andrey123

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.

> 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 :)

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).

> Russia wants no negotiation that doesn't result in them stealing territory from Ukraine. You can't negotiate with that.

You can negotiate with that, people were and are doing this all the time. The problem is that it very likely would result in just a pause and further (probably worse) conflict later.

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.

You underestimate the power of propaganda. I guess you can find some Russia Today videos or maybe some translated recordings from the Russia's state TV and check for yourself. They are very good at this. Some of the otherwise kind and humane people I know believe in this BS (yes, they really believe that Russia is fighting Nazis and liberating people). Arguing with them is useless (I told they are otherwise kind and humane, I did not say anything about them being smart). And I don't see reasons for this to change anytime soon.

Consider how well it works on you. Do you do any research when you read news (especially such terrifying news)? Most people do not - they have some opinion and then reinforce it. This is war and all parties lie, and there are questions to be asked (if you, for some silly reason, want to get closer to the "truth").

[Disclaimer: Russian] According to my estimations, probably at least 95% of people who are "against the war" do not go out to participate in protests. My estimations are based on talking to my colleagues (large IT company).

Yes, starting from now, protesting becomes more risky (you may go to jail for years if you get caught second time). But just a week ago, it was mostly harmless (yes, some people get arrested for few days, but will anyone say it's comparable to what's going on in Ukraine?).

And from these 5% who go out now many (including myself) were not protesting in 2014.

So to be honest I cannot see how we are not responsible.

[Edit] 95% is a VERY conservative estimation.

[Edit2] And of course people from other countries are also responsible for crimes which their governments are or were doing (many of these crimes resulted in many more deaths than this conflict yet - hopefully it will remain so). So don't feel good about yourself guys.