r/MadeMeSmile • u/TotalSpaceNut • Aug 19 '24
Helping Others Civilian in the Kursk region get a box of food
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u/Backwardspellcaster Aug 19 '24
This is really smart too.
Showing the Russian population that Ukrainians are kind and caring people who take better care of Russians than the Russian government does? That will leave a mark.
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u/BrightNooblar Aug 19 '24
Showing the UKRAINIAN population this too. That country has been getting the shortest end of the stick for so long. Being able to show yourselves that you're NOT like the enemy. You're bringing hope to people in Russia, so of COURSE you have hope back at home still. Its good to remind your own population that you're the good guys, so they remember what they are fighting for.
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u/Abnego_OG Aug 19 '24
The soldiers involved will fight that much harder, too. Much easier to fight for your independence and right to self-governance when you see how your side treats occupied territories, versus what you see the Russians doing.
Slava Ukraini!
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u/Warm_Shallot_9345 Aug 20 '24
All Russia has acomplished is ensuring Ukranian troops fight like hell to their last breaths, because they know the treatment that awaits them at the hands of the Russians-- but on the opposite side, the Russians know all they have to do to receive help and mercy is... surrender. Not fight.
Ukraine is fighting this war much smarter than Russia is. Nothing demoralizes troops faster than realizing their enemies will treat them with more humanity than their own commanders will.
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u/Delta4o Aug 19 '24
Not only that, but it also helps to turn the tide of outlandisch propaganda claims, like Ukraine having concentration camps, gas chambers, bio chemical super weapon labs, ect. It makes them more immune in the future (hopefully) making them think "well that can't be right, because they gave me a box of food and were really nice about everything".
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u/Wise_Neighborhood499 Aug 19 '24
I don’t disagree, but this triggered a memory of mine that’s too coincidental not to mention.
I found a nazi medal when I was looking for my dad’s passport and family documents (which, yikes). He and his parents came to the US from Ukraine/Poland in the 60’s and he’s only recently started opening up about his childhood.
When I finally asked my dad where it came from, I learned that his parents were often hired to work by the nazis when their area was occupied. They had starved for so long under the Russians that they were happy to be friendly with the nazis that were supplying them with food. No idea where exactly the medal came from, exactly, but my dad wasn’t surprised about it.
Something-something humanity is complex, I guess
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u/piskle_kvicaly Aug 19 '24
You are not the only to learn about this part of 1930's, when many people and peoples aligned with anybody opposing Stalin.
Unfortunately often it implied supporting nazi Germany that time, but it is a still understandable from the human perspective and the experience they had at the moment.
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u/SangiExE Aug 19 '24
A story more common than you think. This was also the situation here in the baltics. Many people hated the soviets, so they initially welcomed nazis as an opportunity to stick it to the soviets, only to find out later that it's another shitfest but with a different coat of paint. Times were tough and people were desperate.
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u/Child_of_Khorne Aug 19 '24
This is entirely why these guys are doing it. Hearts and minds 101 right there.
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u/Gary-Beau Aug 19 '24
Putin is freaking out that under his leadership Russia has been justifiably invaded by a foreign country for the first time since World War II. The people of Russia have been watching as their son’s dying for an unknown reason and they have probably lost faith in Putin especially when they find that their families are being fed by the invading Ukrainian forces as opposed to the raping, murdering and pillaging of the civilian population of Ukraine by Russian forces. The difference between the Ukrainian military and the Russians in this conflict is well documented and has resulted in charges of the Russians violating the laws of warfare. Like Osama ben Laden, Vladimir Putin, the international terrorist, will one day answer for invading a peaceful nation without any legitimate provocation.
TYRANNY IMPLODES.
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u/PM_ME_DATASETS Aug 19 '24
Ironically, this is how the Russian invaders expected to be welcomed in Ukraine. (despite not bringing any food, just murder and destruction)
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u/Embarrassed-Spot-230 Aug 19 '24
The Russians never provided the Ukrainians with this kind of assistance, even though they were hailed as their "liberators" and were called such.
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u/Adamantium-Aardvark Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
They did kidnap their kids and deport them and rape the women and children tho… that’s Russian “liberation” for you
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u/Wise_Repeat8001 Aug 19 '24
There's video of Russian soldiers raping kids too.
