俄罗斯之一
2025-12-16
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About 100–110 million Russians have never been abroad. That’s roughly 69–77% of the population. Around half have never even visited another region inside Russia, so even Moscow feels like a different universe to them. Only 9% have traveled to Western countries in the past five years — and most of those do not speak English.
What does this mean?
It means they have absolutely no idea who you are. They know as much about you as they do about aliens from outer space. They will believe any nonsense their media feeds them: that the West forces people into “gay relations,” that you dream of conquering “Mother Russia,” that Russians are naturally smarter, braver, and superior to you. If state TV claims you eat unborn babies, many would believe even that.
One of Russia’s most famous comedians built his entire career on mocking “stupid Americans and Europeans.” After Russia shot down a civilian airliner in 2014, he joked that it fell “because it is heavier than air,” and the whole audience laughed. He has since died of brain cancer, but his jokes are still widely popular.
Once, I was having dinner at a fish tavern in Cyprus and spoke with the owner. “Russians are rich,” he said.
I replied: “Only the ones who come here are rich. You will never see the poor majority.”
It’s the classic sampling mistake — judging the entire picture by the tiny exceptions you happen to encounter.
You do not know Russians.
The ones you may have met are at least middle-class and educated enough to cross a border, navigate airports, or speak a foreign language. The ones you never meet live in a completely different world — one you will never interact with.
A world without running water, with medieval wooden toilets, where alcoholism is a way of life and extreme regional poverty stands in brutal contrast to Moscow’s artificial glamour.
A world shaped by the mentality of slaves, because they are still treated as such.
A world where torture and violence are normalized and even legalized.
A world soaked in xenophobia, often directed even at Russia’s own ethnic minorities, let alone foreigners.
And when I describe these facts, many people refuse to believe them and dismiss it as “Russophobic propaganda.” No — this is simply reality as it is.
Author: Volodymyr Kukharenko