In an intercepted phone call, the soldier also complains that Ukrainian Armed Forces are waging a fierce fight and Russians should not believe what Kremlin media tells them.
If you were in their shoes you’d act the same way. It’s not a choice. They’re humans just like everyone else. It’s the culture, environment and circumstances that lead them to act the way they do. It’s not to excuse the bad behaviour. It’s just a bit naive to think we would act differently because we’re so much more moral than them. That’s just fantasy
In their mindless tunnel-vision, they have tried their damnedest to dehumanize Ukrainians, and in the process - inevitably - the only ones they have objectively dehumanized are themselves.
Or maybe a more fitting term would be that they have subhumanized themselves. And they have done this over and over and over again, in Georgia, in Chechnya, in Crimea, etc. They are parasitic.
Don’t call them Orcs. Don’t dehumanize them. Orcs are born evil. These Russian soldiers have a choice. They choose to be evil.
We don’t dehumanise them to make them feel bad or anything.
We do it to make the necessary act of killing them less hurtful to our mental health.
If russians want to leave Ukraine in peace they leave as humans. But if they choose to die for putin, we might as well call them orcs.
On another note: Orcs are an adequate comparison because they once were elves who were then tortured and enslaved. You know… Just like the russians.
If you were in their shoes you’d act the same way. It’s not a choice. They’re humans just like everyone else. It’s the culture, environment and circumstances that lead them to act the way they do. It’s not to excuse the bad behaviour. It’s just a bit naive to think we would act differently because we’re so much more moral than them. That’s just fantasy
Orcs, monsters, nazi’s, murderers, etc. Let’s call them what they are.
In their mindless tunnel-vision, they have tried their damnedest to dehumanize Ukrainians, and in the process - inevitably - the only ones they have objectively dehumanized are themselves.
Or maybe a more fitting term would be that they have subhumanized themselves. And they have done this over and over and over again, in Georgia, in Chechnya, in Crimea, etc. They are parasitic.
That actually makes the Russian soldier worse than an Orc.