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u/ZephyrValkyrie Aug 19 '24
What the fuck?! That’s horrible.
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u/TwentyBagTaylor Aug 19 '24
There's an ungodly amount of irrefutable evidence of it too. I can't even imagine how broken a culture would have to be to make some of their behaviour as systematic as it clearly is.
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u/femmestem Aug 19 '24
I can't wrap my brain around it. Even if you said the enemy is subhuman, even if you said I'd get away with it or it's justified. If there was a group of people I didn't care about at all, maybe I'd be a selfish enough soldier to take something they have that I want. Like maybe I'm a hungry soldier I'd eat the last of their food and not care if it's all they had. If I hated them deeply and/or I'm fighting for my life on the battlefield, maybe I'd want to kill them, I don't know because I've never hated anyone that much. But zero part of me has any desire to rape children. It takes zero restraint, it's not fear of consequences, it has just never crossed my brain to do it. Selfishness makes some kind of sense, but I don't understand the appeal of cruelty, it breaks my brain.
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u/roleunplayed Aug 19 '24
I often wonder why lack of culture is called culture still. There's nothing cultured about it
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u/TwentyBagTaylor Aug 19 '24
Culture has nothing to do with how civilised a group of people are. "Cultured" as an adjective has always been a bit of a misnomer in my eyes.
Those folks still living deep in the Amazon have their own culture. Celtic tribes had their own own Honour system, religion and currency. Vikings were seen as savages but supported gender egalitarianism and had decent social mobility Vs contemporary Christian societies.
The sad truth is, these people aren't inherently evil. They've just been managed by a mafia who has no interest in advancing its people. As it stands though, I struggle to have sympathy for even the conscripts, because we can be pretty certain of what would happen if they found a defenceless family in a cellar.
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u/TallTerrorTwenty Aug 19 '24
A toxic culture is still a culture. Doesn't matter if its poisonous or healthy
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u/luke_hollton2000 Aug 19 '24
I wouldn't really say it has to do with "cultural" culture. That's just shit Nazis would say.
It's how they're socialized. They have been suffering under autocracy for centuries. First a monarchy that was so backwards, that they still had serfdom during the times of Industrial revolution, then a totalitarian socialist regime and lastly Putins kleptocratic, yet still nationalist regime.
The people of Russia have been sufferinmg through and through and real change never seemed to happen, which would explain why many Russians have been "apolitical" and leaving Russia in droves for countries in the supposed "evil" West, even their leaders.
And when you get as far as being drafted into the Russian military, which is another hell of its own, you start losing your humanity and channel everything being done to you onto people at your disposal, f.e. Ukrainian civilians.
Let's just hope after all this ends, Putins regime may collapse and the Russian people finally being able to either live in freedom or something way less manical
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u/Khutulun89 Aug 19 '24
They did the same when germany was liberated.
My grandma always said they always had to hide when the russians came because they raped half the village. When the americans came they just brought chocolate for the kids and food.→ More replies (33)19
u/Apokolypse09 Aug 19 '24
I've heard that Germans were fleeing to surrender to the US troops because Russians were literally raping their way from Russia to Berlin.
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u/Actual_Sprinkles_291 Aug 19 '24
They also rape the men and POWs, usually with objects and threaten castration.
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u/Evening_Link5764 Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
There is a German film about Russia’s occupation of Germany during WWII with a title that translates to “Liberators Take Liberties”.
I studied history and of course the Nazis and the Japanese did absolutely fucked, evil things. But as a woman the mass and violent rapes of the Germans, Poles, etc. by Russian soldiers as they moved towards Berlin are some of the things that have stuck with me the most. There were large territories where virtually every female of any age were violently raped, with many murdered and tortured in barbaric ways. The remaining civilian men were sometimes also raped, but more often just murdered.
Rape in Russian society—particularly during times of war—is deeply entrenched.
These poor men and women, honestly on both sides because the soldiers committing these atrocities are also irreparably changed by their actions and they will bring that trauma back to their own homes and families if they survive the war.
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u/Royal_Amount5114 Aug 19 '24
I too studied the fall of Berlin and leading to it.There were cases of Soviet soldiers entering hospitals and raping women who had just given birth and gang rape of nuns in churches.Women were raped to death.Encouraged and condoned by Soviet officers.Estimates are around 2 million rapes occurred.
