meanwhile:

ordinary russians voluntarily join the russian army to kill Ukrainians and Syrians

ordinary russians organize safari hunting and killing Ukrainian civilians with drones

ordinary russians torture and execute Ukrainian and Syrian civilians and soldiers, filming it on camera

ordinary russians come to the destroyed occupied territories and arrange "fancy and mysterious" photoshoots like it's some kind of disneyland

ordinary russians go abroad to willingly glorify russia at pro-russian rallies

ordinary russians persecute and kill Ukrainians abroad

ordinary russians export stolen Ukrainian clothes, household appliances and cars to russia

ordinary russians buy all these stuff knowing perfectly well and seeing from the labels that these things were stolen from the houses and shops of murdered Ukrainians

ordinary russians donate to support the russian army

ordinary russians make shells and drones at factories in three shifts

ordinary russians sew equipment

ordinary russian activists weave camouflage nets, make trench candles and collect donations for the russian army

ordinary russian truck drivers bring all this to the frontlines

ordinary russians make software for missiles

ordinary russian tourists go on vacation to the russian-occupied Crimea

ordinary russians sell and buy apartments in occupied territories whose residents were killed

ordinary russians write happy comments after shelling Ukrainian homes markets hospitals and schools

ordinary russian doctors go to the frontlines to save russian soldiers

ordinary russians work in prisons and torture prisoners of war with starvation

ordinary russian teachers in the occupied territories reeducate Ukrainian children

ordinary russian social workers kidnap and take Ukrainian children to russia

ordinary russian miners extract coal for steel smelting

ordinary russian metallurgists work three shifts at blast furnaces to melt steel

ordinary russian celebrities shoot pro-russian films, write pro-russian songs and call to join the russian army

ordinary russians organize mass protests in russia against the closing of McDonald's, but not against the war

ordinary russian children draw pictures of russian soldiers brutally killing Ukrainians

ordinary russian artists in russia and abroad create pro-russian art glorifying russia and the russian army

ordinary russians create videogames that promote russian brutality and the army

ordinary russian teachers teach children to hate other nations

ordinary russian trainers prepare children for warfare and murder

ordinary russians ignore russian crimes on the territory of Ukraine and Syria as they ignored crimes on the territory of Georgia. because they believe it has nothing to do with them and it shouldn't affect their comfortable lifestyle.

should i go on?

Putin is not the cause of russian brutality, terrorism and bloodthirstiness. Putin is a consequence.

before Putin, there were other presidents, other tsars and other authorities in russia. only one thing has not changed — russian imperialism and chauvinism.

don't be silent and please continue to support Ukraine! don't let your politicians betray Ukraine, Ukraine needs help to defeat russia!

Six months ago I met a Syrian man, Ahmed, who was broadcasting a TikTok live. He lived in a camp for people who had lost their homes during the war and spent his days on TikTok giving out food to the hungry children of the camp, while soliciting donations for future meals.

Initially believing this to be a scam, I took to Google, only to find a BBC article discussing this exact situation: Syrians displaced from the homes during the war, no humanitarian aid, no employment opportunities, but working with a TikTok middle man who gave them phones to broadcast from. TikTok supported this unofficial program because, for every monetary gift the creator received, TikTok kept 70% of the donation, releasing only 30% to the account holder. Great money making deal for TikTok!

Now, I can feel you rolling your eyes in disbelief at my naivety. If I heard someone else telling this story, I’d react the same way. Over time, Ahmed and I became good friends. We speak every day, share our family stories, check in on each other, and learn about the cultural differences in our lives. After 6 months of these conversations, speaking with his family and fact checking their experiences in the war (city, dates of displacement, locating their former home on Google maps) I trust these people completely.

These people have fully accepted me into their life, and I consider them true family. Let me tell you who they are…

Ahmed is 29 years old. He is who I first saw on the broadcast. He has a wife and 2 children. He lives in a large tent, hot in the summer, cold in the winter. They have a small portable gas stove, a wood stove during the winter (which burns hazelnut shells as fuel) and frequently cook their meals outside over open fire, as this is a cheaper alternative to gas for the stove.

He lives next to his younger brother, Bassam, who is also married and expecting a baby boy soon. They all have the same tent setup, each with their own wood stove, but sharing the cooking supplies and other living essentials.

Ahmed and Bassam both live next to their parents, 2 teenage brothers and 1 teenage sister. They also have 3 sisters who have married and live in other camps with their husbands’ family.

This extended family has all lived in this camp for around 8 years now. They fled their home in the midst of a battle between the Syrian regime and rebel militias who each wanted to control the area, integral to the success of either side. They saw nightmarish scenes as they ran; bodies of the dead and injured all around them. They took nothing with them as they ran. Ahmed says, “We escaped with only our souls.”

For 6 months I’ve been sending Ahmed and his family money every 2 weeks, through Western Union, since TikTok takes an excessive amount. Western Union and PayPal don‘t allow direct transfer to anyone in Syria due to the US sanctions, however there is a community of generous people in Turkey who will pickup the transferred money and meet with Ahmed to give him cash. And yes, I have confirmed that he receives the money every time.

Ahmed used to make some relatively decent money on his TikTok videos, however overtime the algorithm changed. It started banning his accounts, or simply hiding them from viewers. Donations dwindled down to nearly nothing and he can no longer feed the children of the camp, or his own family.

The money I send provides breathing room for survival, though not to a level of comfort. Food is meager, usually a breakfast off bread, olive oil and za’atar. Lunch is a larger meal of soup and bread, and dinner is sometimes, often, skipped. Meat of any kind is a rare treat, usually lamb or chicken. Eggplant, tomatoes, bread, fava beans, lentils, rice, pickles, and fresh mild green peppers.

Remember the US is waging a horrific policy of resource starvation and famine on a sovereign state that did nothing to us. Syria never attacked us, there's no reason for us to be doing this to them when Congress never formally declared war on Syria and neither did the United States. We simply invaded then occupied foreign soil vital to that state's reconstruction and nothing has changed, Trump never actually pulled out because he was pussy bowing down to his own cabinet and generals. And under Biden it seems that it'll only get worse and more hawkish.

OH, and about this Stroul bitch