Russian soul

Discussing the Western obsession with Russians and why so many people overlook the truth in their search for complexity.

Photo by Jānis Beitiņš.

This week, another article appeared in a prominent American newspaper that tells a touching story about a Russian soldier to show “the other side of the conflict.” At the same time, a movie made by a Russian propagandist that whitewashes Russian soldiers and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is touring prestigious film festivals around the world. For some reason, Western people never get tired of discussing the complexity of the “Russian soul” and sympathizing with the abusers and killers who, as soon as given the spotlight, play victims and blame Putin for the crimes they committed.

Apparently, it’s too prosaic to write about clear moral choices and sacrifices of Ukrainian soldiers who protect their loved ones from being killed, abused, or enslaved. It’s too unprofitable to write about atrocious Russian crimes and the primitive reasons behind them. It is always much more interesting to philosophize about the complexity and supposed moral struggles of the invaders. 

The reasons behind Russian actions or inactions are not poetic at all. It’s cowardice, desire to dominate, cruelty, and lack of moral values. However, Western journalists are tirelessly sugarcoating them to sell to their audiences as complexity, victimhood, and a unique perspective. When I think about the reasons this approach is so popular in the West, the only explanation that comes to mind, besides financial gain or corruption, is that those who write such articles and those who praise them relate to abusers and imperialists more than their victims. Consciously or subconsciously, these people think they are superior to others and certainly superior to Ukrainians. Their excess of moral superiority leads to a lack of humanity.

Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about emotionally immature people. I was always puzzled why those who consider themselves the most intelligent and empathetic humans are almost always narrow-minded and lack empathy. When someone is emotionally immature, they cannot self-reflect or genuinely relate to the feelings of others, and once they make up their minds about something, they never change it. Trying to influence these people’s opinions is a waste of time because they will never understand your arguments or emotions. They listen to and connect with only the same emotionally immature people like themselves. Maybe that's one of the reasons why such people are drawn to and sympathize with Russians.

People search for complexity in all the wrong places to compensate for the shallowness of their hearts.

When the banality of evil is too boring for some people, they drag a black-and-white situation through the mud to dim the colors and superficially create undertones they are so eager to see. Truth is always simple and lies plain in sight. However, too many Western journalists, authors, and politicians cannot notice it from the height of their ivory towers.

If some people choose to spend their lives swimming in the swamp called “Russian soul,” it’s their choice. However, we must not let them drag us and the world with them.

---

In April, I wrote two poems about people's obsession and biases toward Russians. Unfortunately, these poems continue to stay relevant. You can read them here:

Eclipse

---

---

Email: daryazorka@substack.com

Follow me on Instagram

Follow me on Twitter

Shop my art on Etsy

Watch the “20 Days in Mariupol” documentary

Watch Frontline PBS documentaries on Ukraine

Donate to help Ukraine: UKRAINE DONATION GUIDE 2024

---