Stop watching shows with Russian characters in them, stop reading Russian books, STOP DEFENDING RUSSIAN ART.

The problem is not your favourite Russian artist, painter or writer - the problem is that you place them above Ukrainian lives today. You can always donate the same amount of money you spent on Russian art or your vacation in Russia - you cannot bring back dead Ukrainians, you cannot undo the destruction of Ukrainian cities, you can only help to rebuild and to gain back.

Start engaging with Ukrainian culture - discover your favourite Ukrainian poet or writer or painter or artist or filmmaker. Show your interest so we can have more programmes to translate Ukrainian art to English and other languages.

“Remembrance is not violation”

“I have a quote by Lina Kostenko written on my helmet: ‘Where there is heroism, there is no final defeat.’ They banned it. They said it was a political slogan, that it was about war, that it wasn’t allowed. I translated it for them word for word — no, it’s a political slogan. These are simply motivational words for me, for my team, and for my country. Why not? ‘Not allowed, it’s political, it’s propaganda.’”

I’ll say something that might sound controversial, but this whole situation with the 2026 Olympics increasingly reminds me of how Ukrainians were treated during the Soviet Union, when any Ukrainian position was banned and there were always “reasons” given: it discriminates against others, it violates equality, it makes Russians uncomfortable — meaning, ahem, it’s chauvinism, it’s an expression of aggressive Ukrainian nationalism, and so on.

“Oleh’s story repeats the experience of Ukrainian freestyle skier Kateryna Kotsar, whose helmet was banned because of the inscription ‘Be brave like Ukrainian.’”

And while on one side there is pressure from the International Olympic Committee, on the other side additional organizations get involved — institutions where, much like in key Soviet structures, Ukrainians simply are not represented. Yet it isn’t difficult to understand who is represented there, and with what views toward us — and this time it is the International Skating Union (ISU).

“My career right now is okay, but the future… ISU doesn’t really favor us, in my opinion. Because we have no representatives in ISU. I don’t like that we don’t have anyone there at all. So we don’t have support, and they can do whatever they want with us. And I was made to understand that it would be better not to do this for the sake of my future career. No, this wasn’t the IOC — it was specifically the ISU who banned it.”

Ukrainian athletes are currently being treated like dissidents within a hostile system, where any position is seen as a protest. And so we see a similar dissident behavior from Ukrainians like quickly pinned notes with words written on their palms.

So I’m just waiting for the infamous words to be said:

“A Ukrainian has been condemned for Ukrainian bourgeois nationalism.”

“Russian soldiers are all forced to go to this war.” Please, listen to at least some real interviews with them.

Because in 90% of cases, after the word “forced,” one of these reasons follows:

“I was forced to fight because I signed a contract that said I would only dig trenches and do logistical support. But I was betrayed and sent to assault positions. I was promised I’d just help the army and earn money while staying safe.”

“I was forced to fight because I was in prison and was told my sentence would be canceled if I signed a contract. It’s very unfortunate that other Russians don’t really respect me.”

“I was forced to fight because I wanted a better life, to pay off my loans. They said they would pay well, so I signed the contract.”

Yes, there are ideological Russians who are genuinely interested in destroying Ukrainians. But the majority see these killings — and their participation in them — as a source of income. This is not the first such case in human history, including today. Yet for some reason, you fail to grasp this.

At the same time, many of you refuse to listen to Ukrainians, considering our perspective unreliable — even though we have lived with and interacted with this nation for centuries, while you may have only had a couple of Russian acquaintances.

So yes, thank you for the support. But Ukrainians are not fighting to “liberate Russians from Putin” and make Russia free so that we can then live together with it in harmony — as many of you once imagined, and as many “liberal” Russians still do.

Those Russians who are truly on Ukraine’s side — not just “against the war” — most often do not see the continued existence of this modern empire as a result of Ukraine’s victory. Because that victory would lead to further attempts to free Belarus, to cut Georgia off from Russian influence, and then to internal processes within Russia itself. Beyond that, representatives of national minorities are already discussing the creation of their own forms of statehood without Kremlin control, if they are given such a chance.

So yes, Ukrainians do fight for the freedom of others — this has also been true historically — but in the case of our victory, there will be courts just like after World War II, where the excuse “I was just following orders” is not a valid alibi.

Currently, municipal services, rescuers, and caring people are providing support to the animals on site. In particular, they are taking dogs out of damaged enclosures and taking out injured dogs to save their lives.

The metro has also stopped due to the lack of power.

The temperatures in the nearest are forecasted to get as low as -25°Celsius.

Metro is reported to re-start functioning soon.

The blackout attacks were clearly meant to break people’s morale, and now it feels like they’re searching for other ways to apply pressure too.

It’s honestly awful. I often think, sitting in the darkness, that this really sucks — but people in captivity have it much worse, when they are being tortured day by day.

And now we don’t even know when our people will come back home.

I don’t have anyone there personally, but like so many others, I was truly waiting and hoping for the next exchange.

"My freedom comes at the cost of his second year in captivity"

the Soviet Union was a REGIME that KILLED its own people, murdered MILLIONS. and because the Soviet Union just happened to be on the winning side of the WW2 (oh and don't forget the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) doesn't mean it should be treated any differently.

then you see the modern russians (not some elderly people but young 20+ who have access to the internet) — the arists\musicians\game devs etc and what do they do? they WORSHIP it, trying to make it only about the aestetics and erasing the fact of what really happened during that period

it's literally what russia is doing right now — tries to bring the Soviet Union back, and russian youth support it

It's related to politics whether people want to admit that or not

Partly because we all are shaped by the politics

Not to mention that part of the money artists receive is used to pay taxes

Which is why people need to stop supporting russian artists

Boycott russian games & all of the other forms of media/art from russians

Not only supporting russian games/other forms of art = tolerating russians(because when you see something often and it's in the things you like, you will end up tolerating it!)

But giving them money = giving the money needed to continue the war in Ukraine