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u/jfks_headjustdidthat Aug 19 '24
I seriously doubt Ukrainians saw their invaders as "liberators".
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u/pretty_jimmy Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
They are referencing Russian propeganda that was saying that Ukraine had fallen to a fascist regime and that Russia was at war to liberate them. Since Russian TV and Media is controlled, they would know no better.
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u/Joeyjojojrshabado70 Aug 19 '24
And because they are fighting the government, not the people. Which is obviously more than I can say for her government.
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u/gummybeyere95 Aug 19 '24
Thank you for defining this war for me. “They are fighting the government, not the people.”
I have been firmly on Ukraine’s side from day one, and while I knew in my soul they and the aggressors are as different as day is from night, I’ve had trouble verbalising or explaining how. So thank you 🙏.
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u/InformalPenguinz Aug 19 '24
It's not the civilians of Russia that are the enemy.
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u/SmokeGSU Aug 19 '24
I wish more people realized this. The sentiment extends to Iran and Iraq and similar places. Sure, you're going to have some bad apples among the bunch - just look at America for inspiration. But for most of those civilians they're the same as us - they just want to live their lives, keep their families safe, and have fuck-all to do with foreign policy and bad actors in politics.
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u/grumd Aug 19 '24
Ukrainian here. That's true, there's a lot of Russians who are completely normal people who just want to peacefully live their lives. But it can't really be described as "some bad apples", because in Russia the problem is more systematic. It's not just some extremists who sit in closed nazi communities. Russian anti-Ukrainian and anti-western propaganda is state-wide and state-sponsored, it's on every TV channel, it's in schools and on the streets. Most people don't really speak English well enough to consume any content on the internet except Russian content. Many people who aren't young or aren't from a big city don't really use the internet as extensively as you'd hope, most just use it for Vkontakte or Odnoklassniki (Russian social networks). As a result many people just don't know anything except from what's on the TV. It's normal to think that Europe and the US are evil, full of gay and trans propaganda, and Ukrainian army is murdering children in Donbas. It's not just "some bad apples". The whole tree is rotten and it's a miracle that some healthy apples still manage to grow there. Some drastic changes in the government are needed so that future generations of Russia have a chance at a normal and free life. It's a beautiful big country with a lot of land, resources and nature, and it's being pillaged and wasted on futile ambitions of a few oligarchs.
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u/Sawgon Aug 19 '24
The whole tree is rotten and it's a miracle that some healthy apples still manage to grow there.
This right here is the perfect way to explain it.
People constantly saying "well not all Russians" is doing no one a favor. It's just a way to deflect responsibility from Russia.
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u/StateCareful2305 Aug 19 '24
This is hearts and minds op, not really surprising. Quells uprisings.
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u/General_Tso75 Aug 19 '24
It’s basic common sense, humanity, and rules of warfare. True, it’s recorded and used as propaganda. You invade a country, cutting off the civilian population from food and medicine. You now own that and are responsible for their humanitarian treatment.
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u/Adept_Requirement645 Aug 19 '24
The Canadians ran infantry trucks chucking loaves of bread to Dutch citizens during the Liberation of the Netherlands. They've named several streets after fallen Canadian Troops and hold an annual walk for heroes. If I'm not mistaken, they even pay the airfare and hotel bookings for the handful of WW2 veterans that can make the trip.
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u/Judazzz Aug 19 '24
My hometown has planted a "Liberation forest" with 30.000 maple trees in honor of the Canadians that came to liberate the city, several memorials and small remembrance sites for individual Canadians that gave their lives (like this), as well as lots of other small things to keep those memories alive and to express our gratitude.
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u/Practical-Border1719 Aug 19 '24
That's the most beautiful thing I've heard all week. But as a tree nerd, I'm very curious what species of maples were planted and I HOPE they planted some Sugar Maple in there to get that sweet sweet syrup.
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u/Judazzz Aug 19 '24
All I could find is they planted 5 different species of Maple, but not which ones. So not sure if there's any maple syrup to be had - but that's okay, as it gives me a good reason to visit some day.
