[IvKir]

Good day, all-mighty all.

Well, after surfing and surfing web with some ideas and question in mind, i come to this question:
So, kinda i was wondering, what are thoughts of this Community about Russia in common and how it changed with all that things, that happened with Ukraine? I'm Russian myself, and, for the record, i don't want to start another holywar or something like that.) Just your honest opinion.

[S-99]

I'll bite....

I'll put it in a careless applies to most everyone nutshell. Everyone hates russia about as much as everyone hates america. We all understand that the populace of each could run things better if given the chance. However, corruption is here, and is here to stay in america as well as russia. Corruption in government has taken care of populace uprisings by disarming, making them poor, and that bull**** constant threat of terrorism (we all know that's an excuse for people getting ****ed whenever somebody in law enforcement or government feels like it). America and russia governments have a mind of their own with populaces unable to do a thing about it.

In a comparison, i wouldn't say what russia is up to anything different than what america is up to. It's all lies and deceit trying to come up with justification to provoke others to go to war when all of us millenials don't want to have a thing to do with it. Governments have their own holy wars for land and ideals. The world has become too small. So now it's a fight to steal from your neighbor (this is repetitive). I would say right now, there needs to be an expansion of space for collective ideas and populace. Humans need to be able to get off planet. Because the idea of WW3 is so evil. It's so evilly pre-orchestrated on all sides, that it's disgusting to think of one's self as an unknowing pawn in a horrific conflict of humanity that otherwise didn't need to happen at all.

North korea didn't hack sony, the guy who sent the anthrax letters is still alive, 9/11 was let happen as was pearl harbor. **** being a sheep man.

[IvKir]

Thanks for answer, S-99, and i can't say that you are wrong. But i'm also curious about your thoughts about people.

And yes, i'm not a troll. I'm sociologist and just curious.)

[Scourge of Ages]

Probably, most of us realize that the general populace of Russia wish things were better, but are mostly powerless, same as everywhere else. I don't think anybody holds the citizens responsible for the actions of a nation, Russia or other.

[666maslo666]

I have a certain aversion towards Russia due to 40 years of communist dictatorship and sometimes questionable human rights record. However I just cant get mad at them due to Ukraine. Principle of self-determination says that inhabitants of the land should decide about its government, not outside forces. And as far as I know, people living in disputed areas in Ukraine are majority pro-Russian. And thats what matters.

[S-99]

Thanks for answer, S-99, and i can't say that you are wrong. But i'm also curious about your thoughts about people.

And yes, i'm not a troll. I'm sociologist and just curious.)

I am highly suspicious of everyone next to an uncontrollable degree, among my sense of right and wrong being something I bend the rules on every now and again. I embrace my dark side to become a better person.

[Spoon]

I love all the crazy vids that come out of russia.

[headdie]

Like has been stated earlier, my general view point is that like in pretty much every other country the population is generally very restricted in how they effect the course of government, likewise when the government says go there and do things there is little to be done.  the grief is with the heads of government who make things happen and in this case are viewed to have a very Cold War mentality.

[Bobboau]

so you want to know how the rest of the world feels about Russia?

So my background: American, 32 years old.
From my perspective there's been 3 different ways that I've looked at Russia.

When I was a kid, it was the last days of the Soviet Union, so Russia was something frightening and far away. During this time, when I would think of Russia I would think mainly of the military. when I would think of the people of Russia I would think of people who were oppressed and I wished things would work out better for them. This was when I was very young so I didn't have a nuanced understanding of the world.

The fall of the USSR was when I was 10 years old. Russia was no longer something to be afraid of. I considered Russia to be our friends. I was very hopeful that the people of Russia would be able to build a good future for themselves. I did not realize what life was like in Russia after the Soviet Union fell for a long time. When I was in my 20s I started realizing how life in Russia had not turned out like I had hoped it would. I was sad, but I did not think there was anything I could or should do about it.

Over the last few years I've started realizing how bad life in Russia has become. I have become aware of how a small number of people have effectively stolen everything from the people of Russia. I have seen Russia become progressively more and more repressive with crackdowns on gays and with political opponents of Putin getting imprisoned and recently Russia's restriction of the internet which until recently had been quite free. Seeing the things Putin has been doing over the last few years has made me really nervous. I realize that most Russians love Putin because he is giving Russia a feeling of power again. but what he is doing he will not be able to keep doing forever. Putin is destroying Russia's economy. Eventually this is going to cause things to become much worse for Russia and when this happens I am quite worried about what will happen. I am worried for Russia and for everyone else too.

