I see Russia everywhere I go

Russian colonialism and the image Russia has built of itself in the world.

Sunflowers grew around the Russian missile, Ukraine, 2022. Photo by Serhiy Morgunov

I was born in Belarus and lived there until my early twenties when I immigrated to the U.S. Growing up in Belarus, I saw Russian presence and influence everywhere. Starting from the Russian language that supplanted Belarusian in every aspect of life, finishing with Russian TV, Russian pop culture, Russian books and movies, Russian products and goods, and, of course, Russians themselves, who frequently visited Belarus because of its unpolluted nature, good food, and affordable prices for medical procedures and entertainment. Russians always treated Belarus as their backyard, as an extension of Russia, where they came whenever they wanted to and did whatever they wanted as well, while the native population served them. 

I don’t know why the world still largely overlooks Russian colonialism. Many Western academics (and others) refuse to admit it exists. The same people tell the victims of Russian colonialism and aggression that they are biased, so their words about Russia cannot be taken as truth. Yet, in reality, these Western people are the ones who are biased in the first place – biased in favor of Russia.

I don’t live in Belarus anymore, yet I continue to see reminders of Russia everywhere I go. It feels like I cannot avoid it, as its tentacles spread to every country, every institution, and every corner of the world. Russia influences the world's politicians, academics, and international sports. Russia influences how the world views Russia – as a powerful state with nuclear weapons, ancient history, and remarkable culture. They do it by using soft power, propaganda, corruption, and threats. Russia aims to make the world believe them and disregard the voices of colonized nations because these voices speak uncomfortable and inconvenient truths. The truth that ruins the image Russia built of itself. 

Living in the U.S., I encounter mentions of Russia all around. It became especially painful since Russia started the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and every day, there is news about another Russian crime, another atrocity, another bombing, and another killing. Yet, I see Russia everywhere I go – starting from cultural places ending with parks, grocery stores, and coffee shops. Russian art is proudly displayed in museums and galleries. I see people reading books by Russian authors in the subway and public libraries. Russia is mentioned in the majority of American movies and series. This spring, I went to a botanical garden famous for its lilac selection, and as I strolled through a beautiful alley full of pink, violet, and white flowers, I saw a bush named “The Beauty of Moscow.” Another time, my husband and I decided to go to a popular seaside town and spend a weekend there to take a break from the news and regain some sense of normality. Looking for breakfast, we went to a coffee shop, and among the freshly baked pastries, they had cookies named “Russian tea cookies.” We left the coffee shop without buying anything. 

Recently, I visited a local grocery store. As I was choosing ice cream, I saw one with a Russian name written in English transliteration, saying, “Everyone should have a chance to try a traditional Russian ice cream made by the highest standards of the Soviet government.” The ice cream is made in Los Angeles, yet it successfully spreads Russian propaganda about “the high standards” of the Soviet Union. The same Soviet Union that had labor camps as Gulag, where millions of people, including my husband’s great-grandfather, died from malnutrition, abuse, and unbearable work. The same Soviet Union that committed Holodomor in Ukraine – a man-made famine that killed approximately 7 to 10 million people and is finally recognized as genocide by the world.The same Soviet Union where people stood in lines for hours to get a single loaf of bread. And yet, in 2023 in the U.S., I see an ice cream that tells you how good life was in the Soviet Union and how people there ate delicious organic food made by the highest standards. If Russia represents any high standards at all – it is the highest standards of committing genocides, the highest standards of oppression and brutality, and the highest standards of lies and propaganda.

Whenever I post about such encounters online and tell how inappropriate, tone-deaf, and painful it feels right now, as Russia is waging a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I always get replies such as: “We shouldn’t cancel everything Russian!” or “I will never stop admiring Russian culture. Moreover, your posts only convinced me to admire it more,” or “If you want to cancel Russian culture, how does it make you different from Russians who did the same to your culture?”

The thing is, I don’t call for canceling Russian culture, nor do I try to erase it by destroying Russian works, historical buildings, and any mentions of it – the way Russians do to the cultures of others. I call for recognizing the appropriated and stolen achievements and changing the attitude from blind admiration to a critical approach. I ask people to stop praising and promoting Russian culture while Russians wage genocide in real-time in Ukraine: killing Ukrainian writers, artists, and scientists; destroying schools, universities, and libraries; burning Ukrainian books and looting Ukrainian museums; forcing the Russian language on people in the occupied territories and killing Ukrainians for speaking Ukrainian. It's not the right time to promote Russian culture, as Russians do everything to erase Ukrainian culture, don’t you think?

