On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine, one of its neighbors to the southwest, marking a major escalation to a conflict that began in 2014.

So far, they have killed more than 2000 Ukrainians, displaced thousands of people out of their homes, and destroyed many buildings in the cities they attacked.

The Russian president Putin is calling all of this a “special military operation”, with the goal of “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine. These claims are echoed by Russian media, almost all of which are under state control (the ones that are not are being censored by the government).

To my Russian readers - my friends, your government, headed by Vladimir Putin is lying to you. He is censoring your media and he is making you believe that he is massacring millions of Ukrainian people for the greater good. He is not, he is just a hungry for power lunatic, not better than the Nazis that he claims he is fighting now.

You are also victims in this situation. The West has imposed unprecedented sanctions on your country - western companies are pulling out of Russia, your banks are kicked out of the SWIFT system and your national currency the ruble is down in record numbers. All of this, because of a dictator that wants to rule the world.

I know that some of you may not realize the full extent of the situation yet, because of the media censorship in your country, that’s why I wrote this post.

Here are some sources you can use to get more info about the situation (provided they are not blocked by your country):