[IvKir]

Thanks for all replies.

2Bobboau:

Well, in retrospective, last days of USSR was as bad for my country, as the 90-ths, when we get all sorts of bandits and scoundrels even fighting on streets for control over streets. I was a kid, but something i remember quite clearly. And when came Putin with he's administration things started to changing to the best. We starting to get a good payment for work, protection from bandits, and, well, most of Russians support that negative reaction on gay's and Vurst (yes, i know, that we are ignorant and foolish folk xD)
And still, in general, we quite don't know, what will be with all Putin work and he's alliance with China, but... for now all mostly good, even with all that problems with ruble.

[Mars]

Russia's hinging way too much on that oil and gas for such a large country. If the administration doesn't figure out a way to increase their workforce, get a lot of people off of subsidies and diversify its my understanding that they're going to run the country into the ground.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/25/us-russia-crisis-rouble-idUSKBN0K30FC20141225

[Col.Hornet]

Oh, hey man. You started an interesting topic!

Few words from me. 20 year old guy from Poland.
I live near the Polish- German border, so that's the reason I did not have an opportunity to meet many Russians in person. It's easier to meet Ukrainians in Szczecin (ger. Stettin)
To the point . Our nations are tightly related, we share the same history. of course, there was a lot of bad blood between us. But I believe that most of Russians wants the same as we do. To have a peaceful prosperous life. I used to have a pen friend from Moscow and we were agreeing in most cases. Same worries, dreams and problems I haven't experienced any bad things from Russians as people.
And of course. Cuisine. Russian food is simple and tasty. Just like the food should be Let's not forget about vodka. Russian Diamond. One of the best I've ever drunk.   

But if we come to politics.... well.
Things are becoming more complicated. But where they don't?

  Communism. In my opinion a thing worse then Nazism. At least with Germans things were clear. They were killing us, we were killing them. Official enemies. But USSR? 17'th September. Red army is marching into our land, killing our soldiers, looting, raping, etc, and as***** Stalin claims that everything is fine because there is no Poland ;P And after the war almost 50 years were wasted. Of course we rebuilt the  country but we got light years behind the West :/ Because when the U.S were pumping dollars in Europe to help it get back to normality (and of course create a market for future business ), Russians were feeding us with Marx and Lenin's rubbish xD I think that these 50 years were even more destructive for my nation then the WWII itself. And not in a matter of economy but mainly mentally :/  Times of communism strengthened a lot of bad features in us. That's all about the past. It is a such wide topic that I could have written a whole article about it

Of course I'm very worried about how things are going today. I have a feeling that president Putin is trying to get Russia back into condition of the Soviet empire. No matter if the price is for example standard of living for Russian people. And what's even more sad is the fact that plenty of older Russians find it proper :/ (some time ago I heard and interview with an old Russian. poor guy who's thinking that all the bad things are caused by the West, NATO and that their authorities have the best solutions for that. What makes me happier is the fact that younger generations of Russians don't see the world just in "white-black". That's a matter of education and access to the information I guess )

But I like how Putin dealt with the Syrian issue and stopped Americans from bombarding Assad's army in 2013. Overthrowing the Syrian president would have made things worse only. Without land invasion and pacifying both sides of conflict, Syria would have drowned in blood much faster then it currently does. For now I wish the Syrian president to take back his country and wipe the IS vermin and other islamic factions off the land.

As for the Ukrainian issue. Gosh, that's sick. First of all you violated the treaty where you declared not to interrupt the integrity of Ukraine. But honestly saying both sides have their sins here. Take a look at this. Poland is sending some supplies to Ukraine, to help their soldiers to fight separatists.And what kind of "thank you" we receive? Fraking embargo for food export. Some time ago we have sent a transport with gifts and supplies for Poles who live in Lwów (ukr. Lviv). What happened? Ukrainians sent the truck back and did not let them to cross the border. Not to mention that their "national heroes" like Bandera and the actions of their so called "ukrainian insurgent army" caused a massacre of more then 100 thousands of Polish civilians during WWII !!! My family barely escaped the slaughter. And it boils my blood when the media say that "we are brothers" and should help Ukraine and set the society against Russians.

 And sanctions against Russia are not good for us at all. A lot of polish companies (food producers mainly) were making good business with Russians. guess how they are making money now.

