WHY ?

Following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, a wave of culturally negative reactions against the Russians was spreading in the West. Russian artists, musicians and filmmakers are being excluded from various events and competitions in Europe. Russia's national football team has been suspended for the rest of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Qatar this summer. UEFA has also decided to move the venue of this year's Champions League final from St. Petersburg (which is also Vladimir Putin's city) to Paris.

The University of Milano-Bikoka in Italy has suspended an existing course on the legendary author of Russian literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Later, however, they withdrew from that decision in the face of criticism. According to media reports, retailers and businesses in several European countries are boycotting Russian-made products and discriminating against consumers of Russian descent. Democrats in the U.S. Congress, Eric Swalwell and Ruben Gallego, have publicly called for "every Russian student to be expelled from the United States" because, in their words, the students are "sons and daughters of the richest Russians."Presumably, this is being done to increase civil unrest in Russia and to provoke opposition to Putin's rule. Many Russians have staged anti-war protests in several Russian cities, knowing that there are personal risks. They do not consider this war to be a war for their defense. Several Russian commentators have already announced that, as citizens of the Russian Federation, they are ashamed of being shot in the cities of a culturally close neighbor for their tax money.  First of all, keep in mind that this is a Kremlin war, not a Russian war. It is a "chancellor's war" (a phrase coined by sociologist Benedict Anderson) to justify popular Russian nationalism. This so-called self-defense policy proves that what the Kremlin is doing in Ukraine is "official nationalism" (a phrase also borrowed from Anderson). ‘Government nationalism’ is a policy which is ‘derived from the state and uncompromising in protecting the interests of the state.’ That is, it gives moral sanction to the government to do anything in the name of protecting the interests of the state. Anti-Putin protests have spread to the western world. There is also insecurity for the Russian people. In Los Angeles, USA

Should I apologize as a Russian? Should I be ashamed? These questions have been working inside me for a decade. When my country again made headlines around the world for making the wrong decision, I couldn't think of anything else. I love Russia. But how can I be proud of that, when it has done the last good for its citizens or for the world, I can't remember.         When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, I was too young to understand its importance. But now I understand that the decision was completely wrong and I will blame the Russian government for this. I would say that your country should not accept anything that you do not like. In the months that followed, Russia's behavior as a state drew international condemnation, and Russophobia spread throughout Europe. I was studying in the UK at the time. I have repeatedly said that I did not vote for Putin, that I did not support the war. But once I went to a concert in London, my friends asked the band members when they would do a show in Russia. The singer's response was, "When you stop destroying planes." He was referring to a Malaysia Airlines plane that had been shot down by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine earlier that summer. While we have no responsibility for that tragedy, the singer's remarks still strike me.

The heinous acts of the Russian government have provoked Russophobia and turned the whole world against us. As a result, these activities have caused suffering for many and made us more crippled. I remember the price of a pound at the time of the acquisition of Crimea was 115 rubles, 155 percent more than when I first came to the UK a few months ago. We do not want war, we are today in solidarity with the Ukrainian brothers and sisters. We too are suffering because of this war, we are also victims of this growing authoritarian regime. Even then I can't shake my shame. I am ashamed that I am a Russian. Suddenly my government did something over which I had no control; It threatened my life, my education, my future. My family's tourism business collapsed. Our entire savings in Russian currency almost double the cost of education, living and rent in other countries. The Russian economy has not yet recovered from that shock. But human life does not stop. We have learned to live a limited life. A lot of things have gone beyond our means, I admit. The story of how comfortable the lives of Russian citizens were before Putin, now seems like a story.Now people have become so accustomed to such a life that for weeks when the world feared another Russian invasion of Ukraine, public life in Moscow was perfectly normal. Very few people have the subject in discussion. We have been in conflict with Ukraine for eight years, so this speculation was nothing new to us. Now people have become so accustomed to life that for weeks when the world feared another Russian invasion of Ukraine, public life in Moscow was perfectly normal. Very few people have the subject in discussion. We have been in conflict with Ukraine for eight years, so this speculation was nothing new to us. But on the morning of February 24, when the people of Ukraine woke up in a nightmare of the onslaught of Russia, a similar situation arose among the people of Russia. Although the situation on both sides is in no way comparable. Outside the windows we hear no explosions, no tanks on our roads and no fear of death. But when we turn on the TV, watching the headlines in the international media, we realize that the life we ​​knew is about to be taken away from us. Overnight, like our Ukrainian neighbors