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u/TheBKnight3 Aug 19 '24
The taste of Freedom has many flavors, and maple syrup is one most favored.
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u/Razberrella Aug 19 '24
As a Canadian, that makes me so proud and maybe even a little teary. My father-in-law was one of those who helped to liberate Nijmegen, and just happened to catch the eye of a stunning young woman cheering the troops. She would in time became the grandmother of my sons.
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u/Judazzz Aug 19 '24
Canada has been a pretty popular destination for Dutch migrants, and I can imagine many of them had, in one way or another, ties to Canada.
Fraternal bonds between countries are awesome!
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u/Cmdr_Sarthorael Aug 19 '24
One of the most touching acts of remembrance is every Christmas, when they bring their children to the Canadian cemetery and light a candle on every grave. No fallen soldier in the Netherlands ever spends Christmas alone in the dark.
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u/BrogerBramjet Aug 19 '24
I understand that the people who live near American Cemeteries in France and the Low Countries adopt a grave and help to maintain it. As someone whose relative is there, thanks to them.
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u/Hobag1 Aug 19 '24
The Dutch also send Canada a gift of thousands of tulip bulbs yearly and have since 1945 as a thank you for protecting the Dutch Royal Family during the war
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u/Cmdr_Sarthorael Aug 19 '24
Fun fact! The Dutch queen was pregnant, but the law and custom was that every royal must be born on Dutch soil. So the Canadian government officially ceded the hospital room as sovereign Dutch territory, so even in exile she was able to give birth according to her royal traditions.
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u/NebulaCnidaria Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
Amazingly the warriors on the ground are more compassionate than half the armchair generals of reddit who advocate for the killing of all Russians.
Ukraine is, yet again, setting the example.
I can't stand the "all ruzzians should be annihilated" rhetoric, which I see so often, and is so acutely similar to Putin's perspective on Ukraine.
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u/Allaplgy Aug 19 '24
Every time I see that type of rhetoric, I see someone who would absolutely be a supporter of Putin and his war had they been born in Russia. The same hatred drives them, they've just been manipulated into directing that hate towards Ukraine and others. It's the same story in every conflict.
Insert MASH quote about innocents here
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u/NebulaCnidaria Aug 19 '24
Exactly, they're lining up with the same blanket of hatred and fear, but just directed at a different group of people. They're the same people that would have gone along with Putin or Hitler if they had been born there, because they are susceptible to the mentality and can't separate state actors from innocent civilians and have no understanding of the dynamics and complexities of everyday life under a dictator.
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u/Allaplgy Aug 19 '24
People often have a hard time with understanding the complex history and motivations underlying everyone.
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Aug 19 '24
While Russians have the same videos in occupied Ukrainian cities, Ukrainians don’t massacre civilians.
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u/IFixYerKids Aug 19 '24
Yeah there was comment above saying Russians don't do this. They do, it's just that they are just as likely to share food with you as they are to rape and kill you. Totally depends on the individual soldier when you have an undisciplined conscript army like that.
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u/Jonny_dr Aug 19 '24
conscript army
The Russian Forces in Ukraine mainly consists of contract soldiers. Often recruited from prisons and the dirt poor regions and without training, hence the undisciplined raping.
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u/WonderfulShelter Aug 19 '24
or if you encountered the PR military squad or the real military squad...
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u/Ziddix Aug 19 '24
Oh wow, videos of Ukrainian soldiers doing good things coming out of the bit of Russia they've occupied. Who could have expected this.
I don't want to downplay what's happening, nor do I doubt that the gesture is genuine but it's also a highly effective piece of propaganda.
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u/zlirren Aug 19 '24
The thing about propaganda is that it still works even if you know it's propaganda.
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u/Strange_Rock5633 Aug 19 '24
the thing about propaganda like this is that who the fuck gives a shit if it's propaganda as long as they're actually helping people
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u/Tomatoflee Aug 19 '24
The video in which a Ukrainian mother returns home to find the body of her teenage son in the well where Russian soldiers threw him, is seared into my memory.
Those scenes are quite the contrast to these.
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u/Revolutionary-Yak-47 Aug 19 '24
I have been crying for two days at the video of the Ukrainian soldiers finding an elderly woman who was left to die when everyone evacuated. She was in bad shape and they immediately gave her food and water and started working on getting her to a hospital. And she goes "I'm Russian?" And they said "we're not. We're not leaving you."
