As reported in The New York Times, “As Vladimir Putin’s ‘special military operation’ enters a new chapter, Russians are being plucked from villages around the country for training and military service. A day after President Vladimir V. Putin announced a call-up that could sweep 300,000 civilians into military service, thousands of Russians across the country received draft papers on Thursday and some were being marched to buses and planes for training — and perhaps soon a trip to the front lines in Ukraine. … Russian officials said the call-up would be limited to people with combat experience. But the net appeared wider, and some men decided it was best to head for the borders. … As with much about Mr. Putin’s war, the draft caught many Russians unawares. Many had been tuning it out, with polls showing that nearly half of the public was paying little attention to events in Ukraine.”
I don’t know what these Russian citizens were expecting. They live in a dictatorship, and when you live in a dictatorship, eventually, the state will come for you. It’s that f***ing simple. I guess this is also what happens when people don’t pay attention. As the article pointed out, people were tuning the war out until, that is, the draft started. Oops! I find it comical that all these Russians are fleeing the country to avoid being drafted. Why? They made their bed, and now they must lie in it! Russians have been enabling Putin for decades because, at some level, they either love — or at the very least don’t mind — their dictator. This is the consequence of their ambivalence. Where were the mass demonstrations when Russia took Crimea? Or illegally occupied the Donbas? I don’t recall Russians protesting these “easy wins.” Because they did not. It was no skin off their nose back then, but now the chickens are coming home to roost, and all of a sudden, Russians are fleeing for fear of dying? Ukrainians have been dying for several years as Russia has been prosecuting an illegal invasion of Ukraine.
But I guess living in a dictatorship and waging illegal wars is in Russians’ blood, so I suppose they have no control over their inherent desire to be ruled over and to rule over others. Think about it. From the earliest czars to Stalin to Putin, Russians don’t understand nor crave freedom, for generations have lived under some form of authoritarian government. Oh, well. Sucks to be Russian! Now they will pay with their lives, and they should not be escaping the country; they should just wait for their draft notices. You can be a Russian citizen only when Russia is winning.