian and North Korean” missiles. What a joke.
    - goatlover 4y ago
      War on NATO, Russia loses quickly or we all lose if nuclear war.
      - pshirshov 4y ago
        That doesn't prevent their propaganda from saying what they say. The people are convinced that NATO won't hold up to its promises. Re nuclear weapons. I really doubt that this shit is still functional.
        gibspaulding 4y ago
        > I really doubt that this shit is still functional. Ohh how I wish I could believe that. Once you have the fissile material together my understanding is that it's not that hard to actually build a bomb. The success rate of countries that have decided to start a nuclear program is pretty damn high, and through all those years of nuclear testing, there weren't a whole lot of duds that I know of.
        andrewflnr 4y ago
        There are a lot of designs that are a lot trickier to set off. Do we know how many of each design Russia has in service? It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the simpler ones had been replaced by higher yield but more fragile ones. Ed: rockets, targeting, etc are also tricky failure points. Anyway, I agree it's not a great cause for optimism. It would only take a couple of them going off to give the world a bad time. If nothing else they're dirty bombs.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - RivieraKid 4y ago
    Don't they see how immoral it is to take over countries against their will? Are they just bad, immoral people?
    - leereeves 4y ago
      That's not entirely a fair summary of the situation. The Ukrainian separatists asked for Russian help: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-allies-step-up-sanctions-pressure-russia-over-ukraine-2022-02-23/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-allies-step-up-sanct... Some people have questioned the legitimacy of that request and of the breakaway governments, but a Washington Post poll in 2021 found that over half of the respondents from those breakaway republics wanted to join Russia and only 12% wanted to rejoin Ukraine: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/12/new-survey-ukraine-russia-conflict-finds-deeply-divided-views-contested-donbas-region/?itid=lk_inline_manual_23 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/12/new-surve...
      - RivieraKid 4y ago
        I think it's an accurate summary. The separatists are under Russian control. The Russian army has been fighting alongside them since 2014, when they invaded Donbas. In the 1991 referendum, voters in Dontesk and Luhansk overwhelmingly voted against being part of Russia. Per your source, in the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donbas, 75% want to be part of Ukraine. In the Russian-controlled part of Donbas, 57% want to be part of Russia. First point, why such stark difference? I think it's because Russia is very good at propaganda and they exercise it heavily in areas under their control. Second point, this changes absolutely nothing about my claim that what Russia did and is doing is completely immoral, pure evil. They don't care about the people in the separatist republics, that's just a marketing spin that almost everyone can see through. It's about imperialism, revenge, power. Putin has been planing to absorb at least Belarus and Ukraine since a very long time. After all, Russia invaded the non-Russian controlled parts of Ukraine, which, per your source, are heavily against joining Russia. Even if some parts of Ukraine wanted to join Russia, it wouldn't give Russia the right to annex the territory. I'm curious why you have this view, what's your background - nationality, ethnicity, feelings about the West? (I'm from the Czech Republic.)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]