Do the Russians get an actual say in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict?

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Do the Russians get an actual say in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict?


One important issue that I believe needs to be discussed at length is how Russian citizens truly feel about the conflict. Only when we discuss this at length do we actually see the depth of human rights violation and the restriction/violation of the freedom of speech.

Current Polls- however varied- show that Majority of the Russians(about 60%) are in support of Putin or the actions taken by him. However there is much reason to believe that this response of people is rigged or self sabotaged and false under pretenses. There are many reasons to believe so.

Firstly many of the Russian research organizations like FOM and VCIOM are state controlled and not reputable independent polls and therefore inference drawn from them is not reliable. Hence it is impossible to establish any genuine evidence of Russian public opinion.

The brainwashing being carried out through media censorship, disinformation and opaque functioning of government. The most plausible explanation for the results of the polls is the manipulation of public opinion by communication channels that are under state control, and the widespread use of censorship and propaganda. Due to the opaque working of the government, many citizens remain in the dark about the war and its escalation. Many accounts illustrate that Russians believe that the Ukrainian army attacked its own population to blame Putin. This account of the events as shaped by Putin’s regime has been widely spread via state TV as official. Concomitantly, It is being propagated that the Ukrainian government consists of “neo-fascists” and “drug-addicts” and information shared in Ukrainian or international media is fake.

Even a new law was passed that allowed the imprisonment of journalists who provide military information that is deemed to be false by the state. Many international news corporations like CNN and the BBC have suspended operations as a result.

Accordingly, the movement of the exodus of dissenters and the outbreak of mass street protests and civil disobedience has been crushed completely. Human rights groups inform us about the widespread anti-war protests taking place in the city across the country despite harsh police crackdowns and serious injury and imprisonment. Many dissenters have also been detained, imprisoned or have had to flee the country.

The absolute authority established by the state has also led to a lot of self-censorship. Many of the respondents generate inauthentic replies and response bias as they fear stringent actions that will be taken if they express their dissents.

While Innumerable human rights violations have been committed against the citizens of Ukraine, what fundamental rights has Putin taken away from the citizens of his own country? It is important that we don’t turn a blind eye to this issue for discussion on the topic itself will also lead Russians to be enlightened about the curbing of their own rights.

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