The Soviet Union lasted for some 70 years, not everything was bad. For instance I quite like their cinema and science fiction children shows. My point being, someone raised under the Soviet Union would still be able to find a few things to look back with nostalgia.
Everything will be back to normal in 4-8 years after a cease fire, though. So sanctions just hurt the most vulnerable of a 150m people country. Congratulations. That will surely prevent future wars like seen with the treaty of Versailles...
They were coopted for political interests over a decade ago, and so any organic interest moved on. Now they are used as boogyman, as a honey pot or as a cover for cyberwarfare by the "good guys".
I get it's like the freezing of ~40% of Russia's foreign reserves the US announced. So still the property of their owners - not seized - but cannot be moved either.
I think the best advice would be to surrender and avoid pointless loss of life. You only have one life, is it really worth throwing away so your elite rules instead of your neighbors' elite?
What a ridiculous take. Yes the Russian govmt censors a lot of things. The west also does it. And more than plain censoring, which happens mostly in China, what happens the most is just building a narrative: only show what you need to be shown, diminish opposing views, augment yours, shape the narrative by building a fake opposition. These are basic strategies done since before world war 2.
The russians by and large know very well not to trust the government. But who will work best in their interest instead, will NATO? Would the US trust Europe to fix their two-party "democracy" and lack of healthcare?
Besides what another commentator already said, I'd also include China. Russia and China, despite the apparently good relations right now, have actively disputed regions that the Chinese believe were stolen from them on one of the unequal treaties.
It should be good news for everyone unless Russia makes a full-scale invasion (which seem very unlikely), no? By everyone I mean every average, civilian person. All of them should want peace, no matter if their passport says Ukraine or "X Republic of the Russian Federation".
No? It seems a recipe for a perfect government. Whenever X% of the population wants that much to throw down the government, that's probably a good time for a remodel.
Might not be as effective as a dictatorship or a oligarchy, sure, must a much better government to live under.
There is a very simple solution, the government lifts the restrictions and resigns. New elections are held and then the people decide if they want a new government that will punish protesters or not.