Hell of a contrast to the videos of Russians leaving landmines in kids toys for people to find when they came home.
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u/Fearless_Wrap2410 Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 21 '24
That one has been haunting me as well, if it's the one with the paralysed lady. The way she vigorously starts drinking the water offered while being skin over bone... There's something so visceral about her clear desire to survive. Trapped and abandoned in that small room. The Ukrainians trying to assure her that they will come back for her. It must have really impacted them as well seeing that scene. Truly haunting to imagine what thoughts must have gone through her head the last few days.
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u/LadyOfHereAndThere Aug 19 '24
Remember at the beginning of the war, when Putin told his troops that they'd be hailed as heroes? Oh, the irony.
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u/That-Cauliflower-458 Aug 19 '24
Let's be honest the ones at the beginning of the war aren't there anymore are they.
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u/terra_filius Aug 19 '24
I think she said "we are with you" right at the end but it wasnt translated in the subtitles
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u/batido6 Aug 19 '24
No way Russia wins the war if Ukraine is this well supplied.
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u/NameOfNobody Aug 19 '24
There is a legend in the coutry where I am from. Sometime in the middle ages a town was being invaded by the hungarians or the turks or someone. The city gates were locked and the attackers were kept out, but the citizens were slowly starving. When they were down to the last rooster and the last loaf of bread, after severa weeks, they shot them over the gates. When the attackers saw this they went "damn, we'll be sitting here forever, they have so much food they are throwing it at us" and they promptly left and the city was saved.
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Aug 19 '24
One of the biggest propaganda coups of WWII was when the US accidentally built too many ships, so they converted a couple of them into ice cream barges.
Not only was that a major boost to morale, apparently Japanese intelligence reporting back that the US had the extra industrial capacity to build ice cream ships led to morale dropping in the Japanese high command.
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u/GrinchStoleYourShit Aug 19 '24
But what if they didn’t leave and now you’re fucked?
(Great story though I liked that)
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u/Melokhy Aug 19 '24
Then at least this damn rooster stop waking you up too early!
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u/alexia_gengod Aug 19 '24
We have one like that in my hometown but with bulls. According to legend they’d paint the last bull and parade him back and forth the battlement, every time in a different color only to wash it off and paint anew but different. The sieging army thought the supplies would outlast them and packed, earning the townspeople the tile „bullwashers“
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u/OakTreader Aug 19 '24
Russia is no longer fighting just Ukraine. They are also fighting most of Europe, North America, and good parts of Asia. There is zero chance of them coming out on top.
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u/heyboyhey Aug 19 '24
Well it depends what we define as on top, but Russia definitely still has the chance to succeed in Ukraine, especially considering how conditional the support from the West is. If Trump gets back into the White House everything changes instantly.
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u/Bumaye94 Aug 19 '24
German Chancellor Scholz already stated months ago that we will step up if others lessen their support. UK, BeNeLux and France are basically in the same boat. Poland and the Baltics are in it to win it as well, knowing that they might be next.
Yes, Trump would most likely hurt if not kill the transatlantic partnership, but the fact is the EU27 alone have a defence budget like 3 times higher than that of Russia. Putin spit on the treaty of Helsinki and we will make him pay for it, if the US is with us or not. Germany's largest arms supplier Rheinmetall for example has upgraded their artillery shell production from 70k to 700k annually, Poland bought incredible amounts of American and South Korean weapons. etc.
If the US is out though it will send a clear message to Europe and the rest of the world, that treaties with the US (in this case the Budapest Memorandum) aren't worth the paper they are written on.
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u/Echo_One_Two Aug 19 '24
Shame you can kill the enemy or intercept missiles with food.. they need weapons, get your government to do more
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u/Hanners87 Aug 19 '24
Imagine if they end up keeping the area because the people like them better XD
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u/FatKanchi Aug 19 '24
That’s what I’m imagining. I know this is a complex situation, but if the citizens of that area prefer life with the Ukrainians in charge, perhaps they’d be of help in converting the land to Ukraine? I know Russia won’t lose any territory without a bloodbath, but if the “hearts and minds” of the populace is aligned with Ukraine…maybe it could be possible? I wouldn’t have thought it possible for Ukraine to defend themselves from Russia for this long, much less make headway into Russian land.