Damn, that was a long post. To sum up. I like Russians as people but the politics can ruin everything .
Congratulations for those who managed to read everything xD

[Dragon]

For me, Russia is a really interesting case. The West is about as much at fault for things that are happening in Ukraine as Russia. Russia merely took advantage of what NATO allowed it to do. It can't afford a world war any more than NATO can (indeed, even less so. They have no chance of winning an open war), but it's more as willing to get near such a situation. Putin will go as far as he can, and no further. He's a rather Machiavellian politician, with good grasp of NATO's way of thinking (considering he's playing them like a fiddle right now...).

Indeed, I think that the best way to understand the current situation is to be from the region which has major influences of both first and second world - only this would allow one to fully grasp how it looks from both sides. Living in Poland has this advantage. The disadvantage (aside from it being Poland ) is that when the worlds come to blows, you're stuck in the crossfire. It is rather unsettling to see conflict unfold so closely to the border, and I'm convinced it will spill over one day unless something game-changing happens.

I do admire the decisiveness of the Russian government. It doesn't fool around in though places like Middle East, and seems less hypocritical than The West (not that it's saying much). It's the same trait that causes them to exploit the Western weakness as successfully as they do. It is a strong, resilient country, but it's also way past its prime. With a strong leader, it could yet return to power (indeed, if it wasn't for Putin's blunder with gas politics, it'd be in a rather good position). I believe it could be brought back into importance, but it'd take a very talented leader (more than Putin) to do so.

That said, their economic problems might just as well be a death blow. For many people, they are, quite literally. Since Soviet Union went bankrupt and collapsed, population growth plunged (to the point of stopping to be a growth) and suicide rates skyrocketed. Russia hasn't got up since then, and it'll have a hard time doing so now, since Putin overused gas export as a political pressure tool, which resulted in other countries looking for alternatives. Russia doesn't exactly have other export options, and subjugating Ukraine isn't going to fix this. It will not be defeated by NATO (the current sanctions are misguided, mostly impacting Poland and other people who sell things to Russia), but I think it runs the risk of having economic issues pick it apart. I think Putin's age might be showing here, but being stuck with mid-20th century, pre-globalization way of thinking is, somewhat ironically, a global problem.

Another problem is stability. Putin acts like an emperor (indeed, it likely wouldn't change much if he declared himself Czar. It'd surely be a honest move...), but he needs to remember that like all emperors, he needs a heir that would be worth his/her salt. Medviediev likely isn't, he's just a puppet. Putin is strong, clever and very charismatic, but he's old and not getting any younger. Some people from Ukraine that I know even suspected a civil war would break out should Putin die anytime soon. Needless to say, that wouldn't be good. I wouldn't hope for a Western-style democracy, at any rate. It never really worked in Russia, and due to how things work around there, I suspect it never will. It can get a good Czar, but those are difficult times and things will go bad if it doesn't (instead ending up with an useless drunk or a maniacal despot like Stalin, for instance).

Individual "normal" Russians are basically OK, but I think Russia has a major problem with both not having enough intelligent people (since they were persecuted by the communists) and having unintelligent people in high positions (the oft-ridiculed "New Russians"). Kind of like in Poland, only worse. While communists in Poland were a bit less through in disposing of aristocracy, officers and intelligence in general, in Russia, the revolution and then Stalin's purges killed or drove off nearly all of them. This first bit them in WWII and continues to do so to this day. Coupled with negative population growth (meaning they're not getting that many new intellectuals, either), this is likely a major part of the reason why Russia is in such dire straits economically.

[est1895]

Oh, hey man. You started an interesting topic!

Few words from me. 20 year old guy from Poland.
I live near the Polish- German border, so that's the reason I did not have an opportunity to meet many Russians in person. It's easier to meet Ukrainians in Szczecin (ger. Stettin)
To the point . Our nations are tightly related, we share the same history. of course, there was a lot of bad blood between us. But I believe that most of Russians wants the same as we do. To have a peaceful prosperous life. I used to have a pen friend from Moscow and we were agreeing in most cases. Same worries, dreams and problems I haven't experienced any bad things from Russians as people.
And of course. Cuisine. Russian food is simple and tasty. Just like the food should be Let's not forget about vodka. Russian Diamond. One of the best I've ever drunk.   

But if we come to politics.... well.
Things are becoming more complicated. But where they don't?

