One Russian’s view of the present crisis [Video]

I received a Russian-language text which I am going to present here in an English translation. The author is Ivan Okhlobystin, apparently a rather popular personality in one of Russia’s social networks. He subtitles his page with the words “I think”. Indeed he does, and while there are many such snippets, Ivan’s is quite representative of the kind of thoughts that many Russian people are coming to hold. This is what he had to say (edited where needed for contextual clarity… Ed.)

To make a decision, you need clarity. At least a general idea of ​​what is happening. Taking into account the mess that is happening in the information sphere, I will try to form this idea myself, in the most general terms, as if explaining to an alien.

To wit: America has placed biological centers around Russia in order to produce the necessary infection and kill us all. Most experts believe that the coronavirus, which has been a nightmare for the whole world in recent years, is the product of one of these centers located not only near Russia, but also with China. That is to say, they wanted to kill the Chinese too. As I understand it, America has officially admitted this. Now of course, there was no direct talk about the [intent of mass] murder, but it is unlikely that chewing gum was produced in these laboratories.

And this is just the latest news.

Before the reports of last week were eight years of genocide of the inhabitants of Donbass, the burning of people in Odessa, the bloody suppression of dissidents throughout Ukraine by forces trained by America, who are in fact neo-Nazis.

Then there was an attempt to arm the inadequate Ukrainian leadership of Ukraine with nuclear weapons.

We could not delay any further, and so Russia began to conduct a special operation to prevent the physical destruction of people in the Donbass and to cleanse Ukraine of its neo-Nazis.

Immediately, from America’s European vassals, came a storm of sanctions and the almost complete isolation of Russia from the rest of the world.

It need not be stated that not only we, but also Europe will suffer from sanctions. This is manifestly obvious. But for America, living mostly from speculative manipulations in the market, a bloodless Europe is needed to strengthen its positions that have been shaken over the past decades. And we [the Russian people] are not needed at all, but our territory and our resources are needed.

This is, admittedly, already superfluous information for an alien.

For us, it is important to understand that everything has ALREADY happened. That no one was going to leave us alive and is NOT going to. This cannot be argued. Russian people around the world are being persecuted. It is also true, though, that we are at a turning point in history that will set the stage for the next century, at the very least.

And one more thing – we have enough strength to resist the impending darkness.
Yes, at first we will lose a certain part of our everyday comforts, but this is not a big price for survival.

And if we find wisdom and strength in ourselves, show civil unity, raise the economy, science and culture to a level sufficient for the next evolutionary round in conditions of isolation, then amazing, wonderful times await us. One day, those who offend us now will come to us for help. And we will help them. This is our essence.

This is why we are invincible!

Before I read Ivan’s post, I spent a lot of time reviewing what I know about Russia and her place in the world, and particularly, her important role as the sole great power that is preserving Christianity. That preservation’s purity certainly is different from person to person, but the overall effect is a united nation, united around who Russia is as a people, as a people who care deeply about their traditions and faith.

This is not to say that all of Russia is Christian – it isn’t. Twenty percent of the country is Muslim. There are also Buddhists and Jewish people. But in each case, many of the people in these faiths consider their faith to be the guiding force in their lives and even though the faiths themselves are in disagreement with one another, the ability of each person to show respect for one another unites the country. For example, while “Islamist violence” is a common occurrence in the US, it is not so in Russia, and the relations I have with Muslims here are very friendly, and we often dialogue about what we understand about our own traditions and ask each other questions. We can easily agree to disagree, but we don’t even have to say this. We just show one another what we know and, there it is. It is not, and need not, be a source of offense.

To Americans growing up in my generation (I was born in the last 1960s like our friend Ivan), such openness is not unusual; it was in fact, expected. To Americans now, though, this easy curiosity is gone, and substituted with fear, defensiveness, anger and increasingly – atheism.

Russia has something to defend and preserve in this war, something deeper than national boundaries or political differences. I don’t think the same can be truly said about the West. It appears, from watching the American media, most notably Fox News, that there is an attempt to connect the Ukrainians defense of their country to something like the American vision of liberty and freedom (as founded). However, for a thinking person, it is clear that this is not real. Ukraine is a land that has suffered greatly since the fall of the Soviet Union (not that it didn’t suffer before, but the problems that Russia has now are similar but far worse in Ukraine). Corruption. Disdain of citizens by an incompetent government. Political repression in notably extreme ways, like the imprisonment of those with opposing view. Incredible poverty in the economic system while some few oligarchs grow extremely wealthy.

The US is supporting this and trying to sell America the banner of freedom.

Perhaps the reason many Americans do not seem to be able to smell the stench of lies here is because the American government itself is doing the same things – becoming increasingly elitist, self-serving, corrupt financially, and no longer (being the servants) of the people, by the people and for the people of the United States.

When we are the same as the people we defend, we don’t see their failures.

Also, what are the United States and Europe / NATO actually defending in their actions? Secularism. Gay sex. Drug legalization. The Great Reset. The right of people to disdain Christianity and other traditional ways of life. This is why the pile-on against Russia is so fierce and deep – because the conflict is really about everything the West has become against everything Russia is trying to become. Ukraine is the proxy and the battlefield of the West, and it makes perfect sense that the people there are fighting Russia, and apparently fighting very hard, at least for now.

But the mistake is that all of these things the West is fighting for cannot prevail against what Russia is defending: Christian tradition. Marriage as between a man and woman (and no other way). Sobriety. Personal liberty. A direct connection to ancient history and culture. Beauty. Faith.

And most of all, Russia’s identity as the chosen defender of Christianity, as a nation in service to and under God.

And as long as she holds this course, she is indeed invincible, just as our beloved America was invincible while we held the post as “one nation, under God” in truth.

Not everyone agrees, of course. But this point of view cannot be ignored, and it runs quite widely among Russians, even those that are very worried about the war.