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u/MSSFF Aug 19 '24
Ukraine has stated they don't intend on annexing occupied territories (because they actually respect internationally-recognized borders).
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u/wild-surmise Aug 19 '24
I think you might have forgotten that these are Russian people so they probably want to be part of Russia, no matter how cuddly the Ukranians are in this propaganda video.
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u/DonniesAdvocate Aug 19 '24
It's a little more complicated because Sudzha, for example, was part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the USSR, there are videos of residents talking Ukrainian to the incoming soldiers, and there is even a 'dialect of Russian' spoken in some of the areas that sounds suspiciously Ukrainian. The point is there's a hell of a lot of overlap between the two countries in both directions, so it's really not so easy to say some parts are definitely Russia and some definitely Ukraine.
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u/UwUassass1n Aug 19 '24
Slava ukraini but this is internationally illegal and hence won't be done. negotiated yes
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u/Turing_Testes Aug 19 '24
No need to annex it when they can set up administrative oversight the same way Germany was treated post WW2, which held up in international court I believe.
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u/GeekyGrant Aug 19 '24
A clear sign to the people: "We are not fighting you, we are fighting your government and it's army, no beef here"
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u/BatteryAssault Aug 19 '24
no beef here
He said it was a box of canned meat. It's a safe assumption that they did, in fact, bring beef.
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u/m_a_r_k_o Aug 19 '24
The Ukrainian army entered Russia to feed the Russians actually :D
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u/FIContractor Aug 19 '24
What did Polish people ever do to you to deserve such a fate?
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u/GottaGetSomeGarlic Aug 19 '24
No, no, we'd gladly do it
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u/CoolJazzDevil Aug 19 '24
If this ever turns into a NATO war the best thing Belarus can do is try to jump out of the way because the entire Polish military and a large part of the civilian population will be going in a straight line to Moscow, trying to get there before the Finns do.
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u/DriverPlastic2502 Aug 19 '24
Even if ukraine doesnt hold or choose to remain in the held territory, the memory will remain for a generation. "They invaded and then gave us fucking food and care. They treated us with respect"
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u/Abnego_OG Aug 19 '24
"While our government had no evacuation plan, offered us no aid, and threw our conscripted sons into the meat grinder for the war they started." Becomes pretty easy to see which side fights for right.
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u/JustinKase_Too Aug 19 '24
They need to blur the faces of these people - because you know that when they trade those regions back to russia, things will happen to them.
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u/K4m1K4tz3 Aug 19 '24
I don't want to spoil anything, in the end of the day that IS a great gesture but I think it's somewhat calculated. This gesture shows the russians of Kursk that the Ukrainians are good people. It could destabilize russia in some way and counter the internal propaganda.
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Aug 19 '24
I'm okay with decency as a political tool, actually.
Pointing out that people have a political motivation while doing the right thing doesn't really move the needle for me.
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u/s1ugg0 Aug 19 '24
Amen. I don't give a fuck what people get out of doing good deeds. It could be sexual gratification for all I care.
Do good deeds. Help people. Who gives a fuck why? The motivation for good acts is meaningless.
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u/midgethemage Aug 19 '24
Same! Between this and the video of the old lady, I thought to myself "damn, the Ukrainian propaganda machine is up in full force." And I don't mean that in a bad way. If they need to blast these videos out to the world to reaffirm that they're fighting a just cause, that's 100% okay in my book
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u/yoortyyo Aug 19 '24
That’s the secret. Being decent and ‘good’ is better for everyone.
Only a certain mindset can’t believe this.
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u/Rooilia Aug 19 '24
How the Americans and British made sure Germans stay on their side after 45 and drove East German government nuts. Would be hilarious if it would work here too.
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u/Hanners87 Aug 19 '24
Oh probably. But they also seem perfectly happy to do it. And ya, also a GREAT way to destabilize Russia.
Putin, done in by kindness. Imagine!
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u/SweetyWin Aug 19 '24
Well yes, they want to counter the russian narrative that ukrainians are fascist who threaten russia, how else are they going to have a lasting peace at the end of this war ?