  Communism. In my opinion a thing worse then Nazism. At least with Germans things were clear. They were killing us, we were killing them. Official enemies. But USSR? 17'th September. Red army is marching into our land, killing our soldiers, looting, raping, etc, and as***** Stalin claims that everything is fine because there is no Poland ;P And after the war almost 50 years were wasted. Of course we rebuilt the  country but we got light years behind the West :/ Because when the U.S were pumping dollars in Europe to help it get back to normality (and of course create a market for future business ), Russians were feeding us with Marx and Lenin's rubbish xD I think that these 50 years were even more destructive for my nation then the WWII itself. And not in a matter of economy but mainly mentally :/  Times of communism strengthened a lot of bad features in us. That's all about the past. It is a such wide topic that I could have written a whole article about it

Of course I'm very worried about how things are going today. I have a feeling that president Putin is trying to get Russia back into condition of the Soviet empire. No matter if the price is for example standard of living for Russian people. And what's even more sad is the fact that plenty of older Russians find it proper :/ (some time ago I heard and interview with an old Russian. poor guy who's thinking that all the bad things are caused by the West, NATO and that their authorities have the best solutions for that. What makes me happier is the fact that younger generations of Russians don't see the world just in "white-black". That's a matter of education and access to the information I guess )

But I like how Putin dealt with the Syrian issue and stopped Americans from bombarding Assad's army in 2013. Overthrowing the Syrian president would have made things worse only. Without land invasion and pacifying both sides of conflict, Syria would have drowned in blood much faster then it currently does. For now I wish the Syrian president to take back his country and wipe the IS vermin and other islamic factions off the land.

As for the Ukrainian issue. Gosh, that's sick. First of all you violated the treaty where you declared not to interrupt the integrity of Ukraine. But honestly saying both sides have their sins here. Take a look at this. Poland is sending some supplies to Ukraine, to help their soldiers to fight separatists.And what kind of "thank you" we receive? Fraking embargo for food export. Some time ago we have sent a transport with gifts and supplies for Poles who live in Lwów (ukr. Lviv). What happened? Ukrainians sent the truck back and did not let them to cross the border. Not to mention that their "national heroes" like Bandera and the actions of their so called "ukrainian insurgent army" caused a massacre of more then 100 thousands of Polish civilians during WWII !!! My family barely escaped the slaughter. And it boils my blood when the media say that "we are brothers" and should help Ukraine and set the society against Russians.

 And sanctions against Russia are not good for us at all. A lot of polish companies (food producers mainly) were making good business with Russians. guess how they are making money now.

Damn, that was a long post. To sum up. I like Russians as people but the politics can ruin everything .
Congratulations for those who managed to read everything xD

Your story is the first Polish perspective that I have ever heard.  When you said that your family barely escaped the slaughter of WWII, how did they survive?

[Col.Hornet]

In 1943 the Organization of Ukrainian nationalists (OUN) prepared and carried out an "operation" which was meant to "clean" the Ukrainian land of Polish element. Simply saying it was a genocide.  Wikipedia describes it pretty well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacres_of_Poles_in_Volhynia_and_Eastern_Galicia

Bastards were killing Ukrainians as well. There were a lot of places where Poles, Ukrainians, Russians and Jews were living together, peacefully (marriages between Poles and Ukrainians were quite common). But UPA members claimed that mixing the Ukrainian blood with Polish one was a crime. Logic and methods were just the same as Nazi ones. But the way how they were killing people.... damn. That would be a good material for a horror film. If you've watched "Saw" series then you can imagine how it looked like. My family survived only because their Ukrainian neighbour, a good man and loyal friend told them that UPA is going to kill all Poles in the village. So they fled, left almost everything and moved to the west. Many years later they ended up in western Pomerania, near the German border.

That's why in my opinion our authorities should not tell in the name of entire nation that "we should help our brothers to fight for their country" because I will never give a hand to the people who worship the bandits who massacred innocent people. just look at members of volunteer battalions like "Azov" for example. Swastikas on helmets and emblems of "Das Reich" SS Division on their banners. Of course, that's a small group of people, radicals but believe me. Huge part of Ukrainian society doesn't find it bad. I can't blame them for their need of worshipping their heroes. They don't have many of them. Ukrainian national identity is quite young (started in 19'th century if I remember well).  But still it does not justify the cult of UPA. It will only make things between our nations worse. It's a complicated issue and it's really hard to explain all the things which are going in the East without digging into details :/

That's why I think my country should not involve that much in the Ukrainian crisis. Helping civilians, sending supplies, food etc. Fine. But nothing more. It makes our relations with Russians very tense.