Many people say: “But there are good Russians who don’t participate in the war, so we should support them!” I wonder why the bar is so low for Russians. Just don’t participate in genocide, and you’ll receive all the love and support in the world. At the same time, Ukrainians are held to the highest standards possible: “Don’t be angry and hateful towards those who want to kill you and your loved ones. It makes you a bad person.” / “You should be forgiving and shake hands with your enemy.” / “If you don’t feel sorry for the deaths of Russians, you are losing your humanity.“ / “You shouldn’t ask for more help, even though it’s not enough, you should be grateful for what you are given!” / “You are so emotional. It only shows how biased you are and that we can't trust your words about Russia.”

Why aren’t Russians held to the same high standards: be humble; be empathetic; don’t play the victim and make everything about yourself; step down and amplify Ukrainian culture and voices that your country has been constantly trying to erase during the last 400 years; don’t put yourself on every world’s stage with Ukrainians such as sports competitions, cultural events, and festivals; don’t think that anyone owes you only because you are a person who doesn’t kill or support the killings. Russians are praised for doing the bare minimum – not killing other people, while Ukrainians are held to impossibly high standards as they survive the genocide and bury their loved ones every day.

I also see how the Russian opposition, actively promoting themselves to the West as “good Russians who are against Putin and the war,” write absolutely different things for their Russian audience. They are very experienced at fooling English-speaking people into providing donations and support. However, every person who understands Russian can easily see their true colors.

One of the most popular takes from the Russian opposition is that they openly write to their Russian-speaking audience that Russians don’t owe Ukrainians anything. They say that if you are Russian but don’t kill anyone or support the killings, then you don’t have to do anything to help Ukraine. You should focus on living your life instead, and you don’t need to pay any future reparations because you did nothing wrong. Of course, such rhetoric is very popular. Russians think that they don’t need to take any responsibility whatsoever, but at the same time, they are entitled to receive donations, help, scholarships, and attention from the West simply because they don’t kill other people. It’s only Putin who does it. It’s only Putin who is responsible. It’s only Putin who will have to pay the reparations. Millions of Russians who enable this war actively or passively and do nothing to stop it or help Ukraine in any way, think that they owe Ukrainians nothing. People from Western countries support and encourage it by praising Russians for doing the bare minimum, refusing to acknowledge and condemn Russian colonialism, admiring and blindly consuming Russian culture, and disregarding the voices of Ukrainians as biased or “hateful.” However, the truth is, if Russians don’t owe anything to anyone, then the world owes nothing to Russians.

When I think about how many people Russians killed in Ukraine during the last year, it makes my blood boil, and my hair stands on end at the same time. Only in Mariupol alone Russians killed forty to fifty thousand people, probably much more. Stop for a second and realize the scale of it. We can’t confirm the exact numbers since Mariupol is currently occupied, but we can see the satellite images of mass graves that keep getting bigger and bigger each day. 

When I worked on translations for the “20 Days in Mariupol” documentary, I watched hours and hours of raw war footage. You don’t usually see such footage in the news because it’s always censored and edited to make it less frightening. What Russians did in Mariupol is beyond any forgiveness. However, no one is asking for forgiveness at all. Russians are now visiting Mariupol and taking pictures in front of ruined residential buildings. The buildings that became graves for thousands of people as Russians dropped bombs at them from the airplanes. Russians buy land and apartments in Mariupol and move their families there because: “It’s a city by the sea. It has good potential, and more importantly, it almost doesn’t have Ukrainians.” It doesn’t have Ukrainians because Russians killed them and then moved into their homes as if nothing happened. My mind cannot even comprehend this level of cruelty and utter moral bankruptcy.

I don’t know how much time should pass for Russians to stop being treated with such admiration and impunity and automatically receive the benefit of the doubt. It seems that no matter what they do, no matter what crimes they commit, no matter how much they lie – they are still sympathized with, admired, and accepted in the civilized world. Because over all these years, Russia did a very good job promoting, whitewashing, and romanticizing itself – and the world believed it.

I see Russia everywhere I go. I don’t want to see it anymore.

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