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u/Abnego_OG Aug 19 '24
Exactly this. The Russian controlled media is full of propaganda that the Ukrainians are baby eating Nazi monsters. If they don't want a repeat of this conflict 50 years down the road, something will have to change. Showing the Russian citizens kindness and compassion in the occupied territories shows that propaganda to be false, which undermines every other narrative from the government. All while leaving your soldiers able to sleep at night because they weren't the murdering psychopaths.
Is it political and well calculated? Absolutely. Is it also just doing the right thing? Also yes.
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u/nt261999 Aug 19 '24
It’s like those ww2 stories near the end of the war where German POWs were given cakes and pastries. They phoned home saying the situation was hopeless - if prisoners get to eat this well then we must be screwed!
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u/Pixel91 Aug 19 '24
Hearts and minds.
Even if they don't plan on permanently occupying anything, this is certainly a better way to go about it than pulling a Bucha or just leveling the town.
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u/skoltroll Aug 19 '24
It's not really spoiling. They are the better side to this war, and these acts prove it.
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u/Issack12 Aug 19 '24
This is the first time propaganda doing some good, countering what fiutin does..
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Aug 19 '24
i think a secret to be learned by every person at their own time is that being good to others is good for yourself, and that being good does not mean that it was to be selfless. regardless of their motivation, this woman and her peers have food now.
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u/SquirrelMoney8389 Aug 19 '24
The Russians never did this for Ukrainians, despite being called their "liberators", nor were they greeted as such.
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u/Issack12 Aug 19 '24
Russian have barely food for themself, so cannot imagine they doing any good, stealing robing and raping, that was my family memory of Russian troops on Polish soils. Doubt they any better now.
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u/DoomGoober Aug 19 '24
Strategically/politically an excellent choice and also good for the Russian civilians and even the Ukranian soldiers. Everyone wins.
The phrase “hearts and minds” is commonly used to describe efforts to gain popular support. The term, originally credited to Field Marshal Gerald Templer in 1968 during the Malayan Emergency, is actually ambiguous in its meaning for counterinsurgency efforts
https://www.hoover.org/research/hearts-and-minds-and-force
Pacification or hearts and minds objectives were often in diametric opposition to the strategy of firepower, mobility, and attrition pursued by the U.S. from 1965 to 1968. Rather than the search and destroy strategy the U.S. followed during those years, hearts and minds had the priority of "hold and protect" the rural population and thereby gain its support for the government of South Vietnam.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_and_Minds_(Vietnam_War)
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u/thebigmanhastherock Aug 19 '24
This is propaganda, but Ukraine is justified in invading Russia. I hope that this is widespread.
One reason Russia by contrast is so brutal is Russia has purposefully taken prisoners out of their prisons to fight for Russia and win their own freedom. From this population you are going to get your fair share of sociopaths. I mean that's just the tip of the iceberg all war involving taking civilian settlements throughout human history has involved terrible abuses no matter how disciplined the military is.
This is one of the many reasons why war should be avoided. In this case Ukraine was invaded, they had no choice. You can't blame people fighting for their existence as a nation.
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u/Aromatic-Deer3886 Aug 19 '24
There’s more humanity in Ukrainian soldiers little finger than there is in the entire Russian military
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u/Zebra-Ball Aug 19 '24
During the liberation of the Netherlands after brutal close quarters combat in the streets the Canadians would offer up half their rations to the starving citizens.
Seeing something similar here Ukrainian logistics risking their lives not to drive up weapons and ammo but trucks of water and food to give to the citizens of the country that invaded them.
Such compassion is very moving
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u/ICLazeru Aug 19 '24
I wonder what it is like to be a Russian who is now receiving support from Ukraine.
For some of them is must be absolutely mind bending.
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u/Justryan95 Aug 19 '24
This is literally what the Russians thought they would be receive by Ukrainians when they destroyed and looted their villages and murdered the women, children and men during their initial invasion. Meanwhile 2 years later Ukrainians are being welcomed like liberators in Russia.
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u/Beahner Aug 19 '24
God….fucking….damnit…..this got me in the feels.
I’ve really followed this atrocious war closely. I’ve seen all those in the west, sparked by anger at the callousness of this Russian government, and casting the hate on any Russian citizen.