[Herra Tohtori]

I'm Finnish. TL;DR: I don't like Putin, I don't like the blatant propaganda of the Russian media, his internal politics are a travesty and I think what they have been doing in Ukraine is shameful.


Long version:

Russia has a long history of being a horrible place for most of its population, as well as being a rather mercurial neighbour for the bordering nations.

Russia has an insane political culture, mostly for historical reasons but also because no one has actually made much of an effort to change the system towards. Politicians rarely change things unless they suit them - why should Russian politicians be different?

The most unnerving thing about Russia has always been that if Russian leaders want something, they'll try to take it. If they have no justification they make some **** up and dump it to their people through the state media and send dissenters to gulags (or modern equivalent, blacklisting for government jobs, other forms of ostracizing) for being unpatriotic. Historically, this is not exclusive to Russia; however in the modern world, particularly if one considers Russia to be an European country, it is a rather unique trait. Most other countries have more or less gotten over their expansionist/imperialist tendencies and are content with what they have, and getting what they don't have through trade.

It seems that the Russian leaders tend to only respect the sovereignty of neighbouring countries as long as it suits them and there is no conflict with Russian interests. Similarly, they only respect basic human rights like freedom of expression when it suits them.

Russian leadership says one thing and does the opposite, seemingly without any shame. It is apparent they do not care how devastating this is for their credibility. This is particularly true with regards to the Ukraine situation. They have been repeatedly caught in outright lies and fabrications, and still expect to participate in negotiations. How anyone could take anything they say at face value, or trust that they'll actually do what they say, is beyond me.


So, as a nation, I view Russia with rather significant amount of distrust and if it were up to me, I would never make any deals with Russia where them reneging on the terms would cause a significant economical or other loss. Reliance on such a fundamentally unreliable trade partner for such base necessities as energy or food is, simply put a bad idea.


It is an unfortunate state of affairs that the Russian people have been stuck between a continuous flux of overly ambitious and self-serving leaders with no real interest in actually improving the people's standard of living. Going from the serfdom of feudal/pre-industrial era led by the Czars, to the horribly botched industrialization by the bolsheviks, and after the fall of communism the party was replaced by oligarchs and other political elites. People are the same everywhere, and my predominant feelings towards regular Russian people are sympathy and frustration, although not necessarily in that order.

It would be ideal if the Russians could enact a change through the political system, by actually voting someone else than Putin Party (United Russia). But the problem would then be making sure the replacement isn't basically just more of the same... and actually being able to campaign effectively in the state media, and avoiding being arrested, imprisoned, harassed until you give up, or straight up assassinated, could be challenging.



At the moment, though, it is my assessment that there is pretty much nothing in Finland that Putin would be interested in. So, any kind of military or pre-military conflict between Finland and Russia would be unlikely. On the other hand, that assumes a rational leadership. That is a dangerous assumption when dealing with politicians of any kind, let alone Russian. No one seems to have a clue what Putin's grand strategy is, so that's rather unnerving.

[Flipside]

Russia's ok, a tiny bit crazy, but then the whole area seems to be full of people who wonder how many trees they can chop down with a chaingun in 30 seconds, or whether it's possible to plough a field with old grenades and that's actually kind of cool (and not actually all that dissimilar to certain Americans).

Russians have always come across as very solid, proud people who can take a lot of punishment and still come back swinging.

However, Putin is an example of what happens when the brakes come off to my mind, when someone decides that what they envision must be the only option available and other countries be damned. Now, it's easy to turn around at that point and start noticing the plethora of World Leaders who are little better, persecuting minorities, silencing political dissent etc, but at the end of the day quantity doesn't really mean it's a healthy way to view the world either for Russia or for anyone else.

I, being in my 40's, grew up over the final years of the Cold War, the days of the three-minute warning, of 'Duck and Cover' and the 'Reds in the Bed' mentality. Maybe Putin did think those days were better, probably, considering his position in the KGB at the time he did quite well for himself, but speaking for the 'average' person, it wasn't a good time either for Russia or for Europe.

[Luis Dias]

I second Herra's feelings about Russia's government. A completely pyschopathic regime, and I might also link to a great reporting of the kind of campaign propaganda that they love, just to get you to feel the kind of nihilistic and psychopathic machiavellian nature of those crooks. I feel bad for russians for having to put up with it.

Their people are as fine as any other, that is, not that much and not that little, just "ok I guess". There's a racist undertone on all of those sayings like "Well russians prefer STRONG LEADERS and a bit of authocracy, it's just the way they are...", that's absolute bull****. It has nothing to do with "russians", it has everything to do with the leaders that were able to get on top of them. Any racist bull**** like that is immediately debunked when you try to explain the North and South Korea example with it. It suddenly becomes an impossible explanation and it also become really clear that it has nothing to do with "peoples", but political regimes. Koreans are one "people" and the difference between those two countries couldn't be more extreme. To say that northeners like being corralled like they are and southerners like unbriddled capitalism and democracy is simply unbearable intellectually speaking.

Same goes for Russians. I hope the better for them, and that means that this current regime gets out and be substituted by something more resembling a true democracy. Not something where 35% of the wealth belongs to 100 people, not a country whose entire GDP is just barely half of California's but pretends it's somehow on top of geopolitics.

[Dragon]

Actually, it's not that Russians "prefer" strong leaders. They (like Poles) need them in order not to collapse into either infighting or stupor. You refuse to acknowledge factual differences between East and West, which I spoke about many times (I live in a place where they clash). Russia does not pretend it's an important player in geopolitics - it still is. They are fundamentally different from the westerners in that regard, notice that not once did they have a functioning democracy. They either had a strong leader or utter chaos that persisted until such a leader emerged. And yes, that's just the way they are. History has shaped them so, and you can't just undo over a thousand years of history. Under a competent and strong leader, Russia can be a world power. Under an incompetent one, it collapses on itself. There are historical examples of both. For instance, they once got conquered by Poland (OK, it was a pretty respectable country at the time, but still much smaller), but famously resisted both Napoleon and Hitler. BTW, the former conquest didn't stick because Poles share many flaws with the Russians (though they did recently gain a few Western ones as well ) and managed to bicker long enough among themselves to be thrown out of Moscow.

The current government isn't the worst thing that happened to Russia. It might be one of the worse to happen to its neighbors, but in those times, a weaker leader could have lead to a complete disaster. It's bad now, sure, but it's been worse. Even during the country's best times, its people weren't exactly swimming in milk and honey. Remember how decrepit Soviet Union got in its last days. Then it fell apart, further splitting the country. Starting from that, you can't really make a decent country in what, 30 years? It used to be something akin to an US state (albeit a big one), and become a separate country rather suddenly, with what used to be its southwestern reach being rather unfriendly, to boot. I'm not surprised they're trying to regain some semblance of control over those regions.

North and South Korea is a flawed example for such debates because it's so pathological - all logic says North Korea shouldn't exist, yet it does. No matter what theory you try to use (besides "China wants it there very badly"), it turns out NK is unstable and unsustainable. Even considering Korean way of thinking (which is very different from both Western and Eastern Europeran cultures), NK is an abomination that should have collapsed long ago. It pretty much owes its survival to China (who want it there really badly), I suspect it'd go down overnight should Chinese support cease. At this point, the NK government believes its own propaganda. I think that nobody in there would mind if the regime got changed to something better - China would, and it's the only thing propping it up.

[Herra Tohtori]

They are fundamentally different from the westerners in that regard, notice that not once did they have a functioning democracy. They either had a strong leader or utter chaos that persisted until such a leader emerged. And yes, that's just the way they are. History has shaped them so, and you can't just undo over a thousand years of history.

No.


Russians and Poles are the same exact species as every other human on the planet. There is nothing fundamentally different about Russians themselves. Take a Russian infant and move him anywhere in the world, and you'll get a person whose cultural traits are not Russian. National identity is not a fundamental part of a person. It can of course be a significant part of a person's identity, but even then it's not completely immutable; people can change throughout their lives.

Saying "that's just the way they are" implies that Russians (and Poles, since you mentioned them as well) are incapable of changing and are bound to repeat history. That, I feel, is quite a dangerous line of thinking and can easily be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Obviously you can't change history, and it will forever be part of the identities of the world. Obviously cultures are the result of their history, and you can't "undo" it. You have to work with what you're given.

But change is possible. It can take a frustratingly long time for large cultural changes to occur, and it is often difficult to direct them towards any particular direction, but changes can and do occur nonetheless.