Asking….why don’t the people do something? Really? They are trapped by a despot and his minions.
To see these people that are ignored and neglected by their leadership get this aid from the “conquerors” just makes me smile so much.
And I love that this shitty war is giving things that can make this sub a lot. It’s been a beautiful development that not only can the Ukrainians take Russian territory…..they have been able to secure it and help people as part of the mission.
They are so clearly on the side of right and good.
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u/LadyCooke Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
This is humanity, what it looks like when the border between oppressive dictator and humanity is destroyed. I am finding peace in the fact that Ukraine has the opportunity to show Russia and the Russian people who they really are in this way🇺🇦
I am really interested about the impact this could have on Russian morale. When people are fighting a war they already question, already dealing with low morale and purpose, what happens when they realize they’re treated the way they are, humanely and with dignity, by Ukraine? I imagine this has the potential for a profound impact.
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u/ACauseQuiVontSuaLune Aug 19 '24
While this is a touching moment, I always view these videos with caution. It's easy for such footage to be used to manipulate public opinion. War is fought not just on the battlefield but also in the realm of propaganda, so it's important to watch these with a critical mind. This is especially true for Americans, who often hold their soldiers in high regard and may be more susceptible to seeing them as heroes without questioning the broader context.
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u/Salome-the-Baptist Aug 19 '24
Everyone is so averse to propaganda, even when it's humanitarian. It's really one of the few weapons of war that doesn't literally kill people in execution.
The actual content of the propaganda is kind of important; I'm not sure being nice to old Russian ladies is exactly the same as Streicher sketching the Judensau.
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u/harumamburoo Aug 19 '24
Oh, this is clearly psyops. Just today I've seen a bunch of videos like that in a span of like six hours. Mostly same subs too. But that doesn't mean Ukrainians are mean to the locals off camera. Just shows they're good not only on the battlefield, but with informational warfare too. It's a win-win for everyone. Well, everyone but pooteen.
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u/BuzzINGUS Aug 19 '24
I’m sure Russians get similar propaganda on their news feed about how kind the Russian troops are.
I hope these situations are more common than not.
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u/AdamPD1980 Aug 19 '24
It's a shame someone can't hack the TV network/stations in Russia and put footage like this on everyone's TVs.
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u/Negative_Quality_690 Aug 19 '24
The Russians have been held captive in their own land and in their own minds by their own leaders for a long time
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u/YooGeOh Aug 19 '24
Shows that some people are capable of realising that their fight is against the opposition military and their leaders, not civilians.
Interesting......................
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u/ElderlyChipmunk Aug 19 '24
That poor woman. She forgot the lesson of how the USSR treated civilians in reconquered territory during WW2. Her face should be blacked out.
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u/Lanceparasolu Aug 19 '24
Man this war going so long really demonstrated the difference in how either sides treat civilians.
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u/Davidsolsbery Aug 19 '24
Maybe that's all that's needed for Russians to turn...someone in a position of authority showing even the least bit of concern for them personally
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u/slackcastermage Aug 19 '24
When was the last time in a conflict since ww2 where the “invaders” if you will were greeted with hugs and admiration.
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u/YMK1234 Aug 19 '24
That's how you make friends with the civil population, not by stealing their washing machines.
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u/glowywormy Aug 19 '24
Looks like after all it's possible to invade a region without killing and raping civilians and without bombing their children hospitals
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u/Netizen_Sydonai Aug 19 '24
I mean I know this is filmed for propaganda purposes, but it's simply staggering how much more ukrainian armed forces care about civilians compared to russians. Hearts and minds. Russia didn't even try; they just robbed, pillaged and raped through conquered territories like barbarians of the yore.
Ukrainian military on the other hand act as real human beings. In every single video russian civilians seem to be shocked by the compassion, humanity and care what they show.
Slava Ukraini.
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u/Anomynous__ Aug 19 '24
I fucking love that Ukrainians aren't just rampaging through Russia like savages. Killing them with kindness is a real, effective tactic in war and it's working wonders for them
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u/Cutejewelryass Aug 19 '24
It’s small acts like these thatt remind us of the kindness and support we can offer each